Zhang (107) examines the interesting process of how social stratification in the society emerges. He takes a critical look at China whereby people did not care about differentiated lifestyles and status recognition in the past. But today, the Chinese community is encountering the rise of a middle-class society with stratified residential areas and expensive consumer tastes. The sociospatial nature of cities in the country under socialism which maintained a homogenous community has now transformed into a heterogeneous setup. In most early societies, individuals shared a similar social standing. However, as the communities began evolving and becoming complex, some members of the community were elevated creating a system that positions people hierarchically. The emerging status distinction in China and other nations in the globe between servants and masters forces individuals to restructure the cultural politics and aspects of consumption, space, and class (Zhang 108).
The residential setup in Kunming has created striking differences in the types of neighborhoods and community levels. Currently, the Chinese city holds three community levels: Upper, middle, and lower class. The status distinctions arise because of private wealth and occupation. The lower class housing comprises of poorly maintained and constructed homesteads while the middle and upper classes live in clean, well-protected, well-constructed, and spacious residential areas. The lower class has no green or public space (Zhang 109). The upper societies, on the other hand, have well-maintained lawns, trees, and flowers which provide an attractive surrounding. The middle and upper classes offer elite community services such as entrepreneurship and management while the lower income individuals provide poor quality services with fixed incomes. The social composition of the top level communities thus comprises of managers, property owners, entrepreneurs, merchants, amongst others. The low-income society contains the top level communities’ employees, thieves, local farmers, amongst others (Zhang 116).
Work Cited
Zhang, Li. Spatializing Class. In Search of Paradise, 2010. Print.
