Many hi-tech corporations like Intel and Microsoft have been opening up research labs in China over the last few years. So it should be no surprise that this conference about Web 2.0 takes place in Beijing and is organized by Orange Labs, in cooperation with the Dynamic City Foundation (with whom I once cooperated in a research project on China’s urbanization). The conference addresses busines models, social trends like individualization, and very interesting: the relation between the rise of mobile communication, web 2.0 applications and the consequences for Chinese Cities.

More autonomous than before, Chinese urban dwellers are redefining their relations to space. As social networks are changing, a new kind of selective mobility is emerging, and virtual spaces are getting connected to real places. The tailored tools of the Web 2.0 enable every individual to have his own experience of the city. How are people making the city their own?