China urban tranformation

Review on piper gaubatz’s paper “China’s Urban Transformation: Patterns and Processes of Morphological Change in Beijing,
Shanghai and Guangzhou”
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REPORT ON URBAN TRANSFORMATION IN
BEIJING, SHANGHAI AND GUANGZHOU
COURTESY: “China’s Urban Transformation: Patterns and Processes of Morphological
Change in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou” paper BY PIPER GAUBATZ
Prepared by: Padamatikona Swapnika, Roll no:15371006
FOA, MIT, Manipal,Karnataka
email id: swapnikareddy15@gmail.com

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Acknowledgement
I take this opportunity to greatly acknowledge the assistance and contribution of people who had faith
in belief of this undertaking, those who listened to my proposal in patience and stimulated the growth
of my project
I am greatful to dedicate this paper to the piper gaubatz who is the author of paper “China’s Urban
Transformation: Patterns and Processes of Morphological Change in Beijing, Shanghai and
Guangzhou”
I am grateful to our project co-orndinator prof.yogesh chandra and thanking him for helping me tame
my overactive imagination and providing a reality check to my project. The experience has been
interesting and rewarding one.
The encouragement of my family has been indispensable. I thank them for their moral, emotional and
financial support, for creating an environment in which following this path seemed so natural.
Padamatikona swapnika
Rollno: 153710006

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Abstract
This paper looks at the urban transformation in china. it displays dynamism under market
transition and globalizing forces. This article provides an analysis of the patterns and
processes of change in urban form in contemporary Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou . this
paper will discuss how development happened in Chinese cities by the economic reform
process since 1979 . This whole paper revolved around three research questions. They are :
1. How did the china’s urban form and structure looked in pre and post mao period? 2. How
does urbanization experience differ across China’s regions, perhaps reshaping the country’s
urban system? 3. How has rapid urbanization played out spatially within cities?
This paper also focuses on patterns of land-use specialisation, circulation and building height,
and processes of planning, urban renewal and privatisation of the real estate market.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS
1. Introduction....................................................................................................................................5
2. Background ...................................................................................................................................5
1.the pre city-1949:.............................................................................................................................5
2.The Maoist City – 1949-78:..............................................................................................................5
3. The Emerging Chinese City :............................................................................................................6
3.Pattern ................................................................................................................................................6
1.Land-use specialisation:...................................................................................................................6
2.Circulation........................................................................................................................................8
3.The changing skyline........................................................................................................................8
4.Process...............................................................................................................................................9
5.conclusion ........................................................................................................................................10
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 : location of Beijing, shanghai and Guangzhou (study areas).......................................5
Figure 2: location of primary, secondary commercial zones and development zones in Beijing...........6
Figure 3 : location of primary , secondary commercial zones and development zones at shanghai.....7
Figure 4 : location of primary , secondary commercial zones and development zones at
guanzhou...............................................................................................................................................7
Figure 5: comparison of industrial changes in the 1980s and 1990s...........................................7
Figure 6: number of high rised hotels and commercial structures in shanghai from 1980-90 .9

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1. Introduction
The urban and economic development is not only transforming the structure of china but also
changed economic, social and political conditions. These urban development also changed the
lifestyle of people and increased investments in infrastructure and development projects. Author
surveyed the morphological changes of Beijing, shanghai and Guangzhou in china (figure 1) for
14 months during 1992- 1995 . author’s research was focused on the changes happened in
patterns of landuse, circulation , FAR, planning, finance and development of urban areas from
1949
Figure 1 : location of Beijing, shanghai and Guangzhou (study areas)
Before 20th century china cities were having walled settlements with old architectural style.
Changes in national economy and urban life actually started from 1949 due to the maoist’s
influence. Economic reforms were started in late 1970 which leads to the development in real
estate and foreign investments. Due to the increase of investments in real estate changes
happened in urban form, urban function and lives at every level. We can see this transformation in
the form of changes happened in city skylines and urban districts
2. Background
20th century China has three types of cities. They are:
1. Traditional city that had evolved more than three millennia
2. Socialist city that was created during maoist period
3. Contemporary city that is emerging in the current reform era
1.the pre city-1949:
The fundamental character of the spatial organisation of traditional Chinese cities was the functional
differentiation and specialisation of neighbourhoods based on clan or place of origin relationships
between residents and/or occupational specialisations. The FAR in these cities were low with crenellatd
walls which was built with rammed earth, brick and wood
2.The Maoist City – 1949-78:
Due to the revolution in 1949, population in urban areas increased which leads to slums and inadequate
streets . By the mid of 20th century, poverty was increased in cities and these cities couldn’t serve the
needs for the residents. So urban planners set the goal to create decentralised and self sufficient urban
form. These cities started becoming production centres and more stress was placed on city urban form
due to the rapid industrialisation . job opportunities were created and housing, service sector started
emerging around the economic activities. People started living in small communities in their respective
sectors and each sector are having their oqn workunits, houses, services within the compound wall.
Cities during this maoist period thought that most urban residents would rarely have any need to travel
beyond the walls of their work-and living unit. Wide monumental streets were running between high
compound walls to connect different communities sectors

