Master Thesis: "Urbanism of Pluralism" by ShanshanTao-Urban

Urbanism of Pluralism Case study of Dongxuan Center in Lichtenberg, Berlin (2017-06-09) Shanshan Tao

Thesis submitted to obtain the degree of Master in Engineering Science: Master of Human Settlement Promoter: Prof. Bruno De Meulder; Asst Prof. Viviana dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Auria; Dr. Dr. Cand. Katharina Rohde Assessor: Master Thesis Working Group

Academic Year 2016 - 2017 I

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A written permission of the promoter is also required to use the methods, products, schematics and programs described in this work for industrial or commercial use, and for submitting this publication in scientific contests.

Foreword The following pages discuss the characteristics and significance of pluralism in the contemporary transitioning urbanism based on a case study in an Asian wholesale market in Berlin. The project began as the research conducted by Dr. Katharina Rohde on the topic of Urbanism of Pluralism.

I want to express my sincere gratitude to my promoters: Prof. Bruno De Meulder, Asst Prof. Viviana dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Auria, and Dr. Cand. Katharina Rohde. They have been spending precious time in providing me with academic guidance and valuable insights about the research in many tutorials and helping me in the final correction with great forbearance. They always offer me continuous support and encouragement through the process of the study. I am gratefully indebted to their guidance on this thesis. I would also acknowledge Prof. Hillmann Felicitas who provided useful information about Vietnamese immigrants in Germany and expressed her opinion about pluralism in an interview. Additionally, thank Dr. Antonie Schmiz for providing her article about ethnic diversity with the case of Dong Xuan Center. Also, I want to thank all professors and scholars who delivered the lectures about pluralism and gave me suggestions, which were the significant inspiration for the research. More than I can say, this research could not have been accomplished successfully without the passionate contribution of the immigrant workers in Dong Xuan Center. They cooperated with me in the interviews and treated me with enthusiasm during the field study. Also, very special thanks to Lama Sulaiman, who helped me in translating German into English during the one day of the interview. Lastly thanks to the reader and the jury of this research for your patient reading.

Shanshan Tao KU Leuven, 2017

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Table of Contents Foreword......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... III Table of Contents............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ IV Abstract........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... VI List of maps, graphs, tables, pictures, and sketches..................................................................................................................................................................................... VII List of maps...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................VII List of graphs............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ VII List of tables............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ VIII List of pictures.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................VIII

List of sketches.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... IX

List of abbreviations......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................IX

Chapter 1 Introduction.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Research Background.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Research Objectives............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 3 1.3 Main Research Questions.................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Research Hypothesis............................................................................................................................................................................................................................3

Chapter 2 Research Methodology................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 4 2.1 Introduction for this chapter.............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 5 2.2 Literature Review.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................5 2.2.1 Pluralism and migration.............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 5

2.2.2 Arrival City.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................5 2. 2. 3 Ethnic entrepreneurship............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 7 2.2.4 Conclusion for literature.............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 8

2.3 Theoretical framework........................................................................................................................................................................................................................8 2.4 Research methods..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................10 2.4.1 Theoretical support of the methods......................................................................................................................................................................................... 10 2.4.2 Description of Methods..............................................................................................................................................................................................................10 IV

2.4.3 Ethical issues...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................13

2.5 Conclusion for this chapter............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13

Chapter 3 Research Results and Analysis.................................................................................................................................................................................................. 14 3.1 Historical transformation in and around DXC from 1928 to now.................................................................................................................................................15 3.2 Basic understanding route in DXC....................................................................................................................................................................................................19 3.3 Composition of the ethnic workers’ nationalities...........................................................................................................................................................................37 3.4 DXC in different people’s perspectives.............................................................................................................................................................................................44 3.5 Four interesting shops - deeper understanding of pluralism........................................................................................................................................................51 3.5.1 Solidarity and space use in a Vietnamese snack stall..............................................................................................................................................................52 3.5.2 Workers’ hard working and customers’ exotic experience in ASIA 24..................................................................................................................................55 3.5.3 Communication between the workers and customers in Pluto............................................................................................................................................. 58 3.5.4 Collaboration among the same-origin migrants in Tandoor Hous........................................................................................................................................ 60

Chapter 4 Conclusion................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 62 4.1 Pluralism is embedded in different scale.........................................................................................................................................................................................63 4.2 Space as a carrier of enacting pluralism.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 63 4.3 Solidarity, cooperation, and communication...................................................................................................................................................................................64 4.4 Contradictions, struggling, and competition................................................................................................................................................................................... 64

Reference:...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 66

Abstract With the fact that there are conflicting opinions about diverse groups and migration around the world, many cities, including Berlin, are facing the challenge of pluralism under the changing social environment. Moreover, with the increasing numbers of immigrants as well as more and more diverse nationalities in Berlin, the physical and social landscape of the city have been shaped by immigrants in their own way. The question that how different people live together, understand and interact with others becomes important. This research aims to study how pluralism is enacting in a specific place and its significance on the development of a healthy society. I chose Dongxuan Center, which is a wholesale market in Lichtenberg, Berlin, as a case to study pluralism from the aspects of individuality, solidarity, and contradictions. Then, to understand how pluralism is shaping the everyday physical and social landscape.

To obtain an academic knowledge of this research, I studied the theories of pluralism, arrival city, and ethnic entrepreneurship. Next, I concluded several sub-questions based on the literature to provide guidance for the following research. Inspired by the former scholars, I adopted qualitative-based methods with the assist of quantitative tools in the 16-days of field study, including observation, mapping, photography, sketch, semi-structured and structured interviews, and micro-stories. The missions were to research the physical environment of the market, varieties of the migration background, nationalities and activities, the social-economic network among the same-origin migrants and the communication between different groups of people, and the space usage. Then, the results were presented in five parts: historical development of the site, basic understanding, composition of the ethnic workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; nationalities, different perspectives of DXC from various people, and how pluralism is enacted in DXC. The maps, photos, sketches, and graphs show a lively market where have different people interact and communicate every day and compose a both united and contradictory network. I concluded, firstly, pluralism and migration are embedded in the historical, social, economic, cultural, and political environment in the different geographic scale. The inevitable result of diverse nationality under the globalization requires us to deliberate how to facilitate a pluralistic society. Then, space, which allows the coexistence of differences and varieties and lively daily exchange, is an appropriate carrier to perform pluralism. During the research process, I realized that pluralism is not only about solidarity but also contradictions. On the one hand, those who have similar migration background usually consist a solid social-economic network to support each other, which improves themselves in Berlin and also enhanced the living situation of their hometowns. Also, the communication between different groups occurred due to business or entertainment demand. Moreover, pluralism presents complicated, inconsistent, and contradictory characteristics. There are struggling between the local government and the market, hidden conflicts between businessmen as well as well-established and new-arrived migrants, workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; contract attitudes about their current jobs and migration, and customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; different impressions on the market. All of these contradictions compose pluralism in this small space but affect on a larger social scale unconsciously in everyday activities. Last but not least, DXC can be a demonstrated case to study pluralism, but its model cannot be replicated directly because of different situations of the site.

List of maps, graphs, tables, pictures, and sketches List of maps Map 1 Location of Berlin················································································································································3 Map 2 Location of DXC··················································································································································3 Map 3 The physical environment in and around DXC in 1928·····································································································15 Map 4 The physical environment in and around DXC in 1928·····································································································16 Map 5 The physical environment in and around DXC in 1928·····································································································17 Map 6 The physical environment in and around DXC in 1928·····································································································18 Map 7 The layout of DXC ··············································································································································21 Map 8 DXC as pride and the 2nd hometown··························································································································45 Map 9 DXC as success and business··································································································································46 Map 10 DXC as opportunity and challenge··························································································································47 Map 11 DXC as an exotic market······································································································································48

List of graphs Graph 1 Theoretical framework of the thesis························································································································9 Graph 2 Guide map of the entrance··································································································································20 Graph 3 The types of shops & the numbers of the workers in Hall 8 ·····························································································24 Graph 4 The types of shops & the numbers of the workers in Hall 1·····························································································26 Graph 5 The types of shops & the numbers of the workers in Hall 2·····························································································28 Graph 6 The types of shops & the numbers of the workers in Hall 3·····························································································30 Graph 7 The types of shops & the numbers of the workers in Hall 6·····························································································32 Graph 8 Nationalities of the shop owners and workers & business types in Hall 8·············································································38 Graph 9 Nationalities of the shop owners and workers & business types in Hall 1·············································································39 Graph 10 Nationalities of the shop owners and workers & business types in Hall 2············································································40 Graph 11 Nationalities of the shop owners and workers & business types in Hall 3 ···········································································41 Graph 12 Nationalities of the shop owners and workers & business types in Hall 6············································································42 Graph 13 The layout of ASIA 24 food supermarket·················································································································51 Graph 14 The route of the four interesting shops···················································································································56

VII

Graph 15 The layout of the restaurant······························································································································60 Graph 16 The route of delivering the foods·························································································································61

List of tables Table 1 Questions for employees and shop owners - phase 1····································································································12 Table 2 Questions for employees and shop owners - phase 2····································································································12 Table 3 Questions for customers and visitors······················································································································12

List of pictures Picture 1 Surrounding environment································································································································· 19 Picture 2 Surrounding environment································································································································· 19 Picture 3 Surrounding environment································································································································· 19 Picture 4 Surrounding environment································································································································· 19 Picture 5 Diverse types of commodities····························································································································· 22 Picture 6 The entrance of Hall 8······································································································································· 23 Picture 7 The scene in the corridor·································································································································· 23 Picture 8 The nail salon and a snack bar·····························································································································23 Picture 9 The textile shops············································································································································23 Picture 10 The entrance of Hall 1···································································································································· 25 Picture 11 The Vietnamese restaurant······························································································································ 25 Picture 12 The Indian fruits shop···································································································································· 25 Picture 13 Vietnamese snacks········································································································································25 Picture 14 The entrance of Hall 2····································································································································27 Picture 15 The flower shop···········································································································································27 Picture 16 The commodities in the corridor························································································································27 Picture 17 The flower shop··········································································································································· 27 Picture 18 The entrance of Hall 3···································································································································· 29 Picture 19 The elliptic area··········································································································································· 29 Picture 20 Mobile shop··············································································································································· 29 Picture 21 CD store···················································································································································· 29 Picture 22 The side-entrances of Hall 6····························································································································· 31 Picture 23 The scene in the corridor································································································································ 31 Picture 24 The scene in the corridor································································································································ 31 Picture 25 The coffee machine······································································································································· 31 Picture 26 Hall 4······················································································································································· 34 Picture 27 Hall 5······················································································································································· 34 Picture 28 The place for new shopping hall························································································································ 34

VIII

Picture 29 New Hotel················································································································································· 34 Picture 20 Entertainment playground·······························································································································34 Picture 31 The advertisement poster································································································································42 Picture 32 The Vietnamese snacks·································································································································· 52 Picture 33 The physical structure of the restaurant················································································································61 Picture 34 Service counter··········································································································································· 61 Picture 35 Dining room··············································································································································· 61

List of sketches

Sketch 1 Tao, based on observation······························································································································35-36 Sketch 2 The snack table············································································································································· 52 Sketch 3 Prepared and sold the snacks······························································································································54 Sketch 4 Snacks selling················································································································································54 Sketch 5 Before the canopy was built ·······························································································································54 Sketch 6After the canopy was built··································································································································54 Sketch 7 Inside the corridor·········································································································································· 54 Sketch 8 The scenes in ASIS 24 ···································································································································56-57 Sketch 9 The scene inside the shop··································································································································59 Sketch 10 The scene inside the shop·································································································································59 Sketch 11 The scene inside the shop································································································································ 59 Sketch 12 The scene inside the shop·································································································································59 Sketch 13 The customers were playing the toys outside the shop································································································59 Sketch 14 Inside the kitchen········································································································································· 61

List of abbreviations DXC Dongxuan Center

Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 Research Background Pluralistic urbanism becomes a challenge for many cities around the world at present. On the one hand, migration and pluralism bring human capital investment and facilitate social-economic improvement and city regeneration (Pyka, KuĹ&#x;tepeli & Hartmann, 2017). On the other hand, they are taken as a breeding ground of socio-spatial exclusion with the increasing numbers of population movements, especially under the current situation of different waves of refugees and asylum seekers (Hatziprokopiou, Frangopoulos, & Montagna, 2016). These conflicting values aggravate social tension and affect governmental policies on migration in accommodating the coexistence of various cultural and social groups. From the point of pluralism, this research aims to study how different groups of people live with each other in one place, what interactions and contradictions they have under the changing urban context. Furthermore, to discover how these interactions, differences, and contradictions are shaping urban space, for better understanding the significance of pluralism.

