Modernizing Urban Food Provisioning: The 1936 Shanghai Fish Market

The Shanghai Fish Market (1936), initiated by Republican China’s Ministry of Industry, was briefly a linchpin for producers and distributors, facilitating state intervention in the supply chain of the treaty port city. The market’s modernist design by Su, Yang & Lei Architects departed from the Beaux-Arts-inspired practices often associated with Nationalist China’s self-presentation. Influenced by foreign precedents, it incorporated rationalized trading procedures into its spatial layout. This article examines the market’s construction, which was guided by fishery expertise and aimed to harness natural resources for societal and national benefits. Technopolitical dynamics surrounding the reconfiguration of food provisioning logistics generated power struggles among stakeholders at the local and international levels. Despite the obstacles that constantly challenged the technocrats’ ambition to revolutionize the fishery industry, the Shanghai Fish Market’s historical and architectural significance lies in its efforts to integrate the built and natural environments into a national system of governance.