Florence and Huishu took part at the RC 21 Conference “Resurgent Authoritarianism: The Sociology of New Entanglements of Religions, Politics, and Economies”, in XX ISA World Congress of Sociology, Melbourne, Australia, 26 June-1 July 2023. They presented the research project with the title “The leisure activities in community “vacant” lots: how the grassroots practices appropriate the public space in China”. The presentation was part of the panel “Emotions and social experiences in the cities today” organized by A. Cervio, F. La Rocca and A. Scribano (CONICET, University Paul Valery Montpellier 3).

The presentation illustrates the adaptive use and appropriations of undefined vacant lots by the local population for leisure activities. Three case studies at different scales in Chinese cities: Shi-Jia Hutong Micro Garden Project, Zhong-Gu-Lou Cultural Square (Beijing), and Shenzhen Citizen Square (Shenzhen), are analysed to understand the articulation of government policies, place-making, emotional attachments and people’s bodily experiences. They argue the forms of these activities are interweaved between officially organised and the spontaneous. The study of the activities taking place – whether under the active or minimum supervision of authorities – shows that, on the one hand, the soft social engineering prompts to foster orthodox leisure practices, empower physical activities and transform urban public spaces in a context where the promotion of sport/healthy lifestyle, the continuation of cultural traditions, and the development of digital cultural consumption coexist; on the other hand, the emotions triggered by temporary leisure activities and bodily experiences can change or reshape the meanings and ‘inherent atmosphere’ of spaces that are pre-defined by their material conditions, political intentions, or grassroots tacit agreements.