The Mimetic Landscape: A Phase of Chinese Capitalism Now Over? This article analyzes the Chinese mimetic landscape as a symptom of a phase in national capitalism rooted in the reproduction of Western forms. By imitating foreign cities and architectures, China has staged its ability to replicate the world, turning imitation into an instrument of power. Yet the recent real estate crisis reveals the limits of this model: architectural mimicry, once a sign of modernity, has become the visible expression of an exhausted speculative system. As the landscape deteriorates, it exposes the entanglement of cultural, political, and economic forces in contemporary China.

Le paysage mimétique: une phase désormais dépassée du capitalisme chinois? / D. Gavinelli, M. Tanca. - In: GEOGRAPHY NOTEBOOKS. - ISSN 2611-7207. - 8:2(2025 Dec), pp. 37-54. [10.7358/gn-2025-gata]

Le paysage mimétique: une phase désormais dépassée du capitalisme chinois?

D. Gavinelli
Primo
;
M. Tanca
Ultimo
2025

Abstract

The Mimetic Landscape: A Phase of Chinese Capitalism Now Over? This article analyzes the Chinese mimetic landscape as a symptom of a phase in national capitalism rooted in the reproduction of Western forms. By imitating foreign cities and architectures, China has staged its ability to replicate the world, turning imitation into an instrument of power. Yet the recent real estate crisis reveals the limits of this model: architectural mimicry, once a sign of modernity, has become the visible expression of an exhausted speculative system. As the landscape deteriorates, it exposes the entanglement of cultural, political, and economic forces in contemporary China.
mimetic landscape; Chinese capitalism; real estate crisis; simulacrum; urbanization; paysage mimétique; capitalisme chinois; crise immobilière; simulacre; urbanisation
Settore GEOG-01/A - Geografia
Settore GEOG-01/B - Geografia economico-politica
dic-2025
https://www.ledonline.it/index.php/Geography-Notebooks/article/view/7605
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/1225655
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