Entangled Frontiers: Uncovering the Hydrosocial Territories of Shenzhen

ABSTRACT The dominant image of Shenzhen as one of China's most rapidly urbanised and densely populated cities stands in sharp contrast to the often‐overlooked fact that fresh water resources within its territory can supply only a miniscule fraction of its demand. An untold story of Shenzhen is how its rapid transformation has co‐evolved with the development of one of the most sophisticated urban blue infrastructures in the country. Within Shenzhen's municipal boundaries, there are 149 government‐managed reservoirs connected by a complex network of 310 streams and rivers, and 16,377 km of pipelines. This blue infrastructure constitutes a largely hidden but critical element of the city's urban framework that continues to play a key role in the story of Shenzhen's development. Through the theoretical framework of hydrosocial territories, this paper conceptually maps Shenzhen's territorialisation from 1949 to the present, revealing a process driven by water‐society interactions. By applying a unique historical‐geographical angle, it examines three approximate historical phases to crystallise both the critical intersection of administrative and infrastructural change and the contingency embedded in the spatiotemporal layering of nested territories shaped by socio‐ecological dynamics. The study finds that these continuously evolving hydrosocial territories are both a medium for and an expression of Shenzhen's shifting identities on China's southern frontier as well as its corresponding administrative transformations. Furthermore, it illuminates how such evolution has been driven by the changing historical, social, political and cultural contexts, which in turn have transformed the territory's hydraulic grid, economic base structures and political relationships. This research is generated through multimodal methodological practices, including spatial analysis, archival research and stakeholder interviews. By mapping and tracing the contingent histories of the blue infrastructures in Shenzhen, this study contributes to a more nuanced conceptualisation of relations between water, technology, power and society within the context of China.