City is a terrain of exchange, affecting the population movement by its economic, social and cultural environment, and migration policies (Castles, Haas, & Miller, 2013). In reverse, migrations are shaping a city form in a social-spatial dimension. Some of them are operating businesses with the identity of their home countries in the host country, such as Turkish snack bar and Vietnamese restaurant. During this process, the ethnic enterprises become the places of ordinary change of diverse society, accommodating different nationalities of migrants and customers and facilitating social and economic integration (Castles, Haas, & Miller, 2013; Price & Chacko, 2009). Moreover, some ethnic enterprises have accustomed to cluster in particular places where are easier for their business. Then, the ethnic enclave is generated, which affect the formation of physical and social landscapes in the city (Werbner, 2016). It is interesting to know how those immigrants with different migration backgrounds are engaging with and affected by the local society in a small-scale place as an individual, and what influences they could have on the host country in the social and physical landscape. In this research, Dongxuan Center in Lichtenberg, Berlin is chosen as a case study (Map 1 & 2). There are 20.78% of total population in Berlin composed of foreign immigrants (Bezirksamt Lichtenberg von

Berlin, 2017). Among them, Vietnamese is one of the dominant migrant group (MacCallum and Haddock, 2016). Moreover, Europe has experienced a rapid growth in the arrivals of refugees who are from front-line states such as Turkey and Afghanistan since 2010. Germany, including Berlin, has taken scores of refugees (Katz, Noring & Garrelts, 2016). Lichtenberg, a region located in the east of Berlin, accommodating 33683 immigrants among the total population of 275142 in 2013 (Bezirksamt Lichtenberg von Berlin, 2017). Those immigrants include Vietnamese, Russians, Poles, and Ukrainians, and refugees include Syrian and Afghan (Das Amt fur Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg, 2008).

Dongxuan Center, which is a big wholesale market in Lichtenberg with evident Asian characteristics, has been chosen as a case study. The reasons are, firstly, it was established by a Vietnamese businessman and many workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; nationality is Vietnam. Moreover, the structure of DXC was directly duplicated from the largest covered market with the same name in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, to smooth the Vietnamese immigrantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; homesickness (Huu, 2017). Thus, it is interesting to discover the relationship of its establishment with Vietnamese. Secondly, the majority of the workers are either long-term or recently-arrived immigrants mainly from Asian countries (Dongxuan Berlin, 2017). Also, under the open migration policy in Berlin, DXC provides job opportunities for newcomers who are Asian or asylum seekers from the front-line states. Therefore, DXC is not just a small-scale retail and wholesale space, but also a place to explore how the different groups of people live together. Thirdly, DXC has multiple functions including rental and wholesale of commodities, diets, entertainment, and cultural service in the future Asiatown (Dongxuan Berlin, 2017). Thus, it provides a platform for the possible coexistence of various activities which are varied from time to time. Consequently, DXC was chosen to study the characteristics and significance of pluralism. Under a theoretical framework, this research elaborated several literature theories, conducted a field study in DXC by a qualitative method, and analyzed the results with the combination of the theories. In the end, to get a comprehensive understanding about pluralism, for facilitating the exchange space of cosmopolitanism. 2

Map 1 Location of Berlin (Tao, based on Google map, 2017)

1.2 Research Objectives This research aims to deal with the different dimensions of pluralism through the lens of DXC, which will be presented through the perspectives of individuality, solidarity, and contradiction. Individuality refers to the migration backgrounds and daily activities of each migrant workers, the ways that they shape the small-scale space, and their opinions and attitudes toward pluralism as an individual. Solidarity aims to study the relationships between the individuals, which including the interactions between the same-origin migrant workers and that between the workers and customers in DXC. Also, it includes the connections between the people and the space. More importantly, Rreuker (2010) defines pluralism as â&#x20AC;&#x153;an ideology that allows the existence of contradictions and inconsistencies between its constituent partsâ&#x20AC;?. Therefore, contradiction will be taken account to discover the conflict between the individual aspect. Through studying these three aspects, the research aims to understand the elements of enhancing pluralism and the significance of pluralism in facilitating city development under the changing social environment.

Map 2 Location of DXC (Tao, based on Google map, 2017)

1.3 Main Research Questions

Based on the research aim and objectives, there are two main research questions: 1: How pluralism is enacted in DXC regarding the perspectives of individuality, connectivity and contradiction among the well-established migrant new-arrived migrant workers and customers in the market? 2: How the users shape the physical and social landscape in DXC and what is its relationship with pluralism?

1.4 Research Hypothesis From the three perspectives of pluralism, it is hypothesized that, firstly, the establishment of DXC and the immigration story behind the immigrants are under the embeddedness of a historic transformation, economic opportunities and political environment in Germany. In addition, those immigrants are shaping a social-cultural network to support each other and engage with various stakeholders during the process of migration. Also, DXC and the workers in reverse are affecting the formation of local physical and social landscape of an identity of Asian market because of the diversity and contradictions among different groups of people. 3

Chapter 2 Research Methodology

2.1 Introduction for this chapter This chapter studies several theories related to the research, including pluralism and migration from Bauböck, Heller & Zolberg (1996), Tuan (2001), Fainstein (2005), Hou (2013), Hatziprokopiou, Frangopoulos & Montagna (2016), and Breuker (2010); arrival city from Vertovec (2004), Levitt & Nyberg-Srøensen (2004), and Saunders (2012); ethnic entrepreneurship from Portes (1995), kloosterman, Van der Leun and Rath (1999), Leo-Paul (2007), and MacCallum & Haddock (2016). These theories provide a theoretical foundation for understanding pluralism and guidance for the contents of the field study. Also, the gap between literature and the reality of DXC was analyzed in the research analysis.

2.2 Literature Review 2.2.1 Pluralism and migration Pluralism is defined as “an ideology that allows the coexistence of contradictions and inconsistencies between its constituent parts” (Breuker, 2010, pp.259). It provides a platform to enable people to understand each other and to promote the construction of a tolerant society, which respects and recognizes each culture and tradition. Under the current situation of increasing population movement almost everywhere, it is significant to understand pluralism to promote a sustainable pattern of urbanization. Migrant is one of the groups which is always related to the discussion of pluralism in scholarships because it composes different groups and triggers conflicting opinions among the society. Thus, this research takes migration as the point of penetration to study pluralism.

As mentioned before, there are different opinions on the effects of migrants on a society among the scholars. On the one hand, migrants are perceived as an important group in promoting the reconstruction of decaying urban physical landscape and economy as well as reshaping the context of socio-spatial articulations under the process of neo-liberal urban transition (Hou, 2013; Hatziprokopiou, Frangopoulos & Montagna, 2016). Also, they increase the diversity in a city in the aspects of population, migration backgrounds, business types, street facade, daily activities, culture, and religions. Diversity is significant in encouraging innovation,

attracting human capital, and ensuring equal access to a variety of groups within the society (Fainstein, 2005). Iris Marion Young emphasizes the importance of social justice and urban heterogeneity, and he indicates that diversity of activities that city supports gives people excitement, and social and spatial differentiation of groups should not be excluded in city life (Young, 1990, cited in Fainstein, 2005). Notwithstanding, pluralism is not just about recognizing the differences and contradictions of plural identities but about how can they live together in one place. Furthermore, Sandercock (1997) indicated that the metropolis that tolerates different ethnic and racial background of people could facilitate a healthy long term development. However, pluralism is not equal to toleration but more about the interactions between the individuals. On the contrary, some scholars state that a society with various ethnic immigrants is a locus of social exclusion and spatial segregation. Moreover, the increasing numbers of migration make it more complicated to understand the relationship between culture and space in urban form (ALSayyad, 2001 cited in Hou, 2013). Also, diverse culture is perceived as a problematic breeding ground of competition, clash, and tensions (Bauböck, Heller & Zolberg, 1996; Hou, 2013). Nevertheless, Hou (2013) advocates that all groups of people should have equal rights to keep their language and culture in society. It is beneficial to support the interactions of different population and culture in an everyday landscape as a medium for understanding and transforming conflicts into opportunities by learning diversities. Under this circumstance, the discourses are related to culture and placemaking, which is “the process that turns an abstract, unfamiliar space into a familiar and meaningful place” (Tuan, 2001). The production of a site which provides opportunities for acquiring perception on hybrid cultural identities can sustain and facilitate cross-cultural interaction. Furthermore, if migrants are embedded in diverse identities and cultures during the process of placemaking, they will adapt to a new environment easier, enhance the capabilities of bridging socio-cultural gaps and probe ignorance interactively. Then, they can improve themselves in some ways, and also the dichotomous conflicts between different ethnic groups may decrease.

