Understanding the dialogue between urban lifestyles and built environment by ambre.meneghetti

硕士学位论文

城市生活方式与建成环境的对话社区变迁过程中关于环境及场所的探讨

姓

名：琥珀

学

号：1893259

所在院系：建筑与城市规划学院学科门类：工学学科专业：城乡规划学指导教师：赵蔚

二〇一九年六月

城市生活方式与建成环境的对话社区变迁过程中关于环境及场所的探讨

琥珀同济大学 2

A dissertation submitted to Tongji University in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Engineering

UNDERSTANDING THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN URBAN LIFESTYLES AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT A key for the better planning of living places in transitioning neighbourhoods Candidate: Meneghetti Ambre Student Number: 1893259 School/Department: College of Architecture and Urban Planning Discipline: Engineering Major: Town and Country Planning Supervisor: Zhao Wei June, 2019

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学位论文作者签名： 2019 年 06 月 12 日

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学位论文作者签名: 2019 年 06 月 12 日

摘要我们所处的时代是由深刻的城市转型所划分的，这些转型使城市形态和个人的生活方式多样化。今天，人们在城市中的生活方式范围与城市生活质量的范围一样大，特别是在城市和社区的过渡时期。本论文的宗旨是深入了解城市转型(环境和生活方式)与良好居住环境之间的联系。可以说，个人在城市中的生活质量 – 即某个地方的宜居性 - 与其城市生活方式及其生活的环境直接相关。为解决这个问题，就必须先了解城市生活方式与建筑环境的关系。因为此类知识使我们能够评估城市生活方式、建筑环境及其转型与打造良好生活场所的关系。我认为城市生活方式和建筑环境密切相关，它们在循环关系中相互影响。任何一方的改变都会带来另一方的改变。生活方式和环境的改变不仅影响着人们生活的方式，而且还影响着人们对一个地方的感知，并改变着他们对生活的满意度。生活满意度是影响一个地方城市生活质量的关键因素，这就意味着生活满意度对该地方的宜居性起着至关重要的作用。本研究的目的是在中国上海控江路社区转型的背景下验证这一假设。本论文在评估居民生活质量，并得出该地区宜居性结论前，对环境最近的变化及其对居民城市生活方式的影响进行研究。最后讨论“良好生活场所”这一术语的主观性。

关键词：城市生活方式、建筑环境、城市满意度、城市生活质量、良好生活场所、过渡社区

ABSTRACT The era we’re living in is categorized by deep city transformations which have multiplied both the city forms and the way individuals live within the city. Today, the spectrum of how one lives in the city is as large as the spectrum of the quality of urban life, especially in cities and neighbourhoods in transitions. The present thesis is the result of the efforts devoted to understanding the links between city transitions – in both environment and lifestyles – and good living places. It can be argued that the quality of an individual’s life in the city – and therefore the good liveability of one place – is directly related to his urban lifestyle and the environment he is living in. To tackle this idea, it is necessary to first understand the relationship between urban lifestyles and built environment. This knowledge allows us to assess how urban lifestyles, built environment and their transformations are linked to the making of a good living place. I argue that urban lifestyles and built environment are closely linked, in the way that they both impact each other in a cyclic relationship. The modification of either one brings the modification of the other. Lifestyles transformations as well as environment transformations have an impact on the way individuals not only live in, but also perceive one place, altering their life satisfaction. Life satisfaction is a key factor in the quality of urban life of one place, which means that it plays a crucial role in the good liveability of said place. This study aims at verifying this hypothesis in the context of the transitioning neighbourhood of the Kongjiang Road community in Shanghai, China. The recent changes in the environment and their consequences on the users’ urban lifestyles will be studied, before assessing the users’ quality of life and concluding on the good or bad liveability of the place. In the finality, the subjectivity of the term “good living place” will be discussed.

Key Words: urban lifestyle, built environment, urban satisfaction, quality of urban life, good living place, transitioning neighbourhood

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This thesis has been made possible thanks to the help of various individuals, who have helped and supported me through the realization of the thesis. I would first like to thank my supervisor Professor Zhao Wei. She helped me greatly from finding the research subject to the conduct and writing of the thesis. Her help as well as her suggestions were especially appreciated and have been a major contribution to the thesis writing process. I would also like to thank Professor Ingrid Taillandier and Mrs. Emilie Gascon for their help on thesis methodology. During the first year of the program, they have helped me and my comrades further understand the main issues of thesis research and helped start the thesis process. I would also like to thank Mrs. Lucie Morand for her enthusiasm and her input on Chinese culture. Special thanks go to Tan Yu Ying Kristal, Liang Yingye, Liu Zerun and Chen Xi who helped me conduct the thesis surveys. Without their passionate participation and input, the surveys could not have been successfully conducted. To Youssef Khedraouel, I would like to express my gratitude for being a great friend and your much appreciated support on thesis research. To LĂŠonard Desjardins and Pierre Plaquevent, I would like to thank you for sharing the library benches with me. Finally, I would like to thank my family for their daily support and love. Thank you for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and through the process of researching and writing this thesis. This accomplishment would not have been possible without them.

Table of content Introduction ........................................................................................... 14 I. Notions: urban lifestyles, local built environment, good living place ................................................................................................................. 15 I. 1/ Urban lifestyles and built environment ..................................................... 15 A/ Urban lifestyle ...................................................... 15 B/ Built environment .................................................... 16

I. 2/ The relationship between urban lifestyles and built environment.......... 18 A/ Urban lifestyles â&#x20AC;&#x201C; built environment cycle ................................. 18 B/ Impacts of urban lifestyles on built environment ............................ 19 C/ Impacts of built environment on urban lifestyles ............................ 25

I. 3/ Quality of urban life and good living places ............................................. 31 A/ Quality of life in relation to the built environment ........................... 31 B/ Methods of investigating quality of urban life .............................. 34 C/ The importance of investigating Urban Quality of Life in transitioning cities ..... 36

II. Urban transition in China................................................................ 37 II. 1/ Transitions of Chinese cities...................................................................... 37 A/ The traditional city (pre-1949) .......................................... 37 B/ The Maoist city (1949-1978) ........................................... 38 C/ The emerging Chinese city (1978-now) ................................... 39

II. 2/ Contemporary urban development .......................................................... 40 A/ Urbanization, modernization, globalization ............................... 40 B/ Workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; villages and urban villages ..................................... 42 C/ Informal development in contemporary Chinese cities ....................... 44

II. 3/ Urban redevelopment and rectification policies ..................................... 46 A/ Urban redevelopment, urban regeneration ................................ 46 B/ Urban rectification policies ............................................ 49

III. Case study: Kongjiang Road community’s urban transformation ................................................................................................................. 50 III. 1/ Context: Kongjiang Road community ................................................... 52 A/ Access and transportation ............................................. 53 B/ History and identity .................................................. 53 C/ Land use and morphological analysis .................................... 54 .................................................................... 54

III. 2/ Closure and dismantlement on Fushun Road ....................................... 56 A/ Fushun Road’s built environment ........................................ 56 B/ Fushun Road’s urban lifestyles ......................................... 60 C/ Transformation of the environment: closure of stores in Fushun Road ........... 65

IV. Urban transition and good living place ......................................... 72 IV. 1/ Life satisfaction in Kongjiang Road community ................................... 74 A/ Perception of the neighbourhood ........................................ 74 B/ Changes in lifestyles and in the built environment in the neighbourhood ......... 78

IV. 2/ Planning better living places in neighbourhood in transitions ............. 86 A/ From good quality of urban life to good living places in transitioning neighbourhoods ............................................................................ 86 B/ Learning from Kongjiang Road community: Toward better living places ......... 89

Conclusion .............................................................................................. 91 Bibliography ........................................................................................... 92 Annexes ................................................................................................... 97

