Between Public and Market

Between Public and Market: A Spatial History of Advertising in Modern Shanghai (1905-1949) unveils the silent revolution advertising brought to Shanghai’s press and urban life during the pre-communist era. While traditional scholarship often treats advertising as a commercial tool or cultural “mirror,” this book reveals its transformative role as a driver of municipal policies and public engagement among urban elites within the transnational context of the treaty ports. Drawing on untapped sources—municipal archives, photographs, newspapers—and employing innovative digital methods like Geographic Information System, the author examines how advertising reshaped urban landscapes, nightlife, traffic management, and the physical appearance, content, and business model of Republican-era newspapers. As a sequel to Madmen in Shanghai: A Social History of Advertising in Modern China (De Gruyter, 2024), this book shifts the focus from the rise of advertising as an industry to its social and political impact in early 20th-century China. It will engage students and scholars of modern Chinese history, urban and media studies, as well as professionals in advertising and urban management.