2.2.2 Arrival City Saunders (2012) elaborated the relationship between migration and arrival cities as well as how migrants have improved in an unfamiliar 5

city by explaining many case studies around the world in his book Arrival City. This contribution provides a theoretical foundation to understand the mechanisms and social-economic networks behind the migrants, which helps to explain what can be done to support the coexistence of different groups in one society. Furthermore, DXC could be an arrival place because it admits well-established and new-arrived ethnic workers, which will be demonstrated in the following research. The book Arrival City explains that migration around the world is a new culture generated between village and city or between one city and another city. Some of the new arrivals settled in the central area of a city first and then moved to urban outskirt where have emerging economy, and some of them would directly choose the place where earlier migrants live as a settlement. After they have settled in a place, they build a connection between them with their hometown and help other countrymen to move into the city. This kind of place is called arrival city, created by immigrants in the metropolis. Saunders (2012) indicated that here are three modes of migration. The first is circular movement, which refers to the migrants who commute from arrival city and home country frequently. The second type is employment-based migration, refers to immigrants who move to a city for professional occupation. Another type is chain migration, which facilitates individuals or a family migrates from one place to another location under the information support and encouragement of the earlier immigrants in the immigration destination area. Nevertheless, there are more than three modes of migration under the current international situation, which reflects in the increasing numbers of refugees, different status of groups, quick population movement, various political stands in each country, and emerging new economics. The conflicting patterns of population movement generate a more plural society and change city landscape every day (European Commission, 2006). One of the evaluation criteria for an arrival city is there is a continuous population flow, and the people has been developed through arrival city and has promoted the city development (Saunders, 2012). The migrant transnational practice is embedded with underlying patterns of structural transformation. A bi-orientation of viewpoint sustains migrants’ transnational life considerably and might further affect on post-migration generations’ outlooks. For instance, transmigrants, which refers to ‘the resident in at least two societies between which they shuttle frequently enough to remain active participants in both, but fully encapsulated

members in neither.’ They go abroad for business regularly twice a year or more. During the process of movement, they receive privileged access from nation states and also improve themselves proactively (Leo-Paul, 2007). The experience of migration has significant impact on enhancing personal capability and widening the field of vision (Levitt & Nyberg-Srøensen, 2004). Also, in an arrival city, the migrants maintain a financial and social relationship with their original hometown through traveling and technology. The capital flow and micro-financial institutions allow immigrants to accumulate economic power and enhance urbanization level in their home. The social connection and hometown associations also provide social support for ethnic entrepreneurs to expand the business network in the host country (Vertovec, 2004; Saunders, 2012). Furthermore, the success or failure of an arrival city is closely related to the physical environment, such as building layout, accessibility to streets and social services, open public space and the density of different land use. Notwithstanding the physical elements are important, it is not equal to the social environment if a place has its individual characteristics and allows the coexistence of different groups of people. Arrival city in Germany is an important topic because of the large numbers of migrants, and some districts have a distinct ethnic identity. Moreover, many refugees arrived in Germany in 2015 have shifted national physical and social landscape significantly (Dege, 2016). With the frontlines of both housing emergency situation and refugee emergency situation, an exhibition of “Making Heimat. Germany, Arrival Country” was conducted in the German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2016. Making Heimat is not only about providing physical architecture but aiming to provide something that migrants and refugees can find themselves and feel the sense of belongings and hominess (Lynch, 2016). Physical space is a carrier that allows intangible relationships happened. The project coordinator Scheuermann describes arrival city is “a network of immigrants within the city” (Lynch, 2016). The significance of an arrival city on migrants is not only about accommodation and financial development, but more importantly, is about their mental situations and social networks among them and between them and the local society. Therefore, this research will study the physical environment of DXC, but more focus on the kinship and solidarity, and contradictions among different groups of people.

2. 2. 3 Ethnic entrepreneurship Ethnic entrepreneurship is defined as ‘a set of connections and regular patterns of interaction among people sharing a common national background or migration experiences’ (Waldinger et al., 1990, cited in Leo Paul, 2007). It has developed to a significant aspect of modern urban life and plays an important economic and social role in ethnic communities. Moreover, it is the place of everyday exchange, which improves the pluralism in a city. As a wholesale market, DXC not only make the financial profit but also accommodates large numbers of ethnic workers within a solidary or competitive environment. Consequently, I studied this theory to know how ethnic enterprises have developed based on the social, economic and cultural networks, and how the dynamic exchanges facilitate pluralism.

Ethnic entrepreneurship has existed for a long time since 1880 as a significant part of every migration. The rate of business creation among ethnic entrepreneurs are related to the intricate interplay between social-economic characteristics of the group, depends on their demand for entrepreneurial services in where they settle and supply of material resources (Portes, 1995). Two theories explain the emergence of ethnic entrepreneurship. One is disadvantage theory, which indicates that most of the immigrants lack human capital such as education, business experience, and language skills, which hinder them from access to the formal labor market. Also, they lack mobility due to discrimination and poverty, which push them to develop informal activities. For instance, the middlemen minority in diasporic communities initially attracted Max Weber’s attention in the early twentieth century because of the remarkable commercial entrepreneurship they exhibited. He termed this entrepreneurship ‘pariah capitalism’ because of the local unpopularity of the entrepreneurial minorities. Oppressed and exploited by host countries, they turned to self-employment for surviving (Leo-Paul, 2007). Another example is from Europe after World War Ⅱ when fast-developing industrial companies required scores of labor forces. Therefore, immigrants moved to these enterprises as a temporary workforce. Subsequently, with the process of globalization and deindustrialization, most of the state-owned companies were bankrupt and closed, which concomitantly resulted in increasing unemployment rate, especially for those immigrants who had insufficient language skills and restricted by regulations. Nevertheless, the migration flow has been

accelerated after the war on a large scale, and also the economic transformation from large companies to small ones resulted in a resurgence of small and medium-sized enterprises. Under these circumstances, ethnic entrepreneurs are inclined to set up a business which is easily portable and allows them to have the connection with their homelands to decrease the risks from financial, health, social and family aspects (Leo-Paul, 2007). Another feature that facilitates migrants to be self-employed is called cultural theory, which explains that ethnic groups are equipped with culturally determined features such as strong ethnic community, dedication to hard work, loyalty and solidarity (Leo-Paul, 2007). This feature is related to migration networks, which is defined as ‘a set of interpersonal ties that link migrants, former migrants, and non-migrants in origin and destination areas through the bonds of kinship, friendship, and shared community origin’ (Massey, 1988, cited in Leo Paul, 2007). Firstly, their decision on the selection of a destination and the adjustment process are primarily affected by ethnic networks consisted by kinship or friendship. Secondly, the system enables immigrants to find a living place or job quickly, and then to reduce the potential economic risk relevant to a new business. Portes (1995) also indicated that social networks could link individuals within communities and organizations, mobilize valuable resources or limited information, and constitute a more immediate setting influencing the goals of people (MacCallum & Haddock, 2016).

Therefore, the rise of immigrant entrepreneurs is embedded in social networks of immigrants on the one side and the social-economic and politico-institutional environment of the country of the settlement on the other. Then, embeddedness has become a vital concept in explaining the success of entrepreneurs in general and that of immigrants in particular. The interaction between the two sets of changes occurs in a broad and dynamic structure of institutions on the national, regional, and local level. Relevant research into immigrant entrepreneurship has to be located at the crossroads of several disciplines (kloosterman, Van der Leun and Rath, 1999). Therefore, this research will discover how the ethnic workers are embedded in the social, economic, and cultural environment in DXC and how the embeddedness reflects pluralism. The immigrant entrepreneurs are affecting cities in numerous ways. On the one hand, it formulates new marketing strategies and new 7

spatial forms of social cohesion, revitalizes former structures, opens up transnational communities, and play a pivotal role in economic activities (Leo Paul, 2007). On the other hand, one of the possible consequences is the production of informal market, which is perceived as an economic problem in many cases. Nevertheless, informal market is situated in a complicated web of economic, territorial, and ideological interest (Helge Mooshammer, cited in Mörtenböck et al. 2015). It is a significant element in the transformation process of world’s economy and society. Regarding economic view, it focuses directly on future development. In the social aspect, it fosters cultures of alternative relations and different values. Also, they listed some cases to demonstrate that informal markets function as shock-absorbers of widening social divisions in many instances. Therefore, it is important to determine how informal market can facilitate city development for a more sustainable economic environment, and how the mechanisms and policies can better be adapted to the articulate informal market with transnational realities (Mörtenböck et al. 2015).

2.2.4 Conclusion for literature From the above literature review, pluralism is neither equal to

diversity nor tolerance. It speaks louder than other unilateral concepts: it is about the coexistence and interactions of various identities as well as a daily changing and dynamic phenomenon. Arrival city and ethnic enterprises provide the place of exchange, promoting the construction of a pluralistic space. Also, the social, economic, and cultural networks between the migrants with the same migration background are significant to study to understand their behaviors. This research focuses on solidarity numerous contradictions among different aspects in a changing small-scale urban circumstance, the points of view from various individuals and their interactions in everyday negotiations.

2.3 Theoretical framework The theoretical framework (Graph 1) shows the connection between each research stage. Based on the two main research questions, several sub-questions have been extracted from the literature review. Then, appropriate research methods were selected for each question to guide the following field study. After the field study, all of the corresponding resources were analyzed to answer the research issues and to fill the gap in the literature.

Graph 1 Theoretical framework of the thesis

2.4 Research methods 2.4.1 Theoretical support of the methods Many scholars have adopted a qualitative method in the research of migration field. For example, Dr. Antonie Schimiz conducted the research in DXC from the point of “The role of city branding in the urban governance of ethnic diversity”, focused on the Vietnamese immigrants’ business activities and their spatial expression in Berlin. She used partially participatory observation and semi-structured qualitative interview as the practical research approaches and interviewed diverse groups of stakeholders. The method and results further helped her to understand and analyze the cooperation, intentions, and constraints underneath the superficial phenomenon, and then to achieve the research objectives (Schmiz, 2016).

Another example is from Dr. Suzanne Hall who conducted the research of “Migrant city - making from the urban margins” in the UK. She looked at design as observation, which is a highly creative process that uses an architectural view to imagine and to observe in a dynamic process in her opinion. On the contrary, quantitative methods may not be useful for small-scale research. She made the map to show the location of the workers’ hometown. Also, she used observation as the primary method during field studies, looked at immigrants’ everyday life and every small scale of the place and how do they shape the streets, and analyzed the interdependency between small scale and big scale. History, materiality, and locality were three most important aspects she focused on in field study. History refers to those immigrants’ immigration background, including the original country, the reason why moving to another country, the methods of obtaining the current job, and the numbers of languages they master. Materiality explained how those immigrants use their space, with the aim of understanding their habits as well as the relationship between people and space. Locality is about how the studied field is related to the outside. Through observing and collecting the information about these aspects, not only did she understand the physical characteristics but also the invisible activities, and the relationship between small and big-scale space (Hall, 2017).

2.4.2 Description of Methods Inspired by the former scholars, this research predominantly adopted qualitative methods, including the online survey, mapping, observation, photography, sketch, micro-stories, structured interview and semi-structured interview, and review thoughts. Also, to research the diversities of the stores and the workers, the research used quantitative methods, which was counting the numbers of shops with different types and the numbers of bosses and employees with different nationalities. I divided the research practice into two steps: online information collection and field study.

