Globalization and the production of city image in Guangzhou’s metro station advertisements

The process of globalization has already become one of the dominant contexts in which cities adjust and reshape their economic, social, political and cultural structures. Moreover, the influences of globalization operate not only upon urban economic restructuring but also upon the symbolic production of the city image. In line with globalization and urban entrepreneurialism, the meanings of cultural elements are produced and circulated to symbolically represent values and the identity of the city itself. In this paper, we discuss how the image of a “globalizing Guangzhou” is produced through the symbolic meanings of the metro station advertisements in Guangzhou, China. We argue that this special process of cultural production reflects the city’s intensifying involvement in the globalization process. The principal discovery of our research is that the globalization process has profoundly shaped the representational meanings of metro advertisements and has thus helped shape the image of a Chinese city that actively participates in globalization. To achieve this result, we performed a content analysis and qualitative interpretation of some of the most important meanings conveyed by the city’s advertisement designs.

Research highlights
► The meaning of globalization is reproduced with metro station advertisements.
► Global involvement is a salient theme in the making of Guangzhou’s city image.
► The globalizing image of Guangzhou includes an ideological dimension.
► The process of globalization has particular meanings and implications in particular places.