Exploring how cities create a sense of belonging

From left: Daniel Bell, Avner de Shalit and Liu Yu promote the book at an event in Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Providing a sense of belonging, promoting economic growth, achieving political goals that are difficult to achieve at the level of the state and tolerance for different cultures are all part of a city's spirit, Bell says.

De Shalit emphasizes that establishing and affirming a city's spirit helps foster tolerance of different cultures within a city.

"Tolerance is very instrumental in essence, and it ensures order, which helps a city prosper," he says.

This is an important issue in China, because of the large floating population.

"Shenzhen is the best example of the country's floating population. Much of the changes that have transformed Shenzhen into the hottest high-tech hub in China have been because of talent migrants from other places. Migrant workers also make it a lively and vibrant place," says Bell.

As Liu Yu, a political science professor from Tsinghua University, points out, the spirit of city emerges from the bottom up.

"Every community, every building, every one of us is the author of the spirit of city," says Liu.

The cooperation between the two authors was very smooth; for most of the chapters, they would spend time together in particular cities.

"We called our research our 'strolling method'. We walked around, got lost and so experienced new things," says Bell.

Both the authors regard the book as only a beginning. What they are hoping to do is to inspire more societal and political discussion about the issue.

"We want to dedicate this book to the Chinese people. The more we learn about the city-based identity in the global age, the better we will know how to deal with the most difficult challenges of the 21st century, especially in China," says Bell.