Firstly, the online survey included gathering the transformation process of the area in and around DXC over the time and the necessary information of DXC. The former one was referred in Berlin government website called Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung und Wohnen (Senate Administration for Urban Development and Housing in English). Based on the methods of redrawing historical maps from Joan Busquets’s project of rethinkinig urbanistic in Barcelona (El-Khoury & Robbins, 2016), four historical satellite maps from 1928, 1953, 2004, 2017 were selected and traced by AutoCAD. The maps in 1928 and 1953 showed the geographic image before the East-West division, 2004 was the year when DXC was planned to be built, and the map of 2017 showed the current situation. Then, red color marked the places where have been changed to show the historical transformation process. Nevertheless, it was unclear that how the site has been transformed from 1953 to 2004 because the information during that period was not available on the website. The basic information of DXC was collected from its official website called Dongxuan Berlin, which showed the establish background, scope of business, working time, and several German institutions in Vietnam. Additionally, the information was planned to collect in the field study by the structured interview: ask the question of ‘how DXC was built.’ Secondly, the 17-days field study was conducted in DXC in Berlin from 30 of March to 15 of April in 2017. There were two primary objectives during the field study: to answer the research questions, and to apply the literature into practice and then obtain critical thinking about pluralism. The field study divided into three phases: preliminary understanding, in-depth exploration, and detailed description on selected shops. 10

The initial understanding was obtained in the first six days from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. every day apart from Tuesday when it was an official day off, to answer the question 1.2 and 1.3. and 1.4. Firstly, the surrounding environment and building functions around DXC were observed and recorded by photos, and the surrounding transport facilities were showed by photos and mapping. Then, the spatial layout and functions of buildings in DXC were expressed by mapping and photos based on my observation. Secondly, the methods of observation, photography, mapping, interview, and sketch were adopted in each shopping hall to answer the questions 1.3. The nationalities of all of the bosses and employees were collected by asking “Where are you from.” Afterward, I used the quantitative methods to count the numbers of the workers and made pie charts to express the percentage of each nationality of the ethnic workers. Also, the information of the types of shops was collected from each shop sign. Then, two maps were made to show the diversities of stores and nationalities: one showed the types and place of all stores, and another one showed the hometown location of the workers from each shop. Besides, the daily activities were observed and expressed by sketch, including the scene in the shopping area, behaviors of workers when they were working, the ways that people use the space, and the communication among different individuals with the notes of location and time. This process not only gained the impression that how various of the activities is but also helped to understand the space as an entity of exchange. Moreover, I experienced that sketch is a better way to show my identity as an urban researcher and to attract people’s attention, gain their trust and let them approach me proactively. Thirdly, the structured interview was conducted to answer the question 1.4, whereby asking the employees or shop owners following questions: In the second phase of in-depth exploration, to answer the question 1.5 and 2.1, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the workers (Table 2) and structured interviews with customers (Table 3). Moreover, by continually observing and sketching daily activities happened in DXC, the connection between people’s behaviors and opinions on migration and pluralism could be found. In addition,

there was an opportunity of participating a guided tour, which is organized by Huu, who is a 28-years-old Vietnamese social worker in Berlin. He got the permission of introducing DXC to visitors from the owner of DXC and collected the information of DXC from the owner and his father, who has been living in Berlin for around 30 years since he moved to Berlin as a contract worker. This tour facilitated the research significantly because Huu introduced the establishment background of DXC, the relationship between Vietnamese and DXC as well as Germany, and Vietnamese’ cultural custom and business habits.

Next, to digest the information from the interview and the tour, to discover the social-economic network underneath the superficial phenomenon, and to understand the spatial dynamic usage of DXC, four interesting shops were described in detail in the third stage. Based on the preliminary understanding from the first six days, the four special stores were selected: Vietnamese snack stall outside the Hall 1, an Asian food supermarket ASIA 24, a toy and textile shop Pluto, and a Pakistani-Indian restaurant Tandoor Hous. Moreover, the stores are operated by Vietnamese, Vietnamese, Pakistani and Indian, and Iraq, respectively. These differences could exhibit the diversity of DXC, and provide the opportunity of comparing the business habitat, activities and cultural-social-economic network among these workers. As for the detailed implementation, the methods of observation, sketch, and semi-structured interview were adopted to fulfill the task. In the Vietnamese snack stall, the drawings showed how did the sellers change the space varied with the weather, and how the activities varied with the time. In the ASIA 24, sketches showed the spatial layout of the supermarket and dynamic scenes in one day. In Pluto, sketches showed the ways that workers attract customers and the communications between them. Also, sketches showed the spatial layout of Tandoor Hous and the route that food delivering, presenting the relationship between the restaurant and DXC. Besides, the interview questions were asked based on each shop’s situation, which was explained in the following results part. In the end, the results were showed by micro stories, which was inspired by Secchi and Viganõ’s work in Antwerp (2009).

Table 1 Questions for employees and shop owners - phase 1

Table 2 Questions for employees and shop owners - phase 2

Table 3 Questions for customers and visitors 12

Several possible limitations and corresponding solutions were considered during the field study. First is language restriction: most of the workers and customers speak German or their native language instead of English. The solution was asking the interview questions in German and recording the answers, and also asked the help from Lama, who can speak German. Second, it was forbidden to take pictures in some shops, and thus I sketched what I saw. Also, not all of the people would accept the interview, and thus I took every interview opportunity and conducted interviews with those who I was familiar.

2.4.3 Ethical issues During the process of the field study, there were no anti-social behaviors from the researcher. Also, all of the interviewees were non-vulnerable groups, and they hold the right to decide if they accept the interview or not. Also, all of the recordings and personal

information will be kept and protected.

2.5 Conclusion for this chapter This chapter presents a theoretical research framework by reviewing the literature of pluralism, arrival city, and ethnic entrepreneurship. The literature provided guidance for the following research and field study, and they were evaluated with the research results to demonstrate the theories and find the gaps between theories and reality. Inspired by previous researchers on migration issues, the research techniques predominantly used multi-method qualitative methods with the supplements of quantitative tools. The research results will be presented by: historic transformation, different routes based on various perspectives, and the narration of micro stories.

Chapter 3 Research Results and Analysis

3.1 Historical transformation in and around DXC from 1928 to now

Map 3

Map 3 The physical environment in and around DXC in 1928 (Senatsverwaltung fĂźr Stadtentwicklung und Wohnen, 2017)

The area where DXC locates now has been industrial use since 1928. The surrounding high-dense and low-rise buildings show clustered villages, and the low-dense areas present the agricultural land use (Map 3).

Map 4 The physical environment in and around DXC in 1928 (Senatsverwaltung fĂźr Stadtentwicklung und Wohnen, 2017)

In 1953, some new buildings were built as industrial purposes, and few industrial buildings were reconstructed (Map 4): one of the football fields was moved a little bit to the north. The village area had remained the same as that in 1928. In 1966, the most modern shopping center in GDR was opened in Lichtenberg, where became a popular shopping destination.

Map5

Map 5 The physical environment in and around DXC in 1928 (Senatsverwaltung fĂźr Stadtentwicklung und Wohnen, 2017)

In 2004, almost all of the former industrial buildings were reconstructed, while the function was kept as industrial use. The place, which DXC locates now was occupied by a GDR factory called Electro Lichtenberg before (Huu, 2017), was cleared up for the construction. Also, the surrounding villages were transformed into modern high-rise residential apartments (Map 5).

Map 6

Map 6 The physical environment in and around DXC in 1928 (Senatsverwaltung fĂźr Stadtentwicklung und Wohnen, 2017)

In 2017, The map shows the existing physical distribution of the area: the place where DXC is located is industrial and commercial use, surrounded by residential land (Map 6).

3.2 Basic understanding route in DXC The land use in and around DXC has been industrial since around 100 years ago. There are factories of transport and communication facilities, automobile repair, and electrical machines in the surrounding areas. Also, there are shops of car sells. The fenced wall, industrial structures and infrastructures, and some empty factories

Picture 1 Surrounding environment (Tao, 2017)

Picture 3 Surrounding environment (Tao, 2017)

consist the physical environment, leaves an impression that this place is outmoded, shabby and abandoned (Picture 1, 2, 3, & 4). Also, the land use specified the function of DXC is a wholesale market. Nevertheless, the desolate outside environment stands in sharp contrast to what happened inside DXC.

Picture 2 Surrounding environment (Tao, 2017)

Picture 4 Surrounding environment (Tao, 2017) 19

Get off from the tram station Herzbergstr./ Industriegebiet in Herzbergstraße, you can see the main entrance of DXC: the yellow sign “Dong Xuan Center” shows its domain. After walking through the entrance, there are two buildings on two sides. The five-story building on the right side which is called Hause 1 accommodates traveling services and a driving school for Vietnamese, and the office of the owner of DXC. The three-story building with lots of advertising board on the left side is vacant currently, while it is planned to be a Culture House in one and a half year, providing a place for Vietnamese to organize activities such as wedding party and birthday party (Huu, 2017). Walk straight ahead, and there are some barbershop and massage parlors in a two-floor building called Building 2a on the right side. Also, it accommodates a dormitory room, kitchen, and bathroom for Vietnamese workers in the first floor (Graph 2) . Walking straight ahead, there are five main shopping halls: Hall 8, Hall 1, Hall 2, Hall 3, and Hall 6 (from east to west) (Map 7) (page 21). Each

hall has almost the same structure with others: a long corridor with around 2.5 meters in between two lines of shops where commodities are piled up. Each hall has similar types of stores, while some unique characteristics in each hall were founded. Overall, there are six restaurants, eight food supermarkets, 17 barbershops, six makeup and tattoo, 94 textile, 31 mixed articles, eight shoes, 16 leather, eight mobile services, three LED shops, two plastic flower shops, four nail supply, and one sports bar. Also, the decoration outside each store shows the types. For instance, there are pictures of fancy hair styles, tattoo pattern and nail style on the door of barbershops, tattoo shop and nail salon, respectively; colorful LED lights in front of LED shop. Besides, some shops have more than one type of commodities, for instance, the shop called QUIDAT in Room 315 sell both shoes and leather. Due to the different kinds of stores, an employee in DXC and a customer said they could find everything they want in the market (Interview, 2017) (Picture 5) )(page 22).

Graph 2 Guide map of the entrance (Tao, 2017) 20

Map 7 The layout of DXC (Tao, based on Google map and observation, 2017)

Picture 5 Diverse types of commodities (Tao, 2017)

Walking through each hall, you can experience an Asian-style shopping market, which is quite different from the local German-style shopping mall. In Hall 8 (Picture 6), there are a restaurant, food supermarket, hairdressing and makeup, textile, shoes, LED shops, mixed commodities such as household articles and gifts (Graph 3). The barbershop called TANG VIET THUC which nears the entrance is always a popular one (Picture 7). Comparing the market layout provided by Dong Xuan GmbH with the actual space usage, Room 811 has been divided into two shops: nail salon and a snack bar (Picture 8); Room 814 has been divided into

two parts: tattoo shop, barbershop, and a nail salon (Graph 3). Furthermore, there are more than five employees in these stores, and they chatted on the corridor when they had free time or gathered in the snack bar to have lunch. Therefore, this area was often filled with the sound of the Vietnamese language. The textile, leather and mixed articles shops are mainly located in the latter half of the hall (Picture 9) (Graph 3). Also, there is a shop which is not Asian style: Fusion art. You can find exotic hand-made jewelry with low price from Peru.

