Sustainability of the comprehensive improvement of urban villages in Shenzhen
Publication Date
December 13, 2022
Creator
Abstract
Across the globe, urban villages are common yet heterogeneous urban quarters which have extremely high density and complex functions within large cities and they are a typical phenomenon in many Chinese megacities. They are often ‘alien’ to the urban fabric and have their own personality and ethos like a utopian otherworld that fascinates.
However, after several rounds of illegal construction, urban villages were once defined by the government as "cancerous", and then, against the background of the spread of neo-liberalism in China, the explosion of the rental market brought by rapid development of the industry and the ‘billionaire’ villagers brought by resettlement compensation have been the subject of much debate in society.
In Shenzhen, the role and reputation of urban villages has changed after another round of dramatic property price rises. Indeed, a banner in Sungang village saying ‘Resolutely resist comprehensive improvement’ appeared in the news, attracting social and media attention. The comprehensive improvement policy is the focus of this research, with its aim of solving the problem of urban villages in a sustainable manner. Its characteristics include:
• The more emollient approach to solve the living environment problem of urban villages;
• The preservation of affordable rental housing for the city competitive; and
• The nature to develop in a more sustainable manner.
This thesis focuses on Shenzhen's comprehensive improvement approach and identifies the three main aspects of its sustainable development: social, economic and community. The paper examines in detail the policies and history of comprehensive improvement and related issues. A series of questionnaires and interviews were conducted with the five stakeholder groups involved in these three aspects. The research reveals that comprehensive improvement is necessary and irreplaceable in the context of the ‘era of (land) capacity’, however, it still needs to be improved in many ways if it is to achieve sustainable and replicable status.
This research therefore provides an important insight into the connotations and positioning of urban villages in Shenzhen, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the various strategies for the issues facing the urban villages. In addition, the research examines the problems in the implementation of comprehensive improvement and the post-implementation impacts, as well as the problems and obstacles to sustainable implementation. The social assessment and social impact of the new policies that have been previously underestimated are thus analysed in depth, and recommendations are made to facilitate the implementation of new strategies.
Item Type
ethesis
Thesis Type
PhD
Supervisors
Subjects (LC)
Associated Schools / Departments
Department of Architecture and Built Environment (UK)
eprints ID
71797
UoN Repository URI
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Thesis. Pengyu Chen final.pdf
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Full-text
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10.23 MB
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