Exploring Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Urban Village Redevelopment: The Case of Shenzhen, China

Determining the Spatial Distribution Characteristics of Urban Regeneration Projects in China on the City Scale: The Case of Shenzhen

Urban regeneration (UR) has been a leading concern in urban studies globally. China’s rapid urbanization has undergone profound urban decay and social contestation, for which UR has emerged as a viable solution. However, UR is not without its drawbacks. It has caused emerging spatial and planning problems; however, few studies have explored the characteristics and issues of UR from the view of spatial analytics on the city scale. This study aims to depict the distribution characteristics of UR projects in Chinese cities and to reveal whether it meets the requirements of urban development from the planning perspective. The nearest neighbor index and its hierarchical clustering, as well as kernel density estimation are used in conjunction to investigate the spatial distribution characteristics; and the relationship between project distribution and each urban development indicator is explored using mixed spatial characteristics analyses, such as buffer analysis, space syntax, and heat mapping. Considering Shenzhen as the empirical study city, this research is based on all officially released data of implemented UR projects between 2010 and 2021. The findings imply that the UR projects in Shenzhen are mostly located in areas with higher economic development levels and accessibility with areas witnessing industrial restructuring and severe urban decay being prone to be designated for UR initiatives. The spatial distribution characteristics disclose the challenges inherent in the mix of top-down and market-driven UR approaches as well as the dilemma of the center-periphery pattern in UR implementation. Furthermore, the contradiction between the growing population and limited land resources as well as the barriers to industrial clustering formation are also revealed. This study enriches the methodological framework for spatial and visualization studies of urban regeneration in worldwide cities and sheds light on how to promote UR in regard to urban sustainability with ramifications for future urban development in other Chinese cities.

Community Participation Strategy for Sustainable Urban Regeneration in Xiamen, China

Urban regeneration is an important strategic choice in promoting urban development globally. Existing research on urban regeneration mainly focuses on the community’s economic benefits. However, less research concentrates on how community participation contributes to the sustainable development of communities. The aim of this study is to explore the community regeneration approach in the context of urban regeneration in a typical village community in China. This study finds that participatory planning, which is mainly characterized by public participation, can be an effective way of communication and cooperation. The collaborative workshops provide a participatory platform for stakeholders and promote sustainable community development. Therefore, traditional planning approaches may need to be changed. The contribution of this article is to develop a collaborative planning approach for sustainable community development, which can serve as a reference for community governance in China and other developing countries.

Formal and Informal Planning-Dominated Urban Village Development: A Comparative Study of Luojiazhuang and Yangjiapailou in Hangzhou, China

Urban villages, namely villages encircled by urban environments, are unique phenomena that proliferated during China’s rapid urbanization process, as well as important development issues for many Chinese cities at present. This article focuses on two planning approaches for urban villages, dominated by the government’s uniform and formal planning and villagers’ spontaneous and informal planning practices, aiming to examine which planning approach is more conducive to urban village development. The two planning approaches for urban villages have simultaneously appeared in Hangzhou, a Chinese metropolis with a combination of high-speed economic growth, a unique geological environment, and a long cultural history, providing appropriate comparative study cases for this research. Two urban villages, Luojiazhuang and Yangjiapailou, located in plain and hilly areas in Hangzhou, respectively, and developed through the two planning approaches were selected as study cases. Primary data were collected based on field investigations, semi-structured interviews, and questionnaire surveys. The villagers’ rental income, shopkeepers’ business benefits, and tenants’ residential satisfaction were investigated to compare the development of the two urban villages. Results indicate that compared with the formal planning-dominated approach, the informal planning-dominated approach achieves continuously rising rental income, more stable business benefits, and higher residential satisfaction, better suited to urban village development. This study contributes to coordinated urban–rural interaction in the urbanization process and enriches the formality–informality debates from a spatial planning perspective.

Influential Factors and Geographical Differences in the Redevelopment Willingness of Urban Villagers: A Case Study of Guangzhou, China

As a crucial part of China’s development strategy, the redevelopment of urban villages and the redevelopment willingness of villagers have attracted considerable scholarly interest. However, the literature to date has neglected the effect of the geographical location of urban villages on the redevelopment willingness of villagers. The purpose of this study is to examine the influential factors of the redevelopment willingness of urban villagers, especially with regard to geographical differences and their effects. Based on prospect theory and 1083 questionnaires administered in 45 selected urban villages in Guangzhou, we use the ordinal logistic regression model to explore the influential factors behind villagers’ redevelopment willingness in inner villages (<15 km from the city center), urban fringe villages (15–40 km from the city center), and suburban villages (>40 km from the city center). The results show that in inner villages the confirmation of residential land rights can significantly increase redevelopment willingness, but in urban fringe villages the number of stories in dwelling houses significantly decreases the willingness. Further, a high level of villagers’ trust in the government, market enterprises, and the village collective each has a significant positive impact on the redevelopment willingness of villagers in urban fringe villages. However, only trust in the government and market enterprises have significant positive impacts on redevelopment willingness in the inner villages and only trust in the village collective is significant in this regard in suburban villages. The effects of geographical differences imply that China’s redevelopment policy should be applied in a differentiated way based on the geographical locations of urban villages.

Regeneration of Post-Agricultural Brownfield for Social Care Needs in Rural Community: Is There Any Transferable Experience?

In the 21st century, rural communities face many challenges, including implications of dynamic population aging, a lack of social care services, and the occurrence of abandoned post-agricultural brownfields. This paper is methodologically based on the findings derived from a set of qualitative in-depth interviews with the key rural stakeholders, explores the decisive factors and limits, accelerators, and barriers governing successful regeneration of the post-agricultural brownfield in the post-socialist environment. We are using the case of the regeneration project of a large-scale former communist agricultural cooperative, located in Vranovice, the Czech Republic, to illuminate how complex and challenging the redevelopment of a post-agricultural brownfield into a social care facility for elderly people is. A wide agreement among the experts in the field of community development exists that this regeneration project can serve as a model example for other rural municipalities that are sharing similar local development issues. Our findings illustrate how important and challenging at the same time are the matters of good governance, the active and long-term participation of stakeholders in the regeneration project, and the real-life introduction of the public–private partnership concept, particularly in immensely transforming the post-socialist countryside.

Assessment and Estimation of the Spatial and Temporal Evolution of Landscape Patterns and Their Impact on Habitat Quality in Nanchang, China

Assessing and predicting the evolution of habitat quality based on land use change under the process of urbanization is important for establishing a comprehensive ecological planning system and addressing the major challenges of global sustainable development. Here, two different prediction models were used to simulate the land use changes in 2025 based on the land use distribution data of Nanchang city in three periods and integrated into the habitat quality assessment model to specifically evaluate the trends and characteristics of future habitat quality changes, explore the impact of landscape pattern evolution on habitat, and analyze the differences and advantages of the two prediction models. The results show that the overall habitat quality in Nanchang declined significantly during the period 1995–2015. Habitat degradation near cities and in various watersheds is relatively significant. During the period 2015–2025, the landscape pattern and habitat quality of Nanchang will continue to maintain the trend of changes observed between 1995 and 2015, i.e., increasing construction land and decreasing habitat quality, with high pressure on ecological restoration. This study also identified that CA-Markov simulates the quantity of land use better, while FLUS simulates the spatial pattern of land use better. Overall, this study provides a reference for exploring the complex dynamic evolution mechanism of habitats.