Mapping the Digital Fabric of Cities: ‘Site Codes’ as Spatial Identifiers in Urban China in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Digitalization occupies a position of growing strategic significance in China’s daily life today, while people constantly adjust their cognitive and behavioral ways according to the accessibility of various digital technologies. Since 2019, cooperating the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic has become a highest priority for Chinese people. Acting as a typical practice of digital governance, the Health Code and Site Code plays an important role, and it also brings profound changes to Chinese social transformation. Based on that, this study takes “Site Code” as a case and focuses on the following two problems from a holistic perspective. Firstly, how could this digital tool redefine places by privileged means, and make it deeply bound with the governance? Secondly, the development and usage of these codes is not only operated by the government, but the tech companies also have an important role. Therefore, how are they intertwining with each other, and what kinds of factors are playing as continuous driving forces? In China, both top-level policy making and evolution of governance demonstrate drastically local characteristics. This chapter aims to provide both practical examples and theoretical ideas for understanding digital governance in China particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.