Picture 6 The entrance of Hall 8 (Tao, 2017)

Picture 7 The scene in the corridor (Tao, 2017)

Picture 8 The nail salon and a snack bar (Tao, 2017)

Picture 9 The textile shops (Tao, 2017) 23

Graph 3 The types of shops & the numbers of the workers in Hall 8

(Tao, based on observation & interview, 2017)

Hall 1 (Picture 10) has been built earlier than other halls. Based on the observation, it was always the busiest one among all halls. One of the reason may because it has more diverse types of shops: there are three restaurants, three mobile service, six barbershop, and four food supermarkets (Graph 4). Due to the identities of those stores, there were always continuous customers inside. A Vietnamese-flavour restaurant (Picture 11) and an Asian food supermarket located oppositely just near the entrance, many customers were tasting Vietnamese meals or selecting Asian foods. In addition, there is an Indian food supermarket, which sells not only Indian ingredients but also the fruits shipped from India (Picture 12).

One of the employees called Prabhat has been working in DXC for ten months, helped his brother, who is the boss of the shop, in selling fruits (Interview, Prabhat, 2017). Whenever customers passed by, he held sliced fresh fruit and said â&#x20AC;&#x153;Indian mango, sehr lecker (very delicious)â&#x20AC;? and invited them to taste. Also, two Vietnamese ladies sold snacks in the corridor: one of them was near the entrance, and one was in front of a mobile service shop (Picture 13). Their customers were mainly the Vietnamese workers and visitors. The diverse types of shops in Hall 1 generate vigorous economic activities.

Picture 10 The entrance of Hall 1 (Tao, 2017)

Picture 11 The Vietnamese restaurant (Tao, 2017)

Picture 12 The Indian fruits shop (Tao, 2017)

Picture 13 Vietnamese snacks (Tao, 2017) 25

Graph 4 The types of shops & the numbers of the workers in Hall 1 (Tao, based on observation & interview, 2017)

In Hall 2, there are 68% stores occupied by textile and most of them are for wholesale only. In addition, there is a favorite Vietnamese restaurant called VI Ế T PHÓ. Due to the inadequate ventilation and natural lighting system inside the hall, other wooden structures have been built outside the main entrance with clean tables and benches as well as plants as decoration, for providing a comfortable dining environment (Picture 14 & 15). Many European customers were sitting outside to have lunch on sunny days. A German lady said she comes to the Center once per week or per two weeks with her family

Picture 14 The entrance of Hall 2 (Tao, 2017)

Picture 16 The commodities in the corridor (Tao, 2017)

to eat in the restaurant as a family party because they like it (Interview, 2017). Walking through the hall, there are many commodities displayed in the corridor. The numbers of “5” and “10” indicate the low prices of the products (Picture 16). Also, there is a plastic flower shop in the north west corner, which attracts many customers with its multiple choices (Picture 17). Two German girls said they came to the Center just for purchasing the flower to decorate their room (Interview, 2017).

Picture 15 The flower shop (Tao, 2017)

Picture 17 The flower shop (Tao, 2017) 27

Graph 5 The types of shops & the numbers of the workers in Hall 2 (Tao, based on observation & interview, 2017)

There is a Vietnamese restaurant with outside space near the entrance of Hall 3 as well (Picture 18). On a Saturday, the workers in the restaurant decorated the tables with white tablecloth and interior space with flower and attractive posters, for preparing a wedding party. Another Vietnamese restaurant called NAM Đ Ị NH QUÁN is in the middle part of the hall, where is an elliptic space. Vietnamese usually went to this restaurant with family members to have lunch. Although this elliptic area is much bigger than other places, it was occupied by the tables and benches from the

Picture 18 The entrance of Hall 3 (Tao, 2017)

Picture 20 Mobile shop (Tao, 2017)

surrounding Vietnamese restaurant and the products from the textile shops (Picture 19). In addition, there are three stores of mobile service and telecommunication (Picture 20). These stores are popular because of the low price, diverse types of mobile products and enthusiastic services of the workers, who are all Vietnamese. It is interesting that you can find Vietnamese CD, movie serious, and magazines which are from 20 or 10 years ago in these shops (Picture 21).

Picture 19 The elliptic area (Tao, 2017)

Picture 21 CD store (Tao, 2017) 29

Graph 6 The types of shops & the numbers of the workers in Hall 3 (Tao, based on observation & interview, 2017)

Hall 6 (Picture 22) is the newest shopping hall compare to others. It is located to the north of other halls, and thus it is invisible if you stand in the main entrance of DXC. Based on the observation, the corridor was empty before 10 a.m. because most of the shops were opened after that time (Picture 23). There were fewer customers than other halls (Picture 23), which may because of its hidden location and few types of shops. There are 60% of the shops occupied by textile, 24% by mixed articles, few leather shops, one mobile service and one Afghan food supermarket, which is owned by an Afghan lady. From the blue and pink dots that show the composition of male and female workers, we can see its differences

Picture 22 The side-entrances of Hall 6 (Tao, 2017)

Picture 24 The scene in the corridor (Tao, 2017)

with that in other halls: male workers are the primary labor force in Hall 6. One of the reasons is those shops are operated by Indian, Turkish, and Pakistani businessmen, and the women in those countries usually stay at home and do housework (Interview, 2017). The particular thing in Hall 6 is there is a sports bar operated by Vietnamese. The room is divided into a bar with two wall-mounted TV in the front for customers to drink beer and watch football matches, and a semi-public room in the back for the bossâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s friends to chat (Interview, 2017). Also, the boss of Mobile Deport bought a self-service coffee machine and put it in the corridor, and those who wants a cup of coffee can pay one Euro and get one (Picture 25).

Picture 23 The scene in the corridor (Tao, 2017)

Picture 25 The coffee machine (Tao, 2017)

Graph 7 The types of shops & the numbers of the workers in Hall 6 (Tao, based on observation & interview, 2017)

Most of the shops are physically divided into two parts: they display the commodities in the main shopping room in the front and have a small gathering area in the back. There are the different usage of these small areas. The Muslim use the small room as daily pray room. An employee in the leather shop Deutsche Mode said: “We Muslim pray five times per day. The first is before the sunrise and the fifth time is after the sunset, I do it at home. Another three times are at 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and around 7 p.m., I do it in that small room (he pointed out the room behind the main shop area) because I have no time to go to the mosque. All Muslim people in the Center go to pray in a mosque outside the Center at around 1:30 or 2 p.m. on every Friday”. Also, the rooms are used for chatting with friends and patrons. Additionally, based on the observation, some workers use the room for preparing and eating meals. Those ethnic workers promoted their culture and business by showing the identity devices, such as Mascot, music, and photographs of the one they believe. Mascots were observed in the shops operated by Vietnamese and Chinese. In addition, different types of music were played in various stores, for example, Vietnamese workers played Vietnamese pop songs, Muslim workers played Quran, and Chinese workers played Chinese songs. Additionally, some of them watched the news from their home country on their computer or TV. Therefore, these images and sounds leave people an exotic experience when walking through the market.

Except for the main shopping halls, there are other functions in DXC. Hall 4 is a warehouse, accommodating commodities for the businessmen in DXC (Picture 26) (Page 34). The workers usually delivered the products from there in the morning. Hall 5 is a place for wholesaling beer trade (Picture 27). Also, a new hall with similar functions as other main shopping buildings is under being planned, located to the right side of Hall 4 (Picture 28). Also, a new hotel (Picture 29), which is located to the south of Hall 3, is being constructed and will be opened in June 2017. The hotel belongs to the property of DXC but managed by a German company, supplies living places mainly for Vietnamese who come to Berlin for business

or traveling (Interview, a construction worker, 2017; Huu, 2017). Besides, there is an entertainment playground in front of Hall 2, provides German snacks and outdoor recreation facilities for children (Picture 30). Additionally, the small building in blue color on the north side is a Pakistani-Indian-flavor restaurant, which offers meals to everyone but mainly for Indian and Pakistani workers in the Center. At last, the building called CHÙA QUÁN THẾ ÂM (Pagoda in English) in yellow color in Map 5 is the place for those who work in the Center to pray on every Friday.

The official business hours are from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day except Tuesday, but there are some exceptions. First, the food supermarkets opened at around 8:30 a.m.: those who were working in the supermarkets came early for delivering and preparing fresh vegetables and other commodities. Also, the workers in Vietnamese restaurants came at around 9 a.m. to clean the room and prepare foods. Additionally, some barbershops were opened at 9 a.m. as well. There were already customers in these shops during that time, wholesaling vegetables or getting a new hairstyle. The rest of shops were closed before 10 a.m., and the corridors were almost empty. After 10 a.m., the employees who work in other stores came successively and moved some of the commodities from inside of the shops to the corridors, for showing their products and attracting customers. By 11 a.m., the corridors were full of products with different types, such as clothes, bags, shoes, gifts, and foods. The former empty halls became busy and crowded, and some places even have only one meter left for people to pass through. There were many customers every day, especially on Saturday and Sunday, when other shopping malls in Berlin are not operated. Moreover, most of the products have lower prices than other places in Berlin, which attracts more people and long-term clients. For example, hairdressing costs 7 to 20 Euro; the price of clothes are starting from 5 Euro; accessories cost one to 3 Euro. During the lunch time, the Vietnamese restaurants were often full of customers, who are mostly European people and Vietnamese. The bustling scenes in the market last until late afternoon, and it became quiet gradually after 8 p.m. when most of the stores were closed (Sketch 1)..

Picture 26 Hall 4 (Tao, 2017)

Picture 27 Hall 5 (Tao, 2017)

Picture 28 The place for new shopping hall (Tao, 2017)

Picture 29 New Hotel (Tao, 2017)

Picture 30 Entertainment playground (Tao, 2017) 34

Sketch 1 Activities in one day (Tao, based on observation, 2017) Sketch 1 Tao, based on observation, 2017

3.3 Composition of the ethnic workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; nationalities Based on the structured interview, the nationality composition of the shop owners and employees in each Hall and total have been concluded. The Graph 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 show the nationalities position in each shopping hall. The lines present hometowns of the shop owners and the bar charts present that of all of the workers. Overall, Vietnamese workers account for the majority of members with 59.52%. They are mainly working in the Asian restaurant and food market, barbershop, nail salon, cosmetic supply, tattoo, massage, and mobile service. However, those shops account for only 25% among the total stores. Therefore, many Vietnamese employees are working in labor-intensive jobs, which has a lower salary for each worker than other jobs. Additionally, those employments in DXC are only operated by Vietnamese, except two Indian food shops. Next, Indian, Pakistani, Chinese and Turkish immigrant workers occupy certain percentage with 14.68%, 6.94%, 6.94%, and 5.36%, respectively. They are mainly working on textile, leather, shoes and mixed groceries retail or wholesale. Also, there are few workers from Afghan, Germany, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Iranians, Palestine, Peru, Philippine and Poland. Consequently, we can see the diverse ethnic groups in DXC. The store sign of some shops also show the nationalities of the shop owners. For instance, Vietnamese shop owners usually use Vietnamese and German or only Vietnamese on store signs; Indian shop owners use Indian and German or English; some owners use

German and English. Nevertheless, no other languages were founded although those shop owners are from other countries. It is hypothesized that the Vietnamese and Indian businessmen in DXC would like to promote their language and culture to others.