Introduction Cities are and have always been places of constant transitions. Since the beginning of urbanization, cities have been evolving and developing all around the world. For millennia, cities have been places where happen constant transformations, always creating new urban spaces, creating new ways to live in the city. City transformation, for a long time, has been a very slow and progressive process, slowly altering the peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s urban life as the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s forms changed and vice versa. The recent history has witnessed an acceleration of the transformation process in cities. Since the 19th century, phenomena such as industrialization, urbanization and urban development has changed the face of cities from the historic, traditional ones that slowly evolved for centuries. Such phenomena deeply transformed the cities all around the globe, leading the world into an era of massive urbanization. The rapid transformation of the cities led the fast multiplication of urban lifestyles and urban environments, transforming cities into multi-faceted urban areas where very different individuals live in vastly different places. The 20th and 21st centuries have been an era where such phenomena have been exploding, especially in developing countries. Such countries have experienced more recent and much more rapid urbanization and development processes, resulting in even more phenomena of urban transition, as well as more urban lifestyles and environments. In the context of transitioning urban places, the ways to live in the city as well the environments to live in are multiplying and diversifying. As a result, the liveability of the transitioning places is ever changing as the urban lifestyles and urban environments evolve. The aim of the present thesis is to answer the following question: How does the understanding of the relationship between urban lifestyles and built environment constitutes a tool for the planning of better living places in neighbourhoods in transition? This thesis aims at studying this problematic through the study of a recently transitioning neighbourhood in the Kongjiang Road community in Shanghai, China. First the notion of urban lifestyles, built environment, and good living place will be reviewed, then the recent Chinese urban transitions will be studied, in order to introduce the case study whose phenomena will then be analysed. Finally, the notion of good living place will be assessed in the context of transitioning neighbourhoods.

I. Notions: urban lifestyles, local built environment, good living place I. 1/ Urban lifestyles and built environment All kinds of urbanities, be it villages, towns, or cities, have always had a history of changes. No city has ever remained permanent in its history, in its urban form, or in the way its people live. For centuries cities and urban citizens have evolved hand in hand, changing lifestyles and urban forms in a never ending cycle. This thesis revolves around two main aspects of the city - urban lifestyles and urban patterns. A/ Urban lifestyle In « The concept of lifestyle: a review » (1993), Veal explain the concept of lifestyle as the « distinctive pattern of personal and social behaviour characteristic of an individual or group » (p. 2471). The figure 1 explore the concept of urban lifestyle. It concerns the way urban citizens live in the city. Urban lifestyles can be studied through different aspects, mainly through social, physical and urban need indicators. The social factor concerns how people interact with each other in the city, it is about their social circle, their relations and social networks - family, friends, work colleagues, work relations, etc. It also concerns their personal information - age, gender, ethnicity, religion, job, income, purchasing power, etc. Urban lifestyles also concern physical factors: it depends on the people living place, their working place, the way they commute from one place to another, the transportation mode they use, the places they usually go to, etc. Physical factors usually depend on urban needs factors. Urban needs factors concern what the city’s residents need in terms of urban spaces. It concerns, among others, the urban facilities, the public spaces, and the public services they use and the ones they need. Urban lifestyles are constantly evolving as the cities and the urban residents change.

Veal, A. J. (1993). The Concept of Lifestyle: A Review. In Leisure Studies. P. 247. 15

Fig. 1: Definition of the concept of urban lifestyles (by the author)

B/ Built environment The Oxford dictionary defines the built environment as all « Man-made structures, features, and facilities viewed collectively as an environment in which people live and work ». The Glossary of Land Use and Planning Terms written by the Institute for Local Government 2 specifies it as « buildings, roads, parks, and all other improvements constructed by people that form the physical character of a community ». A city’s built environment is essentially the context in which people live and do their daily urban activities. Indeed, the built environment studies generally apply to a smaller scale than the city scale, to a more local scale. This is, among others, the scale of neighbourhoods and community. The local built environment studies focus on the daily environment of the residents, their housing, the commercial facilities, open spaces, public facilities, etc. they use. The built environment, by its nature, can be considered as “living spaces”.

The Institute for Local Development. (2010). Understanding the Basics Of Land Use and Planning:

Glossary of Land Use and Planning Terms. Sacramento: The Institute for Local Development.

Fig. 2: Definition of built environment (by the author)

I. 2/ The relationship between urban lifestyles and built environment A/ Urban lifestyles – built environment cycle The connection between urban lifestyles and built environment lies in the very local scale they focus on. Both urban lifestyles and built environment concentrate on the daily activities of urban citizens. The closeness in focus closely intertwine the two in a complex relationship. The way people live – urban lifestyles – is related to the places they live and work – built environment. But at the same time, the living spaces are also related to the ways of life of the residents. The relationship between the people’s urban lifestyles and the built environment they live in is thus cyclic. Many authors have discussed the cyclic nature of the relationship between urban lifestyles and urban patterns. The understanding of this cycle is essential in the understanding of urban transition. This cycle between urban lifestyles and built environment can be understood through the concept of environmental psychology. In “Environmental Psychology: Behaviour and Experience in Context”, Cassidy cites two definitions of the concept of environmental psychology. The first one is given in 1989 by Burroughs and refers environmental psychology as “the study of interrelationships between physical environment and the human behaviour”. The second is given by Gifford in 1987: “environmental psychology is the study of transactions between individuals and their physical settings” (Cassidy, 1997, p. 2)3. Cassidy states that the important aspect of both definitions is that they both define a reciprocal process between the individuals and the environment. In other words, this means that both the people’s behaviour – which we call here urban lifestyles – and the – built – environment directly impact each other. This link between urban lifestyles and built environment means that both are closely linked together, in the way that both are impacted by the modifications experienced by the other. In other words, changes in urban lifestyles will affect the built environment, just like changes in the built environment will affect urban lifestyles, which in turn will most often result in the modification of the impacted lifestyle or environment. Cassidy, T. (1997). Environmental psychology: Behaviour and experience in context. Hove, East Sussex: Psychology Press. 3

The figure 3 highlight this chain of effects. Changes in urban lifestyles lead to the transition from the previous lifestyle A to a new, modified lifestyle B. This transition will have a direct consequence on the built environment’s resulting pattern that is associated with this lifestyle. The environment A that was linked to the former lifestyle A will be affected by the transition and will gradually evolve into a new environment B following the lifestyle transition. In the same way, the transition between a former environment A into a new, environment B, will influence the lifestyle A associated with the environment A which will mutate into a new or modified lifestyle B.

Fig. 3: The urban lifestyle – built environment cycle (by the author)

B/ Impacts of urban lifestyles on built environment However, the way one affects the other is not completely equal. The impacts urban lifestyles have on urban patterns differs from the impacts urban patterns have on urban lifestyles. Some of the aspects on which these differ concern the frequency in which one affects the other, the time period required for the mutations to happen, etc. Generally speaking, the impact urban lifestyles have on urban patterns seem more evident and more frequent, as urban spaces are usually planned according to the city’s residents’ needs and lifestyles. Urban patterns, as the built environment of a city, are often a reflection of its citizens and of the way they live in the urban space.

Indeed, the history of urban space showcased a constant evolution of the city space which was very often directly linked to changes in the urban residents’ way of living. Historical changes, social changes, or technological changes have frequently participated in the transformation of city forms. These changes are even more obvious ever since the second part of the 20th century as the urban lifestyles and thus the urban forms have been evolving at a much faster rate than before. In recent history indeed, there has been some significant changes in the way people live and experience the urban space. One example is the changes that happened at the rise of the consumer society. The notion of urban lifestyles has changed a lot in recent history. Since the 19th century, the world has observed a new mode of domination with the emergence of the capitalist society. During this period, economic, politic and social changes related to consumption were observed (Clarke, 2003)4. In result, the society in itself began to organize around consumption. Since then, the meaning of urban lifestyles tilted from a simple prerogative or social status to a pursuit of cultural capital, which encouraged forms of cultural consumption (Zukin, 1998)5. The progressive changes of lifestyles lead to various processes of commodification, and to the production of the consumer and of places of consumption.

These processes in turn became central in the

transformation of the modern city (Benjamin, 1973) 6 : “The transformation of the experience of city life into a kaleidoscopic array of competing lifestyles faithfully reflects the dialectic of dependency and choice characterizing consumerism” (Clarke, 2003, p. 166). Indeed, Zukin’s studies showcase how the commercial culture has shaped the life of modern cities. In the modern period, as the society oriented toward capitalism and consumerism, cities saw the emergence of more and more consumption places: “the production of the late-modern city is internally related to the dynamics of capitalism” (Clarke, 2003, p. 100). The period that started from the early 19th century was indeed the period of the development of department stores, restaurants, shopping arcades and galleries, theatres, etc. Such urban development reflected the development of the commercial culture

Clarke, D. B. (2003). The Consumer Society and the Postmodern City. London: Routledge.

