Indexed by:Essay collection

First Author:Wenjian Pan*

Journal:Abstract Book of The 7th World Sustainability Forum - Beijing Summit (WSF 2018)

Place of Publication:China

Discipline:Engineering

First-Level Discipline:Urban and Rural Planning

Document Type:C

Volume:1

Page Number:40

Date of Publication:2018-09-19

Abstract:Urban villages (chengzhongcun) are a unique urban phenomenon in China, in which thousands of former rural villages have been rapidly urbanized, along with the surrounding construction environment. However, the government, developers, and many urban planners suggest that these urban enclaves should be demolished during urban renewal, which can be ascribed to their "chaotic" building forms and "unhealthy" living conditions. Nonetheless, urban villages do not only provide affordable housing and employment opportunities for the massive low-income populations, they also support the operation of city ecosystems. In recent years, informal rehabilitation activities in Shenzhen have been effective at ameliorating the environmental quality of urban villages. Notably, these activities have prompted the government to change their attitude towards these urban villages from previous strong support of demolition to latter advocacy of rehabilitation through multiple approaches. Specifically, the "Zoning Renewal" Plan (Fenqu Gengxin) has been recently initiated in Shenzhen, which has ushered in a policy of achieving typology-based urban renewal by taking into account the sizes, locations, socio-cultural values, building forms, and existing environmental qualities in urban villages. Typically, the collaboration of village-led renovation activities (informal) with government-guided urban renewal programs (formal) is a vital link to form the "Zoning Renewal" Plan. This paper aimed to review the implemented policies and strategies of urban renewal in Shenzhen and discuss the formal and informal approaches adopted in four typical urban villages (including Baishizhou, Nantou, Shuiwei, and Hubei) so as to understand how the informal rehabilitation activities influenced the changes in government's attitudes and policy-making towards urban villages, and how the concept and method of "Zoning Renewal" can contribute to a sustainable, ecological, and resilience-inspired urban development. Noteworthily, the four urban villages adopted in this paper were featured by their distinct socio-cultural characteristics, which had been considered as four critical models of urban renewal in Shenzhen. During the last few years, the wholesale demolition of urban villages and frequent construction of large-scale high-rise buildings in Chinese cities had contributed to the dramatic intensification of the urban heat island and energy consumption. Moreover, numerous low-income people also had to be marginalized, which resulted in a loss of urban diversity and the subsequent degradation of urban adaptability. By reflecting the above-mentioned socio-ecological problems, the experience of Shenzhen can potentially provide insights for the other cities in China to seek more sustainable strategies for urban renewal.

Links to published journals:https://wsf-7.sciforum.net/