In Hall 8, Vietnamese workers occupy the largest amount with 74.29%, followed by Chinese with 10.48%, Indian with 5.71%, Afghans with 4.76% and few workers from Pakistan, Germany, Turkey and Peru (Graph 8). Vietnamese mainly work in labor-intensive jobs as mentioned before. The three LED shops are all operated by Chinese. Hall 1 has the most stores owned by Vietnamese businessmen and most numbers of Vietnamese workers with 79.26%. In addition, 10.37% of the workers are Indian, who are working in textile or Indian food market. The rest of shops are owned by the people from Philippines, Turkey, China, Germany and Kosovo (Graph 9). In Hall 2, Vietnamese occupy around half amount of the ethnic workers, while there are more Pakistani and Indian workers, account for 15.91% and 13.64%, respectively (Graph 10). Also, as mentioned before, Hall 2 has more textile shops. I hypothesize that Pakistani, Indian, Chinese and Turkish ethnic entrepreneurs tend to engage in textile business. Hall 3 has similar nationalities composition as Hall 2 but less Pakistani and Turkish and more Chinese workers. Besides, one of the shops is operated by German (Graph 11). At last, there are less Vietnamese while more Indian and Pakistani in Hall 6 because most of the shops are textile and leather retail or wholesale. Also, there are more diverse nationalities (Graph 12). It may because Hall 6 is the newest shopping area, and DXC has accumulated reputation. Thus, more business people would invest a shop.

Graph 8 Nationalities of the shop owners and workers & business types in Hall 8 (Tao, based on interview, inspired by Dr. Suzanne Hall, 2017)

Graph 9 Nationalities of the shop owners and workers & business types in Hall 1 (Tao, based on interview, inspired by Dr. Suzanne Hall, 2017)

Graph 10 Nationalities of the shop owners and workers & business types in Hall 2 (Tao, based on interview, inspired by Dr. Suzanne Hall, 2017)

Graph 11 Nationalities of the shop owners and workers & business types in Hall 3 (Tao, based on interview, inspired by Dr. Suzanne Hall, 2017)

Graph 12 Nationalities of the shop owners and workers & business types in Hall 6 (Tao, based on interview, inspired by Dr. Suzanne Hall, 2017)

Among those workers, they have different methods of immigration. The first is chain immigration, which is also the majority situation among the workers in DXC. Those immigrants moved to Berlin with family members, for example, an Indian boss called Chua Han who operates Chau Han Tex-Mix said that he moved to Berlin in 1986 with his father, who has been living in Germany since 1970. Because of the long-term residing in Berlin, he has the attitude that he should live as a German and forget about his culture. He comes back to India every year for two months or longer time of holiday (Interview, Chua Han, 2017). Another case is from a Chinese man Li operates a watch shop Leoni import export. He firstly moved to Austria to work in a Chinese restaurant in 1987 because his uncle, who moved to Europe in 1975, recommended the job to him. Currently, all of his family members are living in Europe, except his father and an aunt. He goes back to China around every two years to visit his dad. His children were born and grew up in Germany, and thus they have no attachment bond with China (Interview, Li, 2017). The second group is the workers who were born in Germany, which means they have different countries of birth and ethnicity. For instance, a 22 years old Chinese man operates a textile shop Stormgaard. He was born in Frankfurt and moved to Berlin a few months ago when he rent the shop. His older sister lives in Berlin as well, and his parents are helping him to operate another textile shop in Frankfurt. He comes back to China just a few times, but he can speak Chinese frequently because he needs to communication with Chinese businessmen who are also working in Europe (Interview, Zhang, 2017).

The third type is employee-based immigration. An Indian man moved to Germany with his company in 1998. After that, he accumulated particular business resources and built cooperation with the clients from surrounding countries. Then, he opened the textile shop in DXC in 2006 when he noticed its business opportunity. Currently, he lives in Berlin with his wife and two sons, and he comes back to India for two months every year to visit his family members and friends (Interview, Raj, 2017). The fourth one is only for Vietnamese: some of them immigrated to Germany as a contract worker during the period of east - west Germany. For instance, the boss of a Vietnamese restaurant ẩm thực phố cổ hà nội in Hall 1 immigrated to Berlin in 1982. At that time, he was provided with classes of business operation skills, which laid the knowledge foundation of operating a restaurant in DXC (Interview,

Chi, 2017). Another example is a boss of a Vietnamese food market. He was a contract worker as well, and then he went back to Vietnam after the reunification, while he returned to Berlin again because of the better development opportunities (Interview, Dung, 2017).

Fifthly, more and more refugees move to Berlin in the recent years and try to find a job in DXC. This group can be divided into two types: those who have been recognized as refugees and those who are applying for a refugee status. According to the research in DXC, they come from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Syria. The six group is those who move to Berlin alone without any help. They prefer to find a job from those who have the same nationality as them. Another issue that needs to be concerned is the immigrant workers have different ways of obtaining the employment in DXC. Firstly, some of the recently-arrived moved to Berlin because they received the position information from their family members or friends. An Indian employee called Sink, who is working in a textile shop LADDO FASHION in Hall 6, obtained the job because his brother is the boss of the shop. His family remembers are in India, and he comes back to India in January and February when the shop is closed for two months (Interview, Sink, 2017). Another example is a young Vietnamese employee, who works in a mobile service shop NAM THUY An- Verkauf, has been living in Berlin for nine years and working in the shop for three years. He obtained the job because her mother found the job information from a friend and recommended it to him (Interview, Hau, 2017). Secondly, the job seekers search for a job in DXC directly, and they usually obtained the job from the boss who has the same nationality as them. For example, when a Pakistani employee who is working in a textile shop in Hall 2 looked for a job opportunity in DXC, he selected the bosses who are Pakistani. In the end, he was recruited by a Pakistani shop owner (Interview, Ali, 2017). Besides, it was noticed that the workers and managers in a shop usually have the same nationality, for instance, Vietnamese employees are working for Vietnamese boss; Iraqi employees are working for Iraqi boss.

Thirdly, there are job information boards near the entrance of each hall. It was observed that there were always job seekers looking for a job from the boards every day during the time of field study. They came alone or with one or two friends, looking for the information boards or walking around the Center to find a job. However, only Vietnamese could understand it because the language is Vietnamese. 43

3.4 DXC in different peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perspectives

Map 8

Sketch 2 The snack table (Tao, 2017)

Map 9

Map 10

Map 11

From these four perspectives, we can see the different opinions and impressions on DXC from different people. Vietnamese workers attach a sense of belongings on DXC, and they take the market as the second hometown. The reasons are, firstly, the market was established by a Vietnamese businessman, who provide many Vietnamese workers with job opportunities. Also, the traditional concept of mutual support and hard working affect their behaviors of solidarity. Moreover, the daily communication and group activities enhance their relationship and social network. Except for the above phenomenon which is presented in the Map 8, Huu (2017) answered the relationship between government and DXC: “Actually DXC was built as retail center firstly because the government wants to protect the shopping centers in the city center and they did not allow businessmen to operate more shopping malls in other places. But now the business people in DXC also sell commodities to individuals, such as one piece or two pieces to customers, and the Center becomes a kind of shopping mall as well. There were lots of fights between the government, but the government cannot do anything because the Center has been already built and lots of people are working here”. When he was asked if there are government staffs regularly check in DXC, Huu said that they check every year (one of the institutes is called Zoll Amt). Some people sold living snake before in DXC, but then the government prohibited the activity. Secondly, he shared his opinion on the phenomenon that Vietnamese are mainly working on labor-intensive shops such as restaurant, hairdressing, flower shop, and food supermarket: “There are two business strategies. One is premium price strategy: you create products which are very expensive and stand for particular lifestyle and customers would like to pay for it. Another one is called cost price strategy, which is a different way around: you produce cheap products and reduce the cost, look at supplier offers cheap rent, you start a business which is easy to clean up”. Most of the Vietnamese businessmen select the latter strategy because it is easy to start a business, and their relatives and friends can be employees. Thirdly, Huu was requested to show the place where Vietnamese workers in DXC pray on every Friday (The yellow building in the Map 7, page 21). It is in a four-storeyed building located to the east of DXC, around five minutes by walking from the main entrance of the Center. The Vietnamese words “CHÙA QUÁN THẾ ÂM” mean “Pagoda,” showing the function of the building. Also, Muslim pray on Friday in this building as well, but they go to the second floor, and Vietnamese go to the third floor.

In addition, we can see the shop owners take DXC as a profitable market to operate a small business and earn money. The low prices of commodities bring with them many customers. The fact of diverse nationalities in Berlin increase the diversity in DXC as well. Also, we can see the shop owners have different attitudes on their business. The differences may be produced by market condition, social network, and personalities. In reverse, their attitudes influence the ways that they operate the business, communicate with others, and use the space. Although pluralism is a concept which related to the relationships between diverse groups, it is constructed and presented by each who has different characteristics. In the workers’ view, DXC is an opportunity on the one hand and a challenge on the other hand. It is easier to start a job in DXC than other places because it has low requirement for knowledge and degree. However, it is a problem for those newcomers who have no working permission and even no a recognized identity. Moreover, the narrow social network and few social or financial support aggravate their living burden and further affect mental health and long-term development. In the view of customers, DXC is a popular shopping destination. They are attracted by the various novel products with low price, hanging out in each hall and purchasing what they need. Through the shopping activity, they are affected by the diverse culture unconsciously, which facilitates the understanding of pluralistic society.

Also, these perspectives demonstrated that ethnic entrepreneurship is embedded in country-scale and city-scale socio-economic and political environment and historical transformation. The existence of the Vietnamese ethnic entrepreneurship in Berlin is the production of the Vietnam War, German policies of taking in contract workers, the reunification of East-west Germany and the following bankrupt of state-owned companies, and Vietnamese’ business behaviors. Secondly, the existence of some informal markets is also closely related to the marginalization to the local formal market. Also, their antagonism between government has ended by mutual compromises, which is unusual in Germany where has rigorous regulations and management. Thirdly, we can see the significance of DXC on both well-established and new-arrived Vietnamese immigrants. DXC is not only a market to make the financial profit but a second home to enhance kinship and solidarity. The stories of the enterprises of car selling, restaurant, flower shop and nail supply reflect that the ethnic entrepreneurs have noticed the business opportunities in Berlin and consolidated business power by connecting commercial network 49

with their hometown and the countrymen in Berlin. Then, the information is disseminated to the immigrants, and they started to conduct activities together. Also, those ethnic workers are good at using human resources they have and support each others business. During the process of business conduction, they are establishing a stronger social and cultural network. For example, there are people helping to take visa for new-arrived immigrants; they organize parties regularly and celebrate traditional festivals together. These behaviors make their connection stronger and generate a sense of

belongings, which further help them to improve themselves and their home country at the same time. Fourthly, their solidarity and business strategies are significantly influenced by culture and religion issues, which further affect their field of works. Then, the stereotype that they engage in certain types of businesses is generated.

3.5 Four interesting shops - deeper understanding of pluralism

Graph 13 The route of the four interesting shops (Tao, 2017) 51

After obtaining a preliminary understanding about DXC and conducting the interview on the ethnic workers and customers, I selected four shops to do detailed research. Through describing the various activities that happened in the stores by micro-stories, I tried to connect the workers’ behaviors and their immigrant background, and then to digest their answers on the interview questions. Also, to discover the social-economic-cultural network among the workers, and then to understand how pluralism is enacted in DXC and what can be improved to facilitate pluralism.

