Xiao Ma

My PhD project, funded by the Quintin Hogg Research Studentship, investigated the cultural complexities of London’s Chinatown through critically examining the notion and practice of Chinatown heritage in global London. Through analysing how different Londoners create meanings about Chinatown, my research challenged the homogenising portrait of Chinatown as a bounded urban space defined by fixed ethnic differences. The title of my PhD thesis is 'Everyday Heritage, Spatio-temporal Dynamics and Place-making: Rethinking the Social Production of London’s Chinatown on the Backdrop of COVID-19'.

Outside academic research, I worked as a journalist and wrote news stories on UK art, culture, and education from 2013 to 2015. Between 2016 and 2024, I worked for China Exchange, a UK-registered charity that aims to create opportunities for the UK general public to learn more about contemporary China, Chinese culture and London's Chinatown. As Cultural Projects Manager and Researcher, I co-produced six heritage projects about London’s Chinatown, all of which centred on a community co-creation approach. I also collaborated with the UK Web Archive, curating the 'Chinese in the UK' Special Collection and the 'East and Southeast Asians in the UK' Special Collection.

Xiao holds a PhD in Heritage and Migration from the University of Westminster (2025), a Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art from SOAS University of London (2016), and a Master’s Degree in Creative Media and Enterprises from the University of Warwick (2013).

For details of all my research outputs, visit my WestminsterResearch profile.