Cruel Optimistic Community Upgrades: Collapsing Socialisation in Two Shanghainese Urban Villages

Beyond the primary domains of home and workplace, third places play a crucial role in fostering social cohesion within marginalised communities. In Shanghai's urban villages, the dissolution of socialisation opportunities coincides with community demolition—a direct consequence of profit-driven urbanisation. These villages, characterised by semi-informal settlement structures, emerged as economic migrants who responded to metropolitan labour demands. This qualitative study investigates the deterioration of third-place utility among migrants by analysing spatial flows, activity arrangements, exposure frequency, and interpersonal dynamics. The observed decline in communal interaction inadvertently legitimises governmental urban renewal initiatives, thereby perpetuating cycles of marginalisation. Transcending the Chicago School's spatial-social distance correlation, this research employs Lauren Berlant's cruel optimism framework to examine social deterioration. While authorities promoted community enhancement through urban development, the resultant transformation of social spaces and dissolution of gathering practices has exacerbated migrants' experiences of institutional betrayal.