Beyond informality

Abstract

In China, the phenomenon of informal settlements is a consequence of rapid urbanization. Since the 1980s, the construction of labor-intensive industries has accelerated the expansion of urban areas. Numerous traditional villages in suburban areas were surrounded by newly built urban areas and became the so-called “urban village”. People in the urban villages could no longer earn from agriculture as their farmlands had mostly been requisitioned, while luckily the increasing housing demand of migrants enabled them to earn from rental. The villages are empowered to elect village committees and self-organization for public issues, while there are still a lot of things that are difficult to manage by villagers without official guidelines and investment. Many villages lack public services and public spaces, suffer from living unsafety, and social segregation. A policy was carried out in 2009 for regenerating the old towns, old factories, and old villages in the city, in which the urban village is part of the focus. However, currently, the market-led redevelopment approach did not work well on balancing the interest among different stakeholders, for which the housing demand of migrants is always ignored. Some projects even led to gentrification in the city center. Here the thesis aims to explore strategies for upgrading the living environment and mitigating social segregation in urban villages. It reveals the current challenges and potentials of redeveloping urban villages in Guangzhou. Finally, spatial and managerial strategies are given to improve the livability and enhance social integration between locals and migrants in the redevelopment process.