The Fen River in Taiyuan, China: Ecology, Revitalization, and Urban Culture Translated title: Arcadia: Explorations in Environmental History, Autumn 2016, no. 17: The Fen River in Taiyuan, China: Ecology, Revitalization, and Urban Culture

Abstract

This case study of the Fen River in China’s Shanxi Province explores the interrelationship between urban society and its surrounding ecosystem. From a geographical viewpoint, the article illustrates how, over time, urban society experiences sociocultural change that can be divided into three stages. Starting from a stage of environmental determinism in which cultural behavior is predominantly characterized by adaption to local environment, China’s industrialization of the late 1950s reflects the stage of geographical possibilism accompanied by severe challenges to the ecosystem. Recent political actions, however, suggest that urban China, amidst competing and vested interests, is entering a stage of government-led environmentalism.