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Maps
ID240
TitleAdvertising rates in the International Settlement (1931-1943)
Digitized fileNo
Year Start1931
Year End1941
Description

The following maps overlap the distribution of advertisements in Shanghai foreign settlements in the 1930s (data drawn from Shanghai Municipal Archives) with advertising rates applied to the main streets in the International Settlement (1931-1941). 

In contrast with the French strategy of zoning, the Shanghai Municipal Council (SMC) relied on taxation to control the expansion of advertising. The SMC applied a gradual scale of fees in the streets of the International Settlement, depending on their importance, the traffic density and the residential nature of the neighborhood (i.e. the proximity of foreign/elites’ residences). The higher the rate, the more prohibitive it would appear to advertisers. Through that gradual taxation, the SMC’s primary goal was not so much to increase municipal revenues, but rather to preserve residential areas and crowded districts from commercial nuisances. The first scale was established in 1931 and revised in 1941. Due to the war, the last revision projected in 1943 could never be enforced. In 1931, the maximum rate (0,30 taël per square foot per annum, which was considered a prohibitive rate) was applied on the main streets (Bund, Nanking Road, Bubbling Well Road, Szechuen and North Szechuen Roads) which actually were the busiest and most attractive areas in the International Settlement. In 1941, the revision merely consisted in annexing additional streets (Avenue Road, Avenue Edward VII, Avenue Foch, Peking Road, Race Course Road, Weihaiwei Roa, Yates Road, Yu Ya Ching Road) and increasing the maximum rate from 0,30 taël to $0,80 (which mean almost twice the original rate) in order to adapt to urban and financial changes. The successive revisions, however, did not profoundly affect the original pattern. However prohibitive the maximum rate may be, it did not discourage advertisers to install advertisements on the main streets. Overlapping the maps of advertising distribution and rates indeed reveals that many advertisements followed the main streets, even though they had the pay the maximum rate. This suggests that others (non-political) factors may be at work, particularly the rapidly expanding transportation networks.

Sources:  

  • “Municipal Notification No. 4044. Advertisement Hoardings.” Extract from the Municipal Gazette. Shanghai, January 9, 1931. SMA (SMC), U1-14-3267 (1136).
  • Municipal Notification No. 5433 - Advertisements - Revised Scale of fees to be enforced from July 1, 1941. SMA (SMC), U1-4-3914 (022)

 

Keywordsmunicipal ; rate ; prohibitive ; maximum ; annexion ; increase ; street ; advertising ; road ; residential ; International Settlement ; Shanghai Municipal Council ; Shanghai
LanguageEnglish
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