Zukin, S. (1998). Urban Lifestyles: Diversity and Standardisation in Spaces of Consumption. In Urban

Studies (Vol. 35). 6

Benjamin, W. (1973). Illuminations. London: Fontana.

installing itself at the time. Indeed, the commercial places, especially shopping arcades, galleries, and department stores, embodied “innovations in the mass production of consumer goods, in technologies of building and display and in strategies of creating and selling ‘dreams’” (Zukin, 1998, p.3)7. After the Second World War, the late-modernity period saw major economic changes. The consumer society that started to develop in the modernity period of the 19th century continued to grow. Urban lifestyles in the postmodern society became even more oriented toward consumption which had an influence on the form of the city. The post-modern society saw the emergence of the middle class society which were influenced by the modern period’s consumerism. The middle class individuals generally saw a raise of their economic resources. They were affected by the innovations of the industry and by the mass production which improved their purchasing power, allowing them to orientate their lives toward consumption places and goods. The development of the automobile industry became more and more predominant as families started purchasing cars. The developments and resulting changes of lifestyles which happened during the postmodern period fostered good conditions for the transformation from the central metropolis to a decentralized, automobile bound, suburban city (Zukin, 1998). Indeed, the postmodern city, especially in the US, is often seen as the city of the suburbanization. Some examples are particularly demonstrative of this phenomenon, like the city of Levittown (shown in figure 4). The development of the suburbanization in the postmodern city was made possible by the changing lifestyles of the urban citizen, which became progressively more transit oriented, hence allowing the territory related to the individuals’ daily urban activities to expand. In a similar manner, the shift toward a car related lifestyle along with the development of consumerism lifestyles made possible the development of a new urban form. The postmodern city became not only the city of the suburbanization, it also became the city of the shopping centre (Zukin, 1998). Shopping centres from the postmodern era differed from the modern commercial galleries and other places of consumption as those were generally situated in the core of the city, outdoor stores being dispersed in the city. The commercial centre of the postmodernity turned the commercial activity 7

Zukin, S. (1998). Urban Lifestyles: Diversity and Standardisation in Spaces of Consumption. In

Urban Studies (Vol. 35). 21

indoor and regrouped the stores in big complexes which were often located in suburban areas. Such centres were then mostly accessible by car or motorized public transportation. As the shopping centres were located far from the heart of the city, more functions were added such as restaurants and leisure activities to allow the customers to spend more time in it, and to consume more. The previous changes which oriented the urban lifestyles of the city dwellers toward an automobile and family oriented way of life were responsible for the development of the postmodern shopping centre.

Fig. 5: Suburbanization in Levittown, USA

Fig. 4: The development of the shopping centre: Woodfield Mall, Chicago, USA

Another effect of the impact the changes of lifestyles during the postmodern period had on the city form and more specifically on the built environment is the emergence of an urbanism and architecture of sign, which can be observed especially in American cities. The consumerism in the postmodern society was at this time at its peak. The cities started to develop an architecture aiming at increasing the city dwellers’ consumption. In cities like Las Vegas in the US, this can be seen as an urbanism of road-side commercial signs and features which goal was to encourage customers to purchase more “The commercial persuasion of road- side eclecticism provokes bold impact in the vast and complex setting of a new landscape of big spaces, high speeds, and complex programs” (Venturi et al., 1977, p. 8)8. Venturi explains this phenomenon by the term “communication”. Indeed, the architecture of signs deployed in cities like Las Vegas aims to convey a message, of commercial nature. However, in the case of the architecture and urbanism of the postmodern city, the communication takes over space as the sign became the predominant feature of the architecture. The sign no longer solely indicates the architecture or urbanism, instead, the architecture and urbanism becomes the sign. All the elements that appeared from the emergence of the consumer society – the development of commercial oriented planning, the emergence of a new suburban city form, the urban planning and architecture of signs – all stemmed from the changes of urban lifestyles which happened at this period. Indeed, it is the changes of lifestyles that led the city to develop such new forms of consumption to accommodate to the new needs induced by the new ways of living. The development of such forms wouldn’t have been possible if the urban lifestyles of the individuals hadn’t changed. In this regard, urban lifestyles are able of modifying both the built environment and, in an extended manner, the city form. The city form and the urban citizens’ built environment are constantly changing as their urban lifestyles are evolving. This relationship is neither new as it is finite, especially in the contemporary world which is currently still seeing the multiplication of urban lifestyles, and, in result, the multiplication of the forms of built environment and urban forms. However, this relationship goes both ways as the built environment also has direct repercussions of the city dwellers’ urban lifestyles.

Venturi, R., Scott Brown, D., Izenour, S. (1977). Learning from Las Vegas. Cambridge, Massachusetts:

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 23

Fig. 6: Urbanism of signs (Source: Venturi et al., Learning from Las Vegas, 1977)

Fig. 7: Architecture of signs (Source: Venturi et al., Learning from Las Vegas, 1977)

C/ Impacts of built environment on urban lifestyles The environmental psychology, or the cyclic nature of the relationship between urban lifestyles and built environment implies that they both impact each other. As the aforementioned studies have demonstrated, the lifestyles have direct repercussions on the urban environment. Nonetheless, literature showcasing the effect the built environment has on the lifestyles of the city dwellers can also be found. Indeed, many authors have researched on the impact environment has on individual behaviour. One assumption studies generally make is that environment – shape and architecture of one place’s buildings, but not only – can have an effect on the personality and the behaviour of the individuals living there (Mersal Mahmoud, 2018) 9 . A consequence can be understood in the fact that the environment can be used as a way to change the individuals’ behaviours and lifestyles in the design process. Designing the built environment often aims at meeting human vital physiological and psychological requirements which vary depending on the people’s individual lifestyles. The design of the urban environment aims at achieving “the physical aspect of creating spaces that act as content for activities” (p. 5). This means that the goal of the built environment is to provide suitable places for the city users to practice their daily activities. The impact the physical environment has on the users’ behaviour is especially important as the reality of one place will affect the perception the residents may have of this particular place (Lynch, 1960)10, hence affecting the way they interact with it and the way they live in it. In this perspective, “designers make the environment so that the user can do what he really wants or give him other opportunities for actions and reactions and these actions must be determined by vacuum and equipment. It can be said that the function should be appropriate to the available space in the sense that the analysis and design of spaces should be in a manner that achieves compatibility and harmony and balance and flexibility with the function that is required within the vacuum” (Mersal Mahmoud, 2018, p. 5).

Mersal Mahmoud, A. (2018). The Impact of built Environment on human Behaviors. In Environmental

Science and Sustainable Development. 10

Lynch, K. (1960). The Image of the City. Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England: The

MIT Press - Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 25

This means that the environment should integrate human behavioural patterns in order to reach a balanced state between the built environment and the people’s urban lifestyles. There have indeed been projects which have aimed at modifying the environment in order to achieve some desired effects on human behaviour, in areas where the equilibrium was not found. One example is the construction of life circles in China. In China, the main aim of the life circles planning system was to improve cities’ services capabilities under the existing administrative system, as the city changes felt through the urbanization period limited the amount of resources which could not meet the residents’ demands for high quality living anymore (Lou and Liu, 2017)11. Lou and Liu defines the life circle as a concept which refers to the residents’ daily lives, and which essence is liveability. In this regard, the life circle environment includes the living environment, ecological environment, and should provide good conditions for leisure, culture and relationships. In cities especially, it should aim at “providing multiple and fair services, integrating cultural and leisure resources and building both a convenient and comfortable urban system” (p. 4). The Chinese life circle is built as a life service circle with three traits. It aims at: 1. Providing a fair level of service and good living environment for all residents in the vast urban and rural areas within the circle scope 2. Forming a circle structure of service levels, where basic services are provided in a basic circle, while high-level services are located in a highlevel circle. 3. Facilitating accessibility on a walking scale In other words, the life circle is a daily life circle where all daily activities take place, such as shopping, leisure, commuting, social interaction and medical care. In Shanghai, the government planned for a 15-minute life circle as one the main objectives of development in the “Shanghai Urban Master Plan (2015–2040)”. The “Shanghai Community Planning Guidelines (2016)” defined standards for the 15-minute community life circle (shown in figure 8).

Lou, H., Liu, H. (2017). Life Circle Construction in China under the Idea of Collaborative

Governance: A Comparative Study of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. In Geographical review of Japan series B . 26

Fig. 8: Facilities’ distribution of 15-minute community life circle. (Source: Shanghai Urban Planning and Land Resources Administration Bureau, 2016.)

The circle plans for all daily activities to be included within a 15-minute walking distance. The repartition of the various activities depends on the importance and frequency of use as well as on the different lifestyles of the users. The resulting environment is thus composed of several circles, one for each individual, household or group of individuals, circles in where daily life is facilitated and activities and relationships are encouraged. In Shanghai and other Chinese cities, the life circle construction modifies the neighbourhoods’ built environments in order to facilitate and enhance the existing lifestyles of the population while improving the basic services amenities of the area. The planning system deployed for the life circles in China can be reconciled with the movement of the New Urbanism. Although the circumstances in which the projects involved with the aforementioned movement are vastly different, some of the main aims as well as the methods used can be compared. Some of the issues regarded in the Charter of the New Urbanism movement concern the imbalance between the city’s scales, where neighbourhoods are considered as deconstructed and not human oriented. One reason can be found as follows: The predominance of the car industry during the postmodern period (as seen in chapter I. 2. B/) has contributed to the shaping of the contemporary 27

city, orienting the environment to suit motorized transportation (Jacobs, 1992)12. Over time, the environment has become more and more transit oriented and the lifestyles of the people followed this trend as well, thus bringing the cities to lose their identities and the city users to be bothered:

“Today everyone who values cities is disturbed by automobiles. Traffic arteries, along with parking lots, gas stations and drive- ins, are powerful and insistent instruments of city destruction. To accommodate them, city streets are broken down into loose sprawls, incoherent and vacuous for anyone afoot. Downtowns and other neighborhoods that are marvels of close-grained intricacy and compact mutual support are casually disemboweled. Landmarks are crumbled or are so sundered from their contexts in city life as to become irrelevant trivialities. City character is blurred until every place becomes more like every other place, all adding up to Noplace. And in the areas most defeated, uses that cannot stand functionally alone – shopping malls, or residences, or places of public assembly, or centers of work – are severed from one another.” (Jacobs, 1992, p. 338).

The movement of the New Urbanism which emerged in the late 1980s studied Jacobs’ studies as well as Lynch’s13 to try and propose solutions to the aforementioned issue (Handy et al., 2002)14. The Congress of the New Urbanism states in their charter the main objective of the movement as designing the communities in a human oriented manner: We stand for the restoration of existing urban centers and towns within coherent metropolitan regions, the reconfiguration of sprawling suburbs into communities of real neighborhoods and diverse districts, the conservation of natural environments, and the preservation of our built legacy. We advocate the restructuring of public policy and development practices to support the following principles: neighborhoods should be diverse in use and population; communities should be designed for the pedestrian and transit as well as the car; cities and towns should 12

Jacobs, J. (1992). The Death and Life of Great American Cities. United States: Vintage Books Edition

(first edition 1961). 13

Lynch, K. (1984). Good City Form. Cambridge, Massachussets: Massachusetts Institute of

Technology 14

Handy, S. L., Boarnet, M. G., Ewing, R., Killingsworth, R. (2002). How the Built Environment

Affects Physical Activity - Views from Urban Planning. In American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 28

be shaped by physically defined and universally accessible public spaces and community institutions; urban places should be framed by architecture and landscape design that celebrate local history, climate, ecology, and building practice. We recognize that physical solutions by themselves will not solve social and economic problems, but neither can economic vitality, community stability, and environmental health be sustained without a coherent and supportive physical framework. We represent a broad-based citizenry, composed of public and private sector leaders, community activists, and multidisciplinary professionals. We are committed to reestablishing the relationship between the art of building and the making of community, through citizenbased participatory planning and design. We dedicate ourselves to reclaiming our homes, blocks, streets, parks, neighborhoods, districts, towns, cities, regions, and environment.

Designers involved in the New Urbanism movement have tried to bring solutions to the imbalance in the neighbourhoods. Some of the researches done in this context aimed to equilibrate the ratio between pedestrians and cars in neighbourhood environments. The theory that resulted can be linked to the one behind China’s life circle planning system. Researchers believed that organizing the daily activities within walking distance and connecting them network of streets, sidewalks, and paths would encourage the walking activities and decrease the motorized uses (Handy et al., 2002)16. Indeed, other studies suggest that the built environment can have an effect on the travel behaviour of the individuals (Handy et al., 2002; Sung et al., 201417). In transportation planning, “travel” is defined as “trips”, or the movement from one street to another. It is defined by several components, including the frequency, destination, length of the trip as well as the mode of travel – automobile, biking, walking, etc. (Handy et al., 2002). Sung et al. have studied the link between travel behaviour – here, the walking activity – and the built environment in the city of Seoul, South Korea. Unlike most American cities which are mostly organized in a private car-

Congress for the New Urbanism. (n.d.). The Charter of the New Urbanism. Accessed 2019/02/19,

from Congress for the New Urbanism. URL: https://www.cnu.org/who-we-are/charter-new-urbanism 16

Handy, S. L., Boarnet, M. G., Ewing, R., Killingsworth, R. (2002). How the Built Environment

Affects Physical Activity - Views from Urban Planning. In American Journal of Preventive Medicine 17

Sung, H., Lee, S., Jung, S. (2014). Identifying the relationship between the objectively measured

built environment and walking activity in the high-density and transit-oriented city, Seoul, Korea. In Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 2014 (Vol. 41, pp. 637-660). 29

oriented system, Seoul is characterized by high density development and extensive public transportation systems. The density in Seoul, be it the population density or the built density, is very high (Sung et al., 2014)18. Such an environment can be seen as inadequate conditions to encourage the walking activities. Sung’s studies have shown that “neighbourhood-oriented built environment, characterized by density (FAR), landuse mix, and accessibility to public transportation, is associated with increased walking activity” (Sung et al., 2014, p. 656). In a similar manner, Salon et al. have studied the link between environment and biking behaviour 19 . Their study shown that the “bikeability” of a neighbourhood depends on several factors of the environment, which are different according to the groups of individuals studied. Indeed, as they have different lifestyles, the same elements of the built environment will encourage different people – children, adults, elderly, etc. – in different ways. Neighbourhoods with high accessibility to jobs and services will mainly encourage adults to bike, whereas green spaces provide a good biking environment for children, but are not significant for adults (Salon et al., 2019). The studies conducted by Handy et al, Sung et al, and Salon et al, indicate that if there is indeed a link between the built environment of the neighbourhood, however the built environment is not the main variable in travel behaviour. The previous researches showcase that the built environment of one place, especially at the neighbourhood scale, has indeed an impact on the individuals’ lifestyles. They also demonstrate that the effect the built environment’s effects are different depending on the type of users and the kind of lifestyle they have. Indeed, some element of the environment may affect one type of individuals, yet have no effect on another. The cyclic nature of the relationship between built environment and urban lifestyles – or environmental psychology, as seen in chapter I. 2. A/) is thus verified as both urban lifestyles impact the built environment and the built environment impacts urban lifestyles. The acknowledgement of this relationship, along with the notion of quality of urban life can be used in the planning of better living places.

Sung, H., Lee, S., Jung, S. (2014). Identifying the relationship between the objectively measured

built environment and walking activity in the high-density and transit-oriented city, Seoul, Korea. In Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 2014 (Vol. 41, pp. 637 – 660). 19

Salon, D., Wang, K., Wigginton Conway, M., Roth, N. (2019). Heterogeneity in the relationship

between biking and the built environment. In THE JOURNAL OF TRANSPORT AND LAND USE (Vol. 12 No 1, pp. 99-126). 30

I. 3/ Quality of urban life and good living places A/ Quality of life in relation to the built environment Marans and Stimson define the term place as the geography or environment of individuals, such as households, neighbourhoods, communities (Marans and Stimson, 2011)20. Living places in this regard can be defined as the places where individuals live their daily lives, including not only households but all places included in the built environment which are used daily by the occupants of one neighbourhood, community or area. Good living places can be understood in living places presenting a good quality of life (QOL), especially a good quality of urban life (QOUL). The notion of quality of life refers to a very complex and multi-faceted concept. It embraces both the material aspects of life, such as the level of living, the availability of physical and social infrastructural facilities, but also the less tangible aspects of life, including, among others, good health and opportunities for recreation (Lim et al., 1999)21. However, quality of life is not a fixed concept and many authors developed their own definition of quality of life, some including some basics elements of life like rights, privileges and the decision making role in society. Hence, quality of life is highly subjective, depending on each individual or group of individual. Moreover, it can be influenced by many variables, including the environment in which urban citizen live. Indeed, it is irrefutable that where one lives will have an influence on the perceived quality of life of an individual (Marans and Stimson, 2011; Lim et al., 1999) as each place has particular environmental characteristics, which in turn impacts the way residents both live in and see their living place. In this regard, the quality of life in relation to the environment â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the place â&#x20AC;&#x201C; becomes a more focused concept, the quality of urban life. Quality of urban life, just like quality of anything, englobes both a subjective dimension that is perceptual as well as an objective reality (Marans and Stimson, 2011). In this perspective, the objective reality can be understood as the physicality of the environment people live in â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in other 20

Marans, R. W., Stimson, R. J. (2011). Investigating Quality of Urban Life : Theory, Methods and

Empirical Research. Dordrecht Heildeberg London New York: Springer. 21

Lim, L. Y., Yuen, B., Low, C. (1999). Urban Quality of Life - Critical Issues and Options. Singapore:

School of Building and Real Estate National University of Singapore. 31

words, the built environment, whereas the subjective dimension rather concerns the perception of this environment by the residents. Some elements contribute to the perception of one place and therefore to its quality, like the image of this place held by the residents, and the satisfaction they feel regarding that place.

Fig. 9: Marans and Stimson's model of quality of urban life

The objective reality, or the built environment has a high importance in the perception of the residents’ quality of life (Marans and Stimson, 2011) 22 . Several studies have shown that the physical environment and its different characteristics impacts the life satisfaction of different groups of individuals (Cao, 201623; Feng et al., 201824). Feng et al.’s studies on the impact of the built environment on the quality of life of elderly people have shown that a neighbourhood possessing good features which facilitate the elderly’s life activities usually have a good impact of their life satisfaction, and consequently their quality of urban life. More generally, Cao’s studies reflect on the impact of neighbourhood design on life satisfaction. Cao explains that the physical environment has a direct impact of the people’s life satisfaction, not only because of its objective characteristics – such as the amount of open spaces or green spaces, the 22

Marans, R. W., Stimson, R. J. (2011). Investigating Quality of Urban Life : Theory, Methods and

Empirical Research. Dordrecht Heildeberg London New York: Springer. 23

Cao, X. (2016). How does neighborhood design affect life satisfaction? Evidence from Twin Cities.

In Travel Behaviour and Society (Vol. 5). 24

Feng, J., Tang, S., Chuai, X. (2018). The impact of neighbourhood environments on quality of life of

elderly people: Evidence from Nanjing, China. In Urban Studies (Vol. 55). 32

density of the area, the land-use of the neighbourhood and so on – but because it has an effect on the residents’ perception of the environment. Indeed, the perception of the objective reality – the place – is another component of life satisfaction. The perception of one place or environment refers to the image which the residents have of this particular place. The image of a place, be it at the city scale or the small neighbourhood scale, is also a highly subjective concept. Every city citizen may have a different image of the place they live in. The good legibility of the place’s image25 is crucial in the city setting as a legible place can be a good setting for a good quality of urban life. In this perspective, the legibility of a place can be used as a tool to rebuild our cities (Lynch, 1960)26. It can be argued that a good legibility of the environment image contributes to the quality of urban life of it. In this regard, and to evaluate the legibility of a place, some qualities must be found (Lynch, 1960). The image must be sufficient enough to allow the individual to operate within his environment to the desired extent. To do so, the map of the environment must be readable, meaning that it must be clear enough to allow minimal mental effort. The image must also be safe, meaning that there must be enough clues and possible alternative actions so that the risk of failure can be low. Finally, the image must be communicable to other individuals – the image must be easily recognized by anyone. However, the perception of one place regarding QOUL is not only defined by the legibility of its image. Another factor which also belongs to the perception of a place is often used to evaluate quality of urban life. This factor is the satisfaction of the residents of the place. Indeed, the quality of life studies are often linked to the concepts of satisfaction, happiness, well-being and it is often hard to differentiate them (Marans and Stimson, 2011)27. However, the concept of satisfaction is most often used compared to the others as it is deemed a more plausible and realistic objective to use, as satisfaction is defined as a more definable and impliable experience judgement or cognitive experience, whereas happiness is defined as a short-term mood of elation or gaiety 25

In The Image of the City (1960), Kevin Lynch defines the legibility of the city as whether the image

of the city can be clear and easily identified by all. 26

Lynch, K. (1960). The Image of the City. Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England: The MIT

Press - Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 27

Marans, R. W., Stimson, R. J. (2011). Investigating Quality of Urban Life : Theory, Methods and

Empirical Research. Dordrecht Heildeberg London New York: Springer. 33

(Campbell et al., 1967)28. Satisfaction is thus a very important element in the assessment of QOUL. Indeed, according to Campbellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s model, the quality of life is directly linked to the life satisfaction. Campbell defines the quality of life as the individual perceived level of satisfaction with life, which is related to other levels of satisfaction in various life domains, such as work, family, residential environment, etc. His model of quality of life, as shown in figure 4, establish that satisfaction with life in a particular domain is dependent on an individual perception of the objective environment and on an evaluation of experiences in particular life domains. In other words, the life satisfaction and consequently the quality of urban life can be assessed by taking into consideration the objective reality of the environment, its perceived image and the satisfaction associated to it.

Fig. 10: Campbell's model of quality of life

B/ Methods of investigating quality of urban life Quality of life and quality of urban life as defined in Campbellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s model is highly subjective as it partially depends on individual perceptions and own satisfaction. Evaluating quality of (urban) life is thus delicate. Without a defined framework, the subjectivity of the investigation subject could make the results inoperable. Different methods to investigate quality of life can be found in literature. Lim et al. establish three approaches to evaluate quality of life (Lim et al., 1999)29:

Campbell, A., Converse, P. E., Rodgers, W. L. (1976). The Quality of American Life: Perceptions,

Evaluations, and Satisfactions. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. 29

Lim, L. Y., Yuen, B., Low, C. (1999). Urban Quality of Life - Critical Issues and Options.

Singapore: School of Building and Real Estate National University of Singapore. 34

1. The first approach aims at measure QOL by describing the characteristics of the good life dictated by normative ideals. These ideals are often based on religious, philosophical or other systems. 2. The second approach defines QOL by the satisfaction of individuals’ preferences. The assumption is that people will select things that enhance their quality of life within the constraints of their resources. 3. The third approach defines QOL in terms of experience of individuals. The idea is that if a person experiences his or her life as good and desirable, it is assumed to be so. This approach needs factors such as joy, pleasure, life satisfaction, happiness, etc. In regard of quality of urban life, there is also some measuring frameworks that can be found in literature, some of them joining the approaches proposed by Lim et al.. Marans and Stimson establish two main approaches to measure QOUL (Marans and Stimson, 2011)30. 1. The first approach is an objective approach. It consists in the analysis and the reporting of secondary data. Secondary data are aggregate data at different geographic and spatial scales, that are not collected directly, but are rather available from secondary sources, like official governmental sources and others. Secondary data include census, official mapping, etc. This approach is often associated with social indicator researches. 2. The second approach a subjective approach. It consists in collecting primary data which are collected directly from the source using social surveys methods. In this approach’s perspective, the focus of the surveys is on the people’s behaviour or evaluations of aspects of QOL and QOUL. Lim et al.’s second and third approaches are close to Marans and Stimson’s second approaches as they both target primary data and as the focus of the investigation in both methods is the individuals, their experiences and their satisfaction. It can be argued that one approach or another may be more or less effective in different situations and for different group of individuals. However, in today’s changing cities, we can assume that

Marans, R. W., Stimson, R. J. (2011). Investigating Quality of Urban Life : Theory, Methods and

Empirical Research. Dordrecht Heildeberg London New York: Springer.

the subjective method can be a good approach to get more precise and accurate information towards the quality of urban life of people living in cities in transition. C/ The importance of investigating Urban Quality of Life in transitioning cities The end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century has been and still is a period of deep transitions for the cities and megalopolis as they modernized, industrialized, urbanized. Changes have occurred in every aspects of urban citizens’ lives. Changes in lifestyles, changes in the city form and in the built environment … In Western countries, such changes happened over the course of history in a long process of modernizing and urbanizing, and some tends have already been identified. Today, most Western countries are already urbanized and are not going through drastic changes of urban life as they mainly completed their urbanization related transitions, now going through other phenomena such as shrinking cities in Leipzig, Germany or Detroit, USA. Outside of the Western sphere, many countries have undertaken their growth and urbanization process later than their Western counterparts. This is notably the case of many Asian developing countries, like Vietnam for example, and to a more advanced development level, China. Like many other countries, China has had a much more recent development than most Western countries, however its growth and related urbanization has been much more rapid as it happened over a very short period. Today, countries like China are still going through many transitions and the urbanity is transforming at a very fast rate. In such conditions, it can be understood that quality of urban life studies can be a key in improving the satisfaction of individuals’ lives in urban agglomerations, especially in transitioning areas where the people’s ways of living in the city as well as the city’s environment are constantly changing and transforming. Such studies can be used to help plan better living places for the city users.

II. Urban transition in China II. 1/ Transitions of Chinese cities Compared to Western cities, China’s urbanization is a more recent phenomenon, occurring mainly in the late 20th century and early 21st century. Ever since 1949, Economic, political, social changes have remodelled the Chinese cities’ urbanity. The Chinese cities have been going through a series of phenomena that deeply transformed them into the modern cities we know today. During the urban transformations of the 20th century, Chinese cities have developed into three major forms of cities: the traditional city that evolved for more than three millennia, the socialist city created during the Maoist period, and the contemporary city that emerged during the current reform era – the emerging Chinese city (Gaubatz, 199831). A/ The traditional city (pre-1949) The traditional city is the result of millennia of evolution. It has been shaped by China’s long history, which holds the traditional values and reflects ancestral lines of thought. The traditional Chinese city was defined by the very meaning of the Chinese word 城市 (chéngshì). 城 (chéng) means the city wall and 市 (shì) means the marketplace. The Chinese city is in this way defined by a place of living and working – the market – surrounded by walls. The traditional city is thus delimited by its thick, massive walls that separated the urban from the rural. The way the inside of the traditional city is built reflects the hierarchical organization of the society which is characterized by a clanbased system. The clan-based system of the traditional city shaped it into a neighbourhood planning system, with a clearly defined urban structure. The city shape was also characterized by a planning and architecture in accordance with the Chinese geomancy, the cardinal directions holding a great importance in the street planning and the positions of the buildings. The morphology of the traditional city was rather uniform as most of the buildings, except the most important monuments, were low – one or two story high – and built in natural materials such as earth, wood and brick.

Gaubatz, P. (1998). China’s Urban Transformation: Patterns and Processes of Morphological Change

in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. In Urban Studies (Vol. 36).

B/ The Maoist city (1949-1978) After the 1949 revolution, urban characteristics from the traditional city were left in ruins. The revolution had drastic consequences on the cities that were left with overcrowded slums, buildings in ruins, and crumbling monuments. The new government began to rebuild the cities under and as models of socialist organization and ideology. The aim was to create a self-sufficient urban form where cities would become production centres leading fast industrial development. To conduct this new organization, the form of the city and the urban social life was reorganized. The city saw the emergence of self-sufficient communities within the city that served as housing and employment places (單位 dānwèi or work unit). Such communities provided work and housing but also health care, food distribution and other social services. The Maoist ideal city was a city which would be based on work units and which would not need any specialized district. With such ideology, the work unit became the common structure in newly constructed or renewed districts of the post-reform city, and even today they constitute most of the urban space in Chinese cities. Chinese cities under Maoist period combined the traditional urban forms to those new forms of development. The urban forms were characterized by large walled work-unit compounds, where people would live, work, and have their social circle inside the walls, as the way of thinking at the time was that the people would not need to travel outside of their work unit since it provided everything necessary to the daily life. The socialist ideology was reflected by the Maoist city’s morphology. Large walled compounds of rectangular, three to five stories high buildings stretched over the urban space, the compounds being separated by wide monumental streets.

C/ The emerging Chinese city (1978-now) Since the 1980s and 1990s, the Chinese cities have been going through market and policy changes which have led China’s major cities into a rapid state of urbanization. The Chinese cities have since then experienced a very fast development which lead them into rapidly abandoning the Maoist era’s city form and developing in new ways and forms. (He et al., 2006)32. The post-reform period saw the emergence of new ways of thinking about social organization and urban lifestyle, effectively remodelling the city’s new development according to this contemporary currents of thought. The contemporary Chinese city of today has deeply transformed from the previous traditional and socialist Chinese city. Social changes, the increasing mobility of the people, changes in the family structure, and lifestyles changes have all contributed to the changes of the Chinese urban form. Nowadays, a new Chinese urban structure and a new Chinese urban morphology are still developing into today’s contemporary city (Gaubatz, 1998)33.

He, S., Li, Z., Wu, F. (2006). Transformation of the Chinese City, 1995-2005. In Information

Gaubatz, P. (1998). China’s Urban Transformation: Patterns and Processes of Morphological

Change in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. In Urban Studies (Vol. 36). 39

II. 2/ Contemporary urban development A/ Urbanization, modernization, globalization China’s urbanization is characterized by policy and economic changes since the 1980s, notably major economic and market changes. The economy turned from a central oriented economy to a decentralized, market oriented economy. As a result, since the market reforms and the adoption of more « open-door policies », China began to integrate into the global economy. They explain that this integration led to a series of phenomena. « The new international division of labour has facilitated the flow of capital, production resources, and labour force, which has brought about profound changes in China’s urban development strategy » (He et al., 2006, p. 431) 34 . The changes induced by both the globalization and market transitions have provided good conditions for urban development, ushering China into a period of explosive growth and development, and leading to deep mutations of China’s urban space. Some examples of these transformations are the urban spatial restructuring of the inner city areas and the emergence of urban sprawl phenomena, as a consequence of developing large-scale housing projects and economic and technological development zones. The city saw the emergence of land-use specialization, with the development of Central Business Districts (CBDs) in the inner city areas and with the relocation of industry in the urban periphery areas. Moreover, through the 1980s to the 1990s, the transition from a central planned economy to a market oriented economy, along with land reforms, have accelerated China’s urban development. Additionally, the rise of the private sector has greatly contributed to the already fast urban development in China. One consequence can be observed in the housing domain. The appearance of the privatization of housing and real estate have contributed to the changing patterns of housing and foreign and domestic investment in urban development. As a result, the land-use repartition has been modified. The inner city areas have replaced their former residential use for the benefit of retail and commercial uses, the residential function being relocated to the suburbs. « Urban redevelopment in China is thus transformed from governmental investment-driven development to property- driven development » (p. 433). 34

He, S., Li, Z., Wu, F. (2006). Transformation of the Chinese City, 1995-2005. In Information 40

These urban spatial changes have been accompanied by functional changes. Chinese cities saw the appearance of new elements, such as new business districts, gentrified residential communities, new social areas, urban sprawl, large peripheral residential communities, and development zones and sub-centres. One consequence of urbanization in Chinese cities is globalization. Indeed, such economic, politic, spatial changes have led Chinese cities on the way of becoming « global ». However, He et al. argue that Chinese cities cannot be labelled as global cities like London, Tokyo or New York as the whole the urban economy remains functionally based on the domestic sector. That being said, Chinese cities like Beijing or Shanghai can be seen as globalizing cities as they have been going through similar changes. Indeed, He et al. references the work of Shi and Hamnett, in which they declare cities such as Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai as the only Chinese cities that have the potential of becoming "true global cities” (Shi and Hamnett, 2002)35. He explains: “The willingness of the central government to give more autonomy to local governments, the new policy to set up a window for China’s open policy, the incentive for making money from selling space, the injection of public money into the city’s infrastructure, and fierce promotional development strategies implemented by the city government have all contributed to the making of Shanghai as an emerging global city” (He et al., 2006, p. 439). However, it can be argued that the Chinese contemporary city which can be observed today is not only due to globalization phenomena. The urban space of the contemporary city has been shaped by other phenomena, which are linked to a very Chinese form of modernity (Zhang et al., 2016)36. This is notably the case of new urban forms and spaces which have been created during the urbanization periods, such as workers’ villages and urban villages.

Shi, Y., Hamnett, C. (2002). The Potential and Prospect for Global Cities in China: In the Context of

the World System. In Geoforum (Vol. 33). 36

Zhang, L., LeGates, R., Zhao, M. (2016). Understanding China's Urbanization: The Great

Demographic, Spatial, Economic, and Social Transformation. Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.

B/ Workers’ villages and urban villages During the Socialist era, the new regime developed new housing ideologies to follow the regime’s political and societal changes. The massive industrialization of the cities led to an increased need of the working-class population to work in the industry fields. To accommodate to the growing working population, and as the housing ideology turned from a property oriented housing mode to a collective thinking, the cities developed new forms of housing units: the work units or danwei (seen in chapter II. 1. B/). The work units mainly housed rural workers and were reflects of the socialist’s “collective home” new ideology (Liang, 2014) 37 . Such units were often composed of single-story row houses (pingfang), simple, quick, economic and good structures as a temporary solution to housing shortage which happened during the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. Another form of housing was also developed as a way to reduce the housing shortage problem and to allocate working-class population in cities, in the form of workers’ villages (tongjian). The workers’ villages had similar features as work units but were larger in scale. However, they were built upon the same ideology of “collective home”. They usually consisted of rows of pingfang and another housing form, the tongzilou. Tongzilou housing consisted of two or three-story walk-up structures with simple rooms aligned on one or both sides of a corridor on each floor. The rooms housed the families and the corridor hosted the shared kitchen areas and public toilets. Workers’ village were built as new villages (xincun) in cities like Shanghai in the periphery areas. Such villages were built as a try for a more permanent to the housing shortage problem. The other aim of this development was to improve the living conditions of the workers’ population, which often lived in slum areas. The development of workers’ villages in Shanghai was planned following a neighbourhood unit thinking, as a way to create a quiet living environment. The workers’ villages soon developed as “residential micro-district”, as the new residential projects focused on housing space with communal spaces and amenities. The workers’ village of the Maoist period functioned as models of socialist communities. In socialist Shanghai, the

Liang, S. Y. (2014). Remaking China's Great Cities: Space and culture in urban housing, renewal, and expansion. Abingdon, Oxon and New York, NY: Routledge. 37

workers’ villages dominated the city rather than work-unit compounds as the city’s working-class population predated the work-unit system. In this period, the workers’ village housing represented 94% of all housing. After the socialist period, the contemporary Chinese city of the post reform period is still and more than ever concerned by working-class population related issues as the workers’ villages’ population mainly consists of rural migrants. The contemporary city is now facing new issues, which are related to the migrant population and informal development in cities. The post-reform Chinese city’s urbanization, migration phenomena, and informal development are closely linked (He et al., 200638 ; Hao et al., 201339 ; Wu et al., 201340 ; Swider, 201541). During the period of reforms, China’s cities went through a period of massive urbanization and urban development, especially in the Eastern regions such as the Yangtze River Delta region and the Pearl River Delta region (He et al., 2006). The imbalance in urban development and massive urbanization phenomena had two main consequences: migration increase and the development of informal, migrant enclaves or urban villages (城中村 chengzhongcun, lit: village within city). The years following the reforms and the Chinese cities’ urbanization have seen an increasing amount of migrants in Eastern large metropolis like Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou. Today, China is home to the largest human mobility, as its 281 millions of rural-urban migrant workers alone represent nearly one third of the world’s internal migration (Sun, 2019) 42 . The urbanization processes and the resulting economic changes have attracted rural population to the cities, seeking work and better living conditions. The consequence is an affluence of rural migrants in the cities, which often belong to the working-class population. Although some migrants live in the city area, most migrants cannot afford to live in such areas. Some reasons include the expensive price of housing or the requirement of an urban hukou which rural migrants generally 38

He, S., Li, Z., Wu, F. (2006). Transformation of the Chinese City, 1995-2005. In Information.

Hao, P., Hooimeijer, P., Sliuzas, R., Geertman, S. (2013). What Drives the Spatial Development of

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Wu, F., Zhang, F., Webster, C. (2013). Informality and the Development and Demolition of Urban

Villages in the Chinese Peri-urban Area. In Urban Studies (Vol. 50). 41

Swider, S. (2015). Building China: precarious employment among migrant construction workers. In

Work, employment and society (Vol. 29). 42

Sun, L. (2019). Rural Urban Migration and Policy Intervention in China: Migrant Workers' Coping

Strategies. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan. 43

do not possess (Hao et al., 2013). For these reasons, most rural migrants usually live in the city’s peripheries or in workers’ villages and urban villages. Urban villages are a form of migrant settlement which is also linked to the processes of urbanization. As one city urbanizes, it tends to expand itself and to spread. Pre-existing rural settlements or villages get englobed in the expanding urban area, resulting in urban villages (Wu et al., 2013 ; Hao et al., 2013). Such villages’ population generally consists of rural workers and migrants from other areas seeking housing. Urban villages continue to develop and to be created as the urbanization processes and migration processes continue to raise the housing demand (Hao et al., 2013)43.

C/ Informal development in contemporary Chinese cities Both urban villages and workers’ villages tend to be the place where informal

development happens. The first kind of informality concerns the informal work sector. In large metropolis like Shanghai, most rural migrants are often seeking urban work in the city. In China, out of all migrant workers, nearly a third work in the construction industry, which often consists of precarious labour (Swider, 2015) 44 . Most of the migrants working in this filed are unregistered migrants who work under informal employment conditions, without a formal written contract. Additionally, migrants also often live in informal housing. Due to the hukou system (household registration system), rural migrant without an urban hukou cannot be granted with the same advantages and rights as the city’s permanent population. Rural migrants, even though their number is continuously increasing, are seen as outcasts. They “continue to be treated as being ‘temporary’ and ‘illegal’ in cities, and they are denied access to welfare benefits such as subsidized housing” (Huang and Tao, 2015, p. 640)45. Because of these reasons, rural migrants most often cannot live in formal housing forms, instead living in workers’ villages or urban villages which housing and commercial development is often 43

Hao, P., Hooimeijer, P., Sliuzas, R., Geertman, S. (2013). What Drives the Spatial Development of

Urban Villages in China? In Urban Studies (Vol. 50, pp. 3394-3411). 44

Swider, S. (2015). Building China: precarious employment among migrant construction workers. In

Work, employment and society (Vol. 29). 45

Huang, Y., Tao, R. (2015). Housing migrants in Chinese cities: current status and policy design. In

Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 2015 (Vol. 33, pp. 640-660). 44

unauthorized (Hao et al., 2013). In informal settlements, unauthorized urban development usually aims at facilitating a quick construction which allows a large production of housing units. Urban development in informal areas such as urban villages or workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; villages is often led by a desire of profit, by maximising the use of available land. However, this pursuit of profit generally results in negative effects, like â&#x20AC;&#x153;overdevelopment, poor infrastructure, chaotic land use and limited open space [which] create a breeding ground for health problems, fire hazards and crimeâ&#x20AC;? (Hao et al., 2013, p. 3395). Consequently, official government policies often aim to the demolition and redevelopment of such informal settlements and developments.

Fig. 11: Urban village in Guangzhou (by the author)

II. 3/ Urban redevelopment and rectification policies A/ Urban redevelopment, urban regeneration Places where informal development occur, like workers’ villages or urban villages, are often characterized by a lack of effective regulations, leading them to overcrowd and over-densify. In consequence, this leads official governments and the media to have a negative image of such places, especially urban villages (Lin et al., 2015)46. The poor perception of the urban villages and other informal places prompts to processes of demolition as well as processes of redevelopment or regeneration of the informal places. Lin et al., in their study, review the redevelopment of the urban villages in Guangzhou. Guangzhou is a city in the Guangdong province which was found over two millennia ago. Its territory includes many historic areas. Since China entered its urbanization era, Guangzhou’s urban area has vastly expanded, leading to the enclosing of the rural areas, thus creating many urban villages. Indeed, during the urbanization, 138 urban villages were created within the city. The urbanization processes and linked economic phenomena leading to rural migration waves47, the villages are home to most of the rural migrant population. In recent years, Guangzhou has undertaken redevelopment of its urban villages. Since 2002, two policies have been initiated: the “one village, one policy” and the requirement that a village redevelopment plan should be endorsed by at least 80% of the villagers. The aim of these two policies was to provided flexibility in the redevelopment, allowing the negotiation of the villages with the local governments. However, redevelopment under these policies was slowed down due to financial constraints. Since 2009, another redevelopment strategy was adopted, namely the “Three Olds” redevelopment. Under this strategy, local authorities began the demolition of several central villages, which led to the dissatisfaction of the villagers, as well as negative impacts on migrants. Another issue of this strategy lied in the historic character of Guangzhou. Some of the city’s historic buildings and sites are located within urban villages, which demolition thus generated obvious issues. The regeneration of such villages was then made in an integrated mode, installed within political programmes such as the environmental restoration of old urban areas project 46

Lin, Y., Hao, P., Geertman, S. (2015). A conceptual framework on modes of governance for the

regeneration of Chinese ‘villages in the city’. In Urban Studies (Vol. 52). 47

In 2010, according to the Guangzhou Statistical Bureau, the city’s population was 12.7 million people including 4.8 million migrants, or almost a third of the total population. 46

planned for the 2010 Asian Games. During the demolition process, the governments aimed to avoid social protest and dissatisfaction. In order to do so, the development strategies have shifted from the “Three Olds” strategy to the “Integrated Regeneration” and “Beautiful Villages” strategies. Under these strategies, different approaches of redevelopment can be observed for the urban villages in Guangzhou. The first approach concerns the urban villages which are situated in central areas. It is a “public-collective-private governance” which refers to the demolition and redevelopment of such villages, in or near Guangzhou’s new central business district (CBD). Local governments, developers and collective companies initiate the redevelopment in those central areas with high land-value. They aim to increase the land value to compensate for the cost of the reconstruction. In order to do so, they base the redevelopment on competiveness in prices and legibility, in other words, agreements on relations and procedures. Under this governance, partnerships, negotiations, and formal-informal rules are installed. However, there are several issues with the “public-collective-private governance” strategy. Very often, the demolition of the centrally located urban villages (like the village of Xian) leads to conflicts between the local population, companies and local governments. A consequence is the slow rate of the demolition process; which completion is hard to achieve. Another issue concerns the lack of trust from the villagers towards the redevelopment initiators. This problem often lies within several issues, notably the corruption of the initiator institutions as well as a lack transparency of the policies and of the decision-making process. In result, the oblivious villagers often do not agree with the projects. All these issues have led the urban villages’ demolition attempts under the “public-collective-private governance” strategy to failure. The second approach usually concerns the urban villages which included historic buildings and sites. The redevelopment of such villages is made in a “decentralized governance” which aims at an integration regeneration. Compared to the centrally located villages, the concerned villages have fewer migrants, a lower floor area ration (FAR) and less collective industrial land. The characteristics of those villages provide good conditions for village upgrade and improvement. Under this governance, the initiators of the redevelopment are the local governments. To carry the redevelopment, local governments promote and subsidise the projects, choose local experts and elites 47

for historic conservation, decide of the collaborations, set formal exchange rules. They carry the redevelopment projects under various constraints, through authority and legitimacy, in attempts of improving the villages rather than demolishing them. This mode of governance has proved to be quite effective, as demonstrated in the regeneration of the Huangpu village. Indeed, this mode of governance doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t lead to many conflicts between the initiators and the local population as both were willing to cooperate during the regeneration process. However, this mode of governance being mainly led by local governments, there is little room for other actors which could provide formal or informal support. The third and last reviewed approach develops a â&#x20AC;&#x153;self-governanceâ&#x20AC;? strategy. It usually concerns the urban villages that are located in periphery areas, which have developed informal economic activities and social networks, and which have cheap rents and high housing vacancy. Informal sector and civil organizations are the initiators of the redevelopment projects under a self-governance strategy. Such actors are often informal property management companies, established by groups of migrants who finance the projects and share the investment risks. The self-governance character of these projects implies that the projects are informally operated and thus, unregistered by local governments. These projects usually aim at improving the villages (notably housing conditions) in order to achieve higher profit and autonomy, by setting informal rules, partnerships, and negotiations. However, due to the informality of such projects, as well as ambiguous property rights and limited financial resources, cooperation with local governments can be hard to achieve. Similarly, local governments can see and treat such projects as a threat to social stability, which halts the redevelopment processes of such projects. A better approach under a self-governance strategy concerns the cooperation of local civil institutions and research and design teams. Such a cooperation was realized in the regeneration of the Shigang village. The aim of the redevelopment project was to create cultural and social places for migrants, some old houses being upgraded and used to accommodate a migrant cultural centre. The local government supported the project of the migrant cultural centre, which attracted more migrants to work in the district. However, due to limited resources, it was hard for the centre to become legal and registered by the local government. This example as well as the one stated above demonstrate that informality and financial issues hinder the redevelopment projects under a self-governance strategy. 48

B/ Urban rectification policies As we have seen in the previous chapter, informality is a large issue in the redevelopment and regeneration of urban villages and other informal areas. To conduct the redevelopment processes, informal phenomena have to go through a series of rectifications actions. This usually means the demolition of the informal buildings or even areas. In recent years, as the large metropolis continued to urbanize and spread, the number of informal phenomena and areas continued to grow. These informal and illegal phenomena are badly seen by the government, as illegal uses and unpermitted construction leads to the prevalence of illegal commercial activities and causes several issues, such as environmental problems and residence disturbance. As a result, rectification policies have been planned in the 13th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development in order to limit the informality within the cities. These policies generally aim at improving the living conditions of the people in the concerned areas, as well as reinforcing the security and safety, and limiting the dirty phenomena in the streets. Since 2015 a special government action has been gradually taking place across 240 regions in China’s city district and county levels, targeting illegal or unlicensed lodgings. This special government action is according to the local government’s regional environmental comprehensive remediation plan, specifically, the “Five Violations & Four Musts” (五违四必区域综合整治行动). The « Five violations » concerns the illegal land, illegal construction, illegal operation, illegal sewage and illegal residence. According to this plan, such violations must be treated according to the « Four musts ». The « Four musts » means that the hidden dangers must be eliminated, the illegal and unlicensed constructions must be demolished, the dirty phenomena must be rectified, and illegal operations must be banned across all districts, towns and streets. Many areas which have seen the development of informal activities and buildings, such as urban villages or workers’ villages, are subjects to this action, in cities like Beijing, Taiyuan, Sanhe, or Shanghai. The following case study will analyse the rectification of the Kongjiang Road community in Shanghai, and the impacts it had on urban lifestyles, built environment, and quality of urban life. 49

III. Case study: Kongjiang Road community’s urban transformation The aim of this case study is to evaluate how the changes related to urban lifestyles and built environment affect the good liveability of a place in neighbourhoods which are and have been going through recent transitions. The case study focuses on the transitions which are currently happening since the beginning of the “Five Violations and Four Must” government action in the Kongjiang Road community, Shanghai, especially in the portion of the Fushun Road located in the community. Two elements have brought up the choice of the case study to the Kongjiang Road community. The first one is the actuality of the events happening currently in the community. Indeed, the Kongjiang Road community has become subject of