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3. The Emerging Chinese City :
Due to the changes in social organisations in the past 20 years, rapid development of cities were taken
place. The establishment of alternative forms of housing tenure, profit making enterprises and industrial
growth based in development zones, as well as increased foreign investment and joint ventures, `high-
tech’ industries, labour markets and regional, national and international tourism have contributed to
increasing district specialisation. Migration, family structure are also effecting urban form.. all these
aspects lead to the new morphology in Chinese urban structure
3.Pattern
The changes in pattern are described in three aspects. They are
1. Land-use specialisation
2. Circulation
3. Building height
1.Land-use specialisation:
Land use and urban life differs city to city. Table 1 tells that Beijing people are enjoying more housing
and living where as industrial areas are dominating more in shanghai and guanghou is balancing both
. Though three cities have same policies now, these differences were happened due to the policies
which were happened earlier.
Commercial enterprises also changes the form of the cities. Through the Maoist period, one of the
primary goals of urban planning in China was to achieve the transition from the `consumer cities’ of
capitalism to the `producer cities’ of socialism. So urban planners began to promote the expansion of
territory sector which leads to increase in industrial areas
new commercial areas started forming in cities. In Beijing, three large commercial areas formed
commercial district. figure 2 tells that Primary commercial centres at centre of city and Secondary
centers through out the cities were started. Development zones were started at outskirts of city
Figure 2: location of primary, secondary commercial zones and development zones in Beijing

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figure 3 tells that Primary commercial centres were started at the main road of the city where as
Secondary centers were scattered through out the cities. Development zones were started at outskirts
of city in shanghai
figure 4 tells that Primary commercial centres were started at the main nodes of the city where as
Secondary centers were scattered through out the cities. Development zones were started at outskirts
of city in guanzhou
Figure 4 : location of primary , secondary commercial zones and development zones at guanzhou
Due to having decongesion inside the cities, industries have been moved to outskirts of the cities in
post mao period. Table 2 and table 3 clearly tells that industries at the outskirts/ suburbs of the city
has been increased from 1985 to 1992.
Figure 5: comparison of industrial changes in the 1980s and 1990s
Figure 3 : location of primary , secondary commercial zones and development zones at shanghai

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Many housing districts have been formed due to the creation of industrial districts In all cities.
When comes to housing sectors in development zones, mid- and high-rise, high-density developments
and low-density `villa’ developments have been observed in outskirts. A third type of housing being
developed in some areas on the urban fringe is rebuilt farm houses constructed by newly wealthy
market farmers, but this is a fairly small share of the total new housing construction.
Villa developments proliferated rapidly in the 1990s in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. These
developments share common features in all three cities: they are up-scale (many include servants’
quarters and multi-vehicle garages), inconvenient to public transport and fortressed behind gates and
walls.
In Beijing, the villas tend to be located outside the Third Ring Road on the north, north-east and eastern
sides of the city. In Shanghai, new villas developed on the northwestern and western sides of the city.
2.Circulation
Changes in economic, social and cultural activities will also have impact on transportation. Houses are
separated from work units which is making people to travel for long distances. These increased the
number of motor cycles and bicycles in the cities in 20th century. inorder to reduce traffic, All three cities
are actively engaged in planning and development for wider, grade-separated, highvolume highways
and more efficient modes of public transit such as subways and lightrail systems. The completion of
these capital intensive infrastructure projects lags far behind the rate of increase in demand for transport
services
Beijing has by far the most well-developed public transit system, with a high proportion of wide roads,
two subway lines long in operation and a variety of for-hire transport options ranging from 15 passenger
jitneys to miniature 3-passenger taxis. Shanghai is rapidly developing its transport systems, with
subway lines opened as of 1994 and major projects to introduce grade-separated, high-volume
highways and new bridges across the Huangpu River. Guangzhou also has a wider range of public and
private transport services than the other cities, including choices of air conditioned or non-air
conditioned buses, express services, jitneys, taxis of all sizes and even motor cycle passenger
transport.
the good thing about this cities in transportation is most of the people are using two wheelers than 4
wheelers which Is decreasing traffic on roads. Table 5 shows that number of people using two wheelers
are more than the number of people using four wheelers in three cities
3.The changing skyline
China cities had the low-rise profile buildings except the temple pagodas before 1949. The low
structures started heightened from 1949. Most Chinese structures were less than three story buildings
till 1960. New concrete and concrete-block structures with simple rectangular shapes started
constructing more than 4 stories height after 1960. While the American public celebrated the erection
of the 110 storeys of Chicago’ s Sears Tower in 1973, Beijing residents looked out upon mile after mile
of uniform structures. The main reason in changing urban form is vertical expansion of cities. By the
1990s, building height became a key marker of identity, success and competition in the built urban
environment.
The construction of large numbers of highrise buildings in the 1980s and 1990s, particularly in
commercial sector, has come to symbolise the transformation of China’ s cities.
Shanghai has the highest profile of the three cities. New high-rise construction is now dramatically
heightening Shanghai’ s skyline, particularly in the central districts within the Ring Road. Figure 6 shows
that number of high rised buildings are increasing since 1985. As the picture demonstrate, there was a
marked acceleration of high-rise construction in the late 1980s. This `boom’ continues to the present.

