深圳国际城市形象:域外“专家意见”与“大众感知”

International Image of Shenzhen City: Expert Opinion and Public Perception outside China

城市国际形象既是一座城市重要的软实力要素,也是其综合实力的体现。深圳的高速发展被外界普遍视为当代中国现代化进程的缩影,其发展案例备受国际瞩目。国际场域中的城市评级、学者意见、媒体报道和英文在线社区的网民评议,某种意义上呈现了域外视域中深圳作为新兴国际性大都市展现的国际形象。20世纪80年代,国际社会对于深圳的认知主要通过境外的学者和媒体记者来塑造,深圳的国际形象主要以"经济特区"呈现。进入21世纪后,深圳逐渐发展成为世界上最重要的高科技研发和制造业基地之一,深圳的国际形象也逐渐发生跃迁,赢来了"硬件硅谷"、"科技天堂"等美誉,其"鼓励创新、宽容失败"的文化也备受国际社会瞩目。微观层面的考察显示,域外大众感知的深圳形象更加多元化:一方面,深圳作为新兴国际性大都市在科技、创新、宜居等方面展现出良好的国际形象;另一方面,与其他世界一线城市相比,深圳在三维指标宜商、宜居和文化体验性上还存在提升空间。

The international image of a city is not only an important part of its soft power, but also a reflection of its comprehensive strength. This paper presents the international image of Shenzhen as an emerging international metropolis from the perspective of its rating at the international level, opinions from scholars, media reports and netizens’ comments in English online communities. In the 1980s, the international community’s perception of Shenzhen was mainly shaped by foreign scholars and journalists, and the international image of Shenzhen was mainly presented as a "special economic zone". Since the beginning of the 21st century, Shenzhen has gradually developed into one of the most important high-tech research and development and manufacturing bases in the world, and its international image has also been gradually transformed. Shenzhen has won the reputation of "the silicon valley of hardware" and "Mecca of Tech", and its culture of "encouraging innovation and tolerating failure" has got a lot of attention from the international community. The observation on the micro level shows that Shenzhen’s image in the eyes of people outside China is more diverse. On the one hand, as an emerging international metropolis, Shenzhen has presented a good international image in terms of technology, innovation and livability. On the other hand, in comparison with other firsttier cities in the world, Shenzhen has yet to be improved in business, livability and cultural experience.