The backstage of creative clusters in China. Tourism, commercial gentrification, surveillance and other issues of the planning and branding strategies of art districts[L’envers des clusters créatifs en Chine. Mise en tourisme, gentrification commerciale, surveillance et autres enjeux de la labellisation des quartiers d’artistes]

This article aims to highlight how "creative clusters" have been established in Chinese cities and the challenges they raise. Initially, these clusters are art districts resulting from a bottom-up organic growth with the spontaneous agglomeration of artists in former industrial areas in decline in the 1980s and 1990s. Their formal recognition and branding by local authorities in the early 2000s represents a turning point: these districts become the object of a top-down planning strategy using art and culture to develop tourism and real estate. In doing so, the districts and their surroundings are undergoing major changes: tourism development, commercial gentrification linked to the installation of commercial establishments at the expense of artists' studios, real estate development, etc. Based on numerous photographs, this article shows that these clusters are part of the movement of touristification, aestheticization and commodification of contemporary cities under the influence of "artist capitalism". This article also shows that Chinese creative clusters respond to the specific local context characterized by an authoritarian regime that limits dissident artistic expressions.