New spatiality for the elderly: natural heritage discourses and landscape management in Chongqing

According to UN projections, China current life expectancy in 2021 is 77.13 years, a 0.22% increase from 2020. The improvement of living conditions is evaluated not only in material terms but also on a spiritual level of greater civilization and personal advancement. Thus, the elderly social group has become the object of political debates related to the ‘three cultivations’ central directives, and material practices for the care of the elderly are taking place through peculiar forms of governance rooted in the entrepreneurial spirit of local governments. This research looks at Chongqing urban processes of land renewal from the perspective of upscale housing market to point out the relational mechanism between land monetization and heritagization of local landscape. City branding and the neoliberal attitude to shape landscape differences and increase consumerism, arise in new narratives of urban beautification based on natural heritage and elitist responsibility towards the environment. The aim of this study is to highlight how landscape reification is intertwined with marketing strategies, ideological discourses on human well-being, and the reconstruction of local sense of place. In doing so, the paper raises issues of environmental justice in the urban as well as the ideological manipulation of the commons.