Sensing Sinicization

In recent years, minorities in China have been subjected to increased political pressure. So-called “Sinizisation” policies aim to erase cultural differences between the country's various ethnic and religious groups.

These assimilation measures, enacted through legal policy as well as political pressure, primarily affect public spaces. Changes can be seen in urban architecture, with shop signs and symbols being covered or painted over. Adaptations to culturally significant buildings leave visible traces. Glue stains and construction marks bear witness to the removal of ornaments.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to document the effects of these policies, as journalists are denied access and researchers lack representative data.

Baidu is China’s most popular website. Best known for its search engine, the technology platform offers a wide variety of digital products and services. Its Street View tool, called “Total View”, allows users to navigate urban environments digitally using panoramic imagery.

To capture these images, Street View cars equipped with 360-degree cameras drive throughout the country, reaching even the most remote and rural areas. These cars document landscapes, urban architecture and everyday life. To keep the images up to date with rapid urban development, the cars repeatedly pass the same locations, creating a publicly accessible digital timeline.

The project “Sensing Sinicization” investigates the effects of these enforced assimilation measures. By automatically analysing these images and comparing them to other pictures taken at the same location taken at different points in time, thousands of changes can be automatically detected all across the country. Thereby changes in urban environments can be identified and documented on a nationwide scale.