China's 'Makerspace' Boom and Bust

[Randy W]

. . . or how many new and innovative ways are there to build a ham radio with government support? They were simply called 'hobbyists' back in the day

 

from the Sixth Tone

 

Made in China: The Boom and Bust of Makerspaces

The government hoped makerspaces could help solve the country’s innovation issue — but the push seems to have backfired.

 

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But in 2015, the central government heralded this once-underground movement as part of an ambitious plan to bolster China’s innovation and entrepreneurship. This prompted a stampede of dubiously named makerspaces hoping to take advantage of the investment surge. Now, however, the bubble’s burst, the money’s evaporated, and many authentic, original makerspaces like Xia’s are left in similar straits: with mountains of resources, but almost no one to use them.

 

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On Jan. 4, 2015, Premier Li Keqiang and a team of around 20 scientists and business leaders visited Chaihuo Makerspace in the southern city of Shenzhen — a visit that would change the course of China’s until then little-known maker scene. “Premier Li was very excited,” says the makerspace’s manager Ye Yu. “Looking at the makers’ projects in the makerspace, he kept repeating the words ‘mass innovation and entrepreneurship,’ over and over.” Two days later, China Central Television broadcast the visit. A clip of Premier Li interacting with a robotic arm in the tiny, packed makerspace sent a strong signal: The government wanted makerspaces to be a driving force for China’s economic growth. “Overnight, everyone knew the words ‘maker’ and ‘makerspace’,” says Ye.

 

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As he sits in a café across the road from the Shanghai maker carnival, Takasu explains that makerspaces are hardly the first concept to be whipped into a bubble by Chinese officials and investors: “When they see an opportunity, they want to milk it for all it’s worth. In 2014, it was shared bikes. In 2015, it was makerspaces — now it’s AI.” Grabbing my notebook, he draws a chart showing a slow-but-steady curve — the normal development of technology or industries. He draws another chart: exponential growth, followed by a ruthless nosedive. “This is how China is,” Takasu says. “The capital is exhausted, but luckily, maker culture will be back on track.”