The collective realms in the Chinese city: Towards an alternative framework for public space

A western discourse of public space, originating in ancient Greece and Rome, has been widely used in architectural and urban research in China and is constantly contested in this geographical and cultural context. The contestation often stems from the cultural differences in understanding and operating the collective realms in Chinese and...

Deconstructing the Superblock: Urban Transformation of the Superblock in Shenzhen City to shape more livable communities

This project addresses the many inhuman-scale superblocks that have resulted from the rapid urbanization of China over the past decades. These superblocks suffer from problems such as poor accessibility and a monotonous urban landscape. This project begins with a review of the development of superblocks in the West and in China, where...

From city branding to urban transformation: How do Chinese cities implement city branding strategies?

Chinese cities have experienced unprecedented economic growth and urban population expansion in the last four decades. However, a variety of social and environmental problems is associated with urbanization. Cities try to grapple with these challenges but simultaneously find themselves locked in an intense competition with other cities. City...

Towards a Livable City for Elderlies: Designing new urban strategies to integrate neighborhood-based services systems with historical area fabric in Changsha, China.

Ageing is a serious problem all around the world, making lots of countries under fiscal and political pressures (United Nations report, 2015), so does China. As country who has the biggest population of ageing, reaching 0.241 billion (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2017), China faces the most severe conflicts between ageing society and...