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Figure 6: number of high rised hotels and commercial structures in shanghai from 1980-90
4.Process
This article describes three of the many processes which are contributing to changes in the planning
of Chinese cities. They are
1. Urban planning
2. Urban renewal
3. privatisation of the housing and real estate
1.urban planning:
Urban planning has undergone many changes in China since 1949, from the Soviet influenced
industrialisation drive of the late 1950s to the most recent emphasis on attracting capitalist investment
in the 1990s. many plans with different approaches have been created to reach estimated GDP of the
nation. In Guangzhou in the 5-year period between 1954 and 1958, during a period of significant Soviet
influence, 10 comprehensive plans were produced. By 1961, a major change in thinking led to the 11th
plan, which called for a major reduction in the scale of the city. Planning ceased entirely during the
Cultural Revolution and was resumed only in 1977 with the re-establishment of the Guangzhou City
Planning Bureau.
Post 1978 is the reform era. Here decentralisation in power happened which leads the transforming the
powers from central government to municipalities. Due to this, more local people have involved in urban
planning process which strengthened the plans.
Commercial districts also got promoted well and expanded. Many public spaces have been created in
post mao era. Plans were opened to public and government started taking suggestions from people.
As for the comprehensive nature of the plans, they typically include planning for overall land use; the
character of specific districts; infrastructural systems including roads and transport, water and
sewerage, electricity, gas and telecommunications; housing; recreation and green areas; environmental
protection; historic preservation; tourism; industrial location; educational, health and other social service
facilities; commercial centres; and development zones
Though china has zoning regulations, height restrictions and controlled development to promote a vision
for the character of the city , we can observe disjunction between the plan and the built form of the city
due to the politics and other reasons
2. urban renewal:
The second major planning process affecting china cities is urban renewal. The revitalisation and
reconstruction of urban districts has been an important planning strategy during several phases of
China’ s post-1949 history. Most notably is the two phases. They are : 1. in the late 1950s and early
1960s and 2. in the 1980s and 1990s.
The first phase of renewal, in the 1950s and 1960s, was largely aimed at providing shelter for hundreds
of thousands of homeless or poorly housed Chinese urban residents. The main strategy of this early

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`redevelopment’ was the conversion of single-family homes and non-residential structures, such as
temples, into multi-family housing. This redevelopment helped many homeless people to have homes
for them.
Chinese inner city started congested during 1980-1990. Many renewal projects have been undertaken
in old settlements. Redevelopment programmes proceed at three different scales: the dismantling and
reconstruction of individual sites, the renewal of areas that line stretches of major thoroughfares and
the dismantling and reconstruction of entire blocks
Due to high land and rent prices, many people moved to periphery of the cities. So government started
redeveloping old structures into commercial buildings inside the cities
Many issues happened during urban renewal process. Conservationists stopped in destroying the old
buildings. Many Fights happened between conservationists and government. So finally now
government developed three motivations or goals in the renewal process. They are:
(1) to preserve and protect traditional forms of housing, commerce and culture;
(2) to provide a higher standard of living for the city’ s residents; and
(3) to increase the profit-generating potential of central city neighbourhoods.
3.privitisation and investments:
The third major planning process affecting china cities is privatisation of housing and real estate
markets, which has contributed both to the changing locus of housing within the city and changing
patterns of foreign and domestic investment in urban development. Due to private investments,
public purpose projected have reduced. Due to long-term lease system, residential lands have been
converted to commercial lands which has a great impact on housing sector. Private people developed
large plots and built heavy structures in it. This make people to move to suburban areas due to hike in
land or rental values.
To privatize state-owned enterprises, an alternative housing system introduced. This happened with
housing reforms that formally started in the mid-1980s. Importantly, in 1988, the Constitution was
amended to allow for land transactions. This change set the stage for the privatization of housing in
China. A more comprehensive strategy was mapped out in 1994, which included rent reform, sales of
public housing, and provisions of affordable housing and property rights. Then, in 1998, a national law
defined the concepts of “economically affordable houses” and “commodity houses.” Local governments
determine prices of economically affordable houses before these projects commence. Such residences
are usually sold for 3% to 5% above total costs and targeted at families with low and medium incomes.
Commodity houses are purchased and/or rented at prices determined by the market. These actions
provided for growth in the privatization of housing. the commodity housing sold has in most cases been
purchased by work units which then lease the apartments to their employees at subsidised rates
5.conclusion
1. Urbanization driven by
a. Primarily migration
b. In-situ urbanization
2. No longer the egalitarian, low-profile, and walking-scale socialist city
3. Linkage between work and residence has all but disappeared
a. End of cellular-type of housing built around work units
4. Unprecedented residential mobility
a. Rising role of real estate development
b. end of work-unit compound
5. urban fringes are merging into cities due to city expansion

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