Wenzhou 2.0: digital-first ‘fashion shoe town’
The Chinese city of Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, reportedly known as the country’s “shoe capital” since 2001, is currently undergoing rapid digitisation, according to local media.
Notably, the existing China Shoe Capital Industrial Park on Fengmen Street (in the city’s shoemaking Lucheng district) is being developed into a digital-first “fashion shoe town”, along the lines of a smart city - or, in this case, a district within a district.
Recent reports have revealed that Fengmen Street now even has its own mobile application, “tailormade for shoe capital people” and thereby intended as a news, recruitment, training, home rental, school enrolment and general administrative service, among other functions.
The app was created to hasten Wenzhou’s industrial upgrading, establish a high touchpoint, data-driven network of local stakeholders and to provide a “new way of life” and enhanced “convenience” for the area’s residents, Chinese media said.
The idea of an intelligent, globally minded “town 2.0” is being pursued by the provincial government in the hope that more significant and far-reaching innovation regarding local leather and footwear manufacturing will be enabled. Digitised workshops and assembly lines, designed to cut costs and increase production flexibility and efficiency, are central to this smart factory-style approach to Fengmen Street’s transformation.
The app furthermore creates a “bridge” between government and enterprises, according to reports, which will allow for the management of employees - including the downloading of their health, housing and social security data - directly from one’s palm. This is so that residents may have a “more secure and comfortable life”, local media said. Bonuses for employees include faster internet when logged into the app.
Fengmen Street’s digitisation was described as a microcosmic example of smart city development in China.