3.5.1

Solidarity

and

space

use

Vietnamese snack stall “We sell these snacks a Vietnam temple which is around 20 kilometers from Berlin was burned in a flame, and we want to collect money for it”. -- Sang, a seller (Interview, Sang, 2017)

Sketch 2 The snack table (Tao, 2017)

There are two Vietnamese snack stalls outside the Hall 1: the left one is operated every day except Tuesday when the Center is closed, and the right one is a temporary one (Sketch 2). The right-side stall was chosen to do detailed research because of its particular purpose: charity. The poster (Picture 31) which is put up on the wooden structure behind the stall shows Vietnamese sentences “kêu gọi họ chùa vạn phước bị cháy, mái chùa che chở hồn dân tộc, nếp sống muôn đời của tổ tông, mọi sự công đức của quí v, rất mong sự ủng hộ của quý bà con để sớm xây dựng lại chùa”. It means “Bless the burned temple, and the temple protects the soul of the nation, the eternal life of the ancestors, all your merits, I look forward to your support to build the temple soon”. Also, there is a red cross on the cash box, showing their purpose is charity. Besides, it is opened on weekends only because the sellers have another job on the weekday and thus they only have time on weekends (Interview, Sang, 2017). They prepared the foods at their home for the whole night on Friday and took the foods to the Center, and they also took snacks from the Asian supermarket Vinh-Dung in Room 101 and the snack stall on the left side. From their conversation, it could be seen they know each other very well and assist each other in business.

Picture 31 The advertisement poster (Tao, 2017)

It was a sunny day on April 1. At around 11 a.m., six women took Vietnamese snacks, including fried break stick, zongzi, fried dough twist, sesame dessert, fruit salad and more (Picture 32), from the Vinh-Dung and the snack shop and also from three people who came by car and took some bags of food. They spent over half hour to put various foods on three small tables on the right side of the entrance of Hall 1 and sold it simultaneously when customers came. The customers usually were Vietnamese who were workers in the Center or clients from other places. They stayed for a while after buying the foods and chatted with each other with smiling face (Sketch 3 and 4). On the contrary, most of the European customers had a glance or asked what are the snacks out of curiosity, and only a few of them bought the food to try. At 4:30 p.m., they moved the tables and snacks further inside the canopy to avoid the sunshine (Sketch 5), and they also moved some foods inside the Hall, near the entrance. To close the entrance and have better selling environment, a man took wooden batten and electric drill from his car and built plastic canopy as a sunshade in the front of the main entrance. Meanwhile, the sellers were having rest on the benches in the left snack stall and listening soft Vietnamese music. After the man had built the canopy successfully, the women vendors moved the foods to the original place (Sketch 6). At 6:30 p.m., there were fewer customers, and the temperature was decreasing, those sellers seated on the benches, chatting with each other, and listening soft Vietnamese music. After 15 minutes, they came to the end of the day and collected the money they obtained and put the rest snacks in foam boxes and took them to Vinh-Dung. In the first day of Easter Holiday on April 14, other shops, supermarkets and shopping malls in Berlin were closed, except Dong Xuan Center. Although those Vietnamese women normally sell the snacks on weekends, they predicted there would be many customers in the Center on that day, and thus they prepared the snacks. It was also because they were on holiday and had time to prepare foods. It was observed that there were many Vietnamese people came with children. They bought some snacks and chatted with the sellers for few minutes. The Vietnamese workers also bought the foods there as lunch. Those vendors worked hard, put the snacks in an ordered way in pans, and chatted with people with the smelling face. In addition, it was noticed some European people bought some foods as well. One of them was interviewed and he said it was the first time he tried Vietnamese snack, and it tasted a little bit wired, but he liked it (Interview, 2017). The prices of snacks varied from 1.5 Euro to 4 Euro. At the end of the day, they sold more than half of the foods that they prepared. They counted the income and put the rest foods back to the supermarket.

On April 15, and they came to sell the snacks as usual. Due to the limitation of rain, two workers who work in the Vinh-Dung moved the three tables from outside to the inside of Hall 1 in the morning. At around 11:00, four women came and took the snacks from the Vinh-Dung and another snack stall outside the Hall 1, and prepared the snacks on the tables. Around 20 minutes later, another two women and one man came with some snacks by car and helped others to prepare the foods. Occupied by the tables and snacks, the corridor near the entrance became narrower than before. Moreover, there were many customers on that Saturday, and thus the place became crowded but also lively (Sketch 7).

From the activities happened in this snack stall, the ways that they used the space based on their demands showed a flexible plasticity of the space, which is an important carrier for producing dynamic activities and everyday exchange. More importantly, this voluntary donation behavior and the cooperation for each othersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; business showed the solidarity among the Vietnamese people, which strengthen their social network in an unfamiliar country.

Picture 32 The Vietnamese snacks (Tao, 2017)

Sketch 5 Before the canopy was built (Tao, 2017) Sketch 3 Prepared and sold the snacks (Tao, 2017)

Sketch 6After the canopy was built (Tao, 2017)

Sketch 4 Snacks selling (Tao, 2017)

Sketch 7 Inside the corridor (Tao, 2017)

3.5.2 Workers’ hard working and customers’ exotic experience in ASIA 24 ASIA 24 in Hall 3 is the biggest Asian food supermarket in Dong Xuan Center. Its size is around 14 meters width and 27 meters length. With various kinds of Asian foods, it attracted a lot of customers and partners during the days of field study. There are different types of goods in the supermarket, including fresh vegetables, fruits, meats, frozen foods, bowls and chopsticks, rice, noodles, snacks, ice cream, drinks, ingredients and kitchenware (Graph 14). According to the tour guide’s introduction, most of the fresh foods are from the Czech Republic where has a planting base operated by Vietnamese businessmen, and other goods are from Vietnam or Thailand (Huu, 2017).

The food supermarkets in the Center are always opened early because the shop owners and employees need to stock and prepare fresh vegetables and fruits every morning. At 8:20, some workers came and opened the door. After 10 minutes, few Vietnamese customers came and bought vegetables and disposal meal boxes. There were six employees at that time, delivering foods, cleaning the shop and counting commodities. At 8:50 a.m., two workers delivered over ten boxes of vegetables and fruits, and put them on the corridor, near the entrance of ASIA 24. A female employee was responsible for counting all foods by referring to a list which showed the names and numbers of all foods. The restaurant which is in front of ASIA 24 was opened at 9 o’clock. After 10 minutes, an employee bought around six bags of tea from the supermarket. Between 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., the workers transported more foods from Hall 4, which is a warehouse, to the supermarket by specific carrier vehicle. During that time, there were customers came to wholesale goods, especially bean sprout, leaf vegetables, rice, noodles, and disposal meal boxes. The workers helped them to deliver the goods to customer’s car. It is assumed that they operate a restaurant in another place, and they have long-term business cooperation with the supermarket, and wholesale fresh vegetable every morning. After 10:30 a.m., there were increasing numbers of customers who were not the wholesaler. It was distinguished by language that they were German, Vietnamese, and few were from other places. There were many customers selecting goods, reading instruction of foods, discussing with his or her fellow about foods, or waiting for paying the bill. Employees were working very hard, delivering foods all the time from outside to

inside or in reverse. In addition, those employees were yelling all the time to pass their words to another person. Thus, the supermarket was busy and lively, which shows an Asian style of market (Sketch 8).

During the time of observation, few interviews were conducted to know customers’ opinions about the supermarket. One young lady said it was her first time to come to the Center, and she was excited and curious to see so many types of Asian foods which are different from that in the German supermarket. In the end, she bought some snacks to try. Also, a German couple was interviewed. They said they come to the Center about two or three times per month for different reasons, such as for hairdressing, buying household articles, and Asian foods. They enjoy cooking Asian foods, so they bought tofu, leafy vegetables and noodles on that day. Additionally, a man who came with his daughter was interviewed. He said one of the interesting things he found in the supermarket was there are living fishes and crabs, which cannot be founded in German supermarket (Interview, 2017). From this case, on the one hand, we can see Vietnamese work very hard, and they create a space with Asian phenomenon in their way. On the other hand, local German try exotic foods and discover what they did not know before, and thus they are affected by Asian culture in a certain way.

Graph 14 The layout of ASIA 24 food supermarket

Sketch 8 The scenes in ASIS 24 (Tao, based on observation, 2017)

3.5.3 Communication between the workers and customers in Pluto Pluto is a shop selling toys and textiles. The reasons why I chose this shop to do detailed research are because they have different types of popular commodities, the employees and shop owners were enthusiastic, and they always show the products to their customers, and there were more customers than other toys shop in DXC.

The owners of the store are two Iraq men. One of them called Ali, and he has been living in China for 13 years. He transported toys from China to Iraq and Dubai before, and then came to Berlin with his company. After noticing the profitable business opportunity in Dong Xuan Center, he rented a shop and operated toys and textile business with his brother. Currently, they purchase goods from the cities of Hangzhou, YiWu, and Guangzhou because they have business resources in China. There is another Iraq man who has been living in China for 12 years doing the business cooperatively with the shop owners. He came to Berlin one month before and now helps the owners to sell commodities. The price of all goods is much lower than other places in Berlin, which is one of the reasons why there were many customers (Interview, Ali, 2017). It was a Friday and the first day of Easter holiday. The shop owners

came at 10:30 a.m. and opened the store. Inside the room, it could see that they sell toys, bicycles, racing bicycles, kerchief for Arabian, and suitcase. There were Chinese words in some boxes of toys, showing the production place. The room is not big but accommodates many goods, and thus the shopping spaces are too narrow for people to walk through. Three employees came at 11 a.m. and helped the owners to clean the room and put some commodities outside the shop for the aim of the exhibition. In a few moments, a couple came with their daughter to buy toys, two old ladies bought toys for their grandchildren, and another couple bought a suitcase. After 11:30 a.m., there were more customers in the shop. Based on the observation, most of the customers were parents with children, old people, and teenagers. They bought toys, suitcase, and textiles. The bosses and employees always introduced the commodities for their clients (Sketch 9, 10, & 11). Also, some customers came for wholesaling toys and selling them in another place (Sketch 12). It is interesting that the toys which were exhibited outside attract many customers. Two children were attracted by boxing robots and then played the toys; a girl was curious about another toy, and she played it as well (Sketch 13). Also, more than eight people were attracted by the racing bicycle which was just near the door, and they stopped by and discussed the bicycle. From this case, we can see how the ethnic workers build an economic network around the world through their migration experience. Also, an appropriate business strategy and the characteristics of commodities play a significant role in attracting different groups of people in one place.

