Spatial Politics and Migrant Territoriality in Zhangjiang Science City

This chapter investigates the contested spatial politics of Zhangjiang Science City, Shanghai, focusing on the territorialization practices of displaced rural migrants and the exclusionary urban governance shaping their lives. Using case studies from East Village, it introduces migrant territoriality to describe the informal, precarious spatial practices of landless migrants navigating systemic displacement. Policies like the “five violations and four must-be” (wu wei si bi) and Land Reduction Operation are critically analyzed as tools of land control and population regulation, exacerbating sociospatial inequalities under the technopolis development model. The study highlights deterritorialization and reterritorialization practices by rural migrants, offering an alternative narrative of social struggle and informal spatial production amid Shanghai’s rapid urban transformation.