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that it later brought cultural
vibrance to the city.
Chinese seamen imposed
a four-month strike in 1942,
in hope of ‘equal pay to
that of white mariners’. As
a consequence of such
a rebellious act, 20,000
seamen
were
labelled
as
‘troublemakers’
by
shipowners and the British
Government, and many
were forced onto a oneway ship back to China.
They left behind many
Eurasian children, who
have resided in Chinatown
since then. Bombing during
World War II also led to the
relocation of Chinatown
to its current venue. Since
then Chinatown has not
only been a landmark, but
a network of strong bonds
and history.
Liverpool’s
individuality gulped
by commercialism
Now Chinatown houses
a community of thirdand
fourthgeneration
Chinese, who qualify fully
to be recognised as British
citizens, but even as local
citizens, the city council has
disregarded their opinions
and made decisions for
the community without
much consideration for the
community’s specific needs.
“On the one hand it can be
seen as them disrespecting
ones heritage,” says Lucy
Clayton, a volunteer at Hate
Crime, on the deliberate
exclusion of the Chinese
community
during
the
process of making plans for
the area. “Showing them
the plans in the end was
clearly more for the sake
of formality.” She also says
that the resemblance of
the plans to Liverpool One
shows the emphasis on
their business ambitions,
commercialising Liverpool.
“It is such a shame because
Liverpool has a great
foundation of independent
businesses, they help give
ethnic minorities their share
of attention by spreading
their cultural individualities
through food and goods,
but Liverpool is more and
more commercialised in
comparison to when it was
crowned the cultural capital
less than a decade ago.”
Liverpool’s
individuality
will be stripped from the
city with the continuous
commercialisation of the
area. Liverpool One has
over 170 chain stores
and services, all of which
contribute to homogenising
cities
in
the
United
Kingdom.David, a co-founder
of Independent Liverpool,
said: “In January we were
strolling through the streets
of Liverpool and were just
fed up of seeing the same
street – you could literally
be anywhere in the UK with
the corporations that are
taking over.” Independent
Liverpool aims to “shed light
on independent shops in
Liverpool and celebrate the
unique”, re-establishing the
distinctiveness of the city.
When the scheme first
began there were only
30
independent
shops
and restaurants, bars and
shops involved, but it has
now encouraged up to 100
independent
businesses
83
to open and contribute to
creating, or recreating, the
unique, vibrant city life that
Liverpool once promised.
The
development
of
Chinatown will bring great
financial
benefits,
but
studies show that swamping
the city with chain stores will
put independent stores out
of business simply due to
the lack of advertisements
and promotions they can
provide in comparison.
Liverpool City Council clearly
disregarded the long-term
negative impact to the city.
Sophie Carter says: “They
could use the new Chinatown
to centralise independent
businesses in one area.”
The owner of Cuthberts
(a
listed
independent
business), Lily, excitedly
responded to the idea:
“Shops and restaurants
will no longer be hidden
gems but ‘accessible-toall’ gems; they will have to
be selective to fit with the
theme of Chinatown, but I
can imagine it to be a great
way to boost earnings for
independent businesses as
well as Liverpool.”
The City Council disregards
Chinatown’s
special
purpose and sees it as
just
another
financial
opportunity.
This
can
still be achieved through
independent
businesses
while also promoting the
uniqueness of the city.
A
representative
from
Liverpool City Council is yet
to provide the press with a
response on the matter.