Sketch 9 The scene inside the shop (Tao, 2017)

Sketch 11 The scene inside the shop (Tao, 2017)

Sketch 12 The scene inside the shop

Sketch 10 The scene inside the shop (Tao, 2017)

Sketch 13 The customers were playing the toys outside the shop (Tao, based on observation, 2017)

3.5.4 Collaboration among the same-origin migrants in Tandoor Hous â&#x20AC;&#x153;I order the lunch every day in that restaurant. They deliver the foods in my shop.â&#x20AC;? -- Zahid, a Pakistani boss (Interview, 2017)

There is a Pakistani-and-Indian flavor restaurant called Tandoor Hous, which is different from other restaurants in DXC. It locates on the north side of the Center, outside the main shopping halls. Five years ago, the restaurant was established jointly by an Indian man and a Pakistani man, who is also the boss of a textile shop called Leder Haus & Tex Mode in Hall 2. The reason why they established the restaurant was that of massive demand: there are many Indian and Pakistani businessmen working in the Center, but they do not go to Vietnamese restaurant due to different dietary habit. Before the restaurant was operated, they brought foods from home or cooked in the Center. After a flame happened in 2016, most of them do not cook in the Center anymore. Nowadays, there are around 70 to 80 Indian and Pakistani workers order lunch from the restaurant every day. It is how this restaurant is different from others: it mainly services foods for the workers inside the Center. Additionally, there are no or few people who are not workers in DXC go to the restaurant due to its inconspicuous location. The restaurant is composed of a dining room, kitchen, an outside

dining area, and a toilet which is a red color small structure (Graph 15) (Picture 33). Inside the dining room, there are six tables for having meals and a service counter for choosing meals and paying the bill (Picture 34 & 35 (page 62). Near the dining room is the kitchen, which is a long and narrow space with 9.5 meters length and 2.5 meters width, which is the place for three chefs to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner. There is a row of cabinets to accommodate foods and cooking machines, three round pots to fill and cook foods, six gas cookers and one refrigerator (Sketch 14). The space is quite crowded and hot when chefs were cooking.

The working hour is from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.. An employee is responsible for delivering lunch to each shop based on a fixed schedule. This employee has been working at the restaurant for three months as a part-time job, and his another job is an online seller. Based on the observation and the information from him, he arrives at the restaurant at 8:30 on working day, and then goes to fixed customers in the Center as the sequence of Hall 2, Hall 3, Hall 6, Hall 1 and then Hall 8 (Graph 16). He provides five choices of meals and wrote down what foods that customers order. After that, he goes back to the restaurant and tells the chefs the information. At around 1:30 p.m., he delivers all foods to each customer. Then, he collects money at around 3:30 or 4 oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;clock in the afternoon. This unique restaurant tells a story about ethnic entrepreneurship: they set the business for providing service for certain people who have same dietary habitat, culture, and language. The restaurant connects the majority of Indian and Pakistani in an intangible way in DXC and provides a stable and convenient service on livelihood.

Graph 15 The layout of the restaurant

Picture 33 The physical structure of the restaurant (Tao, 2017) Picture 34 Service counter (Tao, 2017)

Sketch 14 Inside the kitchen (Tao, based on observation, 2017)

Picture 35 Dining room (Tao, 2017)

Graph 16 The route of delivering the foods (Tao, based on interview, 2017) 61

Chapter 4 Conclusion

4.1 Pluralism is embedded in different scale The establishment of DXC and the ethnic entrepreneurs’ businesses are closely related to the various aspects in international, national, city and local scale. The international population movements have been existed for a long time and became faster after the World World Ⅱ, and people are moving from one place to another every day. Then, the groups of individuals are no longer limited in few nationalities in one country. Although there are discussions about negative influences of migration and pluralism, the fact is we are facing a pluralistic society, and we need to figure out better solutions to facilitate a healthy urban development. Also, due to the history of the East-West Germany, there were large numbers of Vietnamese who have constructed a well-established migration group living in Berlin now. Due to the open immigration and foreign policies and strong economic strength, Berlin attracts various immigrants from other countries especially developing areas. These old and new arrivals consist the diverse nationalities, which have changed the economic and social landscape of Berlin significantly. Also, pluralism enacts in DXC by various ways because of the diverse groups of people and various activities. However, some phenomenon also present a struggling pluralism, which will be explained in the following parts.

4.2 Space as a carrier of enacting pluralism Pluralism is an abstract and invisible concept, and it needs a physical carrier to present. Ethnic enterprises is a place of exchange, provides opportunities to obtain a perception on the hybrid identities. Firstly, with around 210 Asian-style shops, various Asian languages and faces, crowded shopping area, and low prices of commodities, DXC leaves people an exotic impression. This type of ethnic space generates an enclave in a city, and it may further aggregate more ethnic people in the surrounding areas. Then, this area is differentiated from other places in Berlin in the physical aspect, which is termed as “segregation” in some literature. Nevertheless, this physical segregation is not equal to social one in the case of DXC. As a market, DXC is a typical place where diverse groups of people can get together, and vigorous activities could happen. Also, the customers visit the market, purchase products and taste the Asian foods, and they are influenced by the multiple cultural atmospheres

simultaneously. Therefore, DXC is actually facilitating local people’s acknowledgment on diverse culture and nationalities.

Secondly, the ethnic workers use the space in different ways, which produce a more flexible and changeable place varied with time. For example, they put their commodities, especially interesting and attractive stuff, in an orderly way in the corridor to attract more customers and show their characteristics. Then, the corridors look significantly different before and after the shops opened. Also, the Vietnamese workers sold snacks outside the door for attracting more customers with a good location and built a plastic canopy to keep out the sunshine for a better working environment. In addition, the Vietnamese workers built the extra structure outside the restaurant to provide a better dining space and attract more European customers who prefer to seat outside and enjoy the sunshine. Also, the Muslim use the small room in their shop to do religious-related activities, and some people use it for having meals or chatting with friends. These cases show that the diverse usage of the space, which allows more activities to happen. Consequently, we can say the space and the ways of using the space enhance the plural characteristics. During these processes, the place is not only a production of physical and visible areas but also a process of activities, which transform physical places into intangible one with attachment and memory. Thirdly, the immigrant workers use the space in their ways and exhibit the characteristics of their culture, which endows the market with significant cultural meanings beyond business. Simultaneously, the market becomes a place that supports hybrid identities and the continuation of the immigrants’ original culture. It further helps immigrants to adapt to and understand new environment as well as keep their culture at the same time. Moreover, DXC is a place that supports transcultural interactions. Those immigrant workers and customers interact across national boundaries in various ways in the market: products purchase, hairdressing, and beauty, communication service, Asian-flavour foods, guide tour and so on. The transnational connection that those immigrant workers constructed consolidated their business, and also encourage more immigrants to move into Berlin.

4.3 Solidarity, cooperation, and communication In the large scale, the ethnic entrepreneurs have established an international business cooperation with many countries around the world, such as Germany, Poland, the UK, France, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Turkey, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, China, India, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Peru. They commute between the two countries frequently, purchase commodities, and bring information. During these processes, they not only broaden their horizon and increase financial power but also change the social landscape in the two nations and accelerate cultural communication.

In addition, the migration backgrounds of the ethnic workers verify the theories of arrival city and ethnic entrepreneurship. After the old generation of immigrants has settled down in Berlin, they construct a well-established kinship and social connection with the people who have the same language, culture, and religion. Then, the newcomers could have chances to access to local market and find an accommodation quickly from the recommendation of the old generation of immigrants. Through this kind of connection, the ethnic workers start to work in similar fields of jobs because of the information sharing and existing human resources. On the one hand, they have built robust and stable economic network, which is easier for them to start a business and support each other. For instance, the stories of car selling, restaurant operation, and nail supply operated by Vietnamese present they target their clients as Vietnamese. Then, they can have relatively stable customer resources and business condition. On the other hand, it may bring possible risks such as the story of the bubble tea, and also they produce the stereotype in other peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eyes because they conduct the certain types of jobs. Also, the solidarity among the common-national groups of people enhances the workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; capability. They have improved their financial circumstance, and then they are able to support their family in the hometown by remitting money. Moreover, they have enriched their life experience and broaden their views, which has long-term positive influence on improving capacity. Also, the solidarity makes the ethnic workers feel the sense of belongings through the group activities, daily mutual support, communication, and food deliver. In this sense, DXC provides not only a physical working space but also a place with mental significance. This is important for the immigrants

to build a healthy psychology, which facilitates them to progress continually.

Another point is the ethnic workers in DXC have more diverse methods of migration than that in the description of Arrival City. There are people have lived in Berlin with families for decades, and some of them came with family members. Some workers moved to Berlin by themselves or the recommendations from companies. Also, some of them are refugees with or without working permission. More complex the nationalities and migration background are, more complicated to understand pluralism.

4.4 Contradictions, struggling, and competition Although the elements mentioned above present a harmonious scene, pluralism can be a challenge because there are many contradictions and competition founded in DXC, and pluralism is struggling in everyday exchange.

Firstly, the most obvious one is the various attitudes from different people. Some bosses are satisfied with their current business and life in Berlin, and they support diverse nationalities and migrants. Particularly, most of the Vietnamese workers take DXC as a second home that provides job opportunities, group activities, and social network. However, some of them think DXC is a boring working place. Some workers believe they can achieve success in the future by working in the market, while some of them felt hopeless for their career and segregated from the society. Some customers go to the market very often because they like the various products with cheap prices, while some thought the qualities of products are low and the environment made them feel uncomfortable. From those interviews, we can see each individual has different opinions on what they have experienced. Moreover, these diverse opinions also become one part of pluralism because pluralism is about contradictions among various groups. Secondly, although the boss of DXC has accepted the investment from the other countries of businessmen, it not means the Vietnamese are getting along well with these people. The ways that the advertise DXC focus on the successful stories of Vietnamese people, which neglect the another 40% of workers from other countries. Also, the 64

words on the job information boards are only available in the Vietnamese language, which is a barrier for the job seekers who cannot understand the language. Moreover, according to the interview, the Vietnamese workers do not often communicate with others because of the language barrier, cultural differences, and personal willingness. Consequently, the strong identities that Vietnamese workers eager to present are opposite with the expression of diverse groups, and it further increases the barriers between them.

Thirdly, there are both formal and informal economic activities happened in DXC. Some of the business purchases are conducted in an illegal method, and some food stalls have no fixed shops, and they do not pay tax. The struggle between the local government and DXC is going on in a mutual comprises way: the businessmen need to follow certain regulations, but some rules have been broken in this market. Due to the large numbers of job opportunities that DXC provides, the government cannot easily command the market to do any significant changes. Is it a permeation of ethnic power? Does ethnic group change the local physical and social landscape without

control? When talking about pluralism, we need to consider the balance between each stakeholder, for a long-term sustainable progress.

Fourthly, although every customers or visitors can access to DXC, they cannot communicate with the workers successfully and perceive the space entirely because the barriers of language and culture hinder them from understanding each other. Also, not every shopping hall and every store attract the same amount of customers. Its location and business types affect the accessibility of people.

Last but not least, DXC can be taken as a good example to study pluralism. We can learn the mode of DXC but cannot duplicate it directly to other places because of the different situations. Some of the literature theories were proved, and the gaps between reality and theories were identified. Pluralism is much more complicated than that in literature: it is a dynamic, inconsistent, and flexible process. It is significant to facilitate a healthy social development and create space of cosmopolitanism under the current urban transformation.

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