“Cities in Turmoil”: Historical GIS and Urban Life in Four Chinese Cities in the Late Qing and Republican Period

This international research project utilized GIS technology to undertake comparative spatial histories of the cities of Beijing 北京, Shanghai 上海, Suzhou 蘇州, and Hankou 漢口, particularly the ways in which these urban centers coped with the turmoil of the modern era. The project team studied material culture, everyday life, and collective spaces, while considering themes such as petty crime, industrialization and housing crises, food and the restaurant business, and political changes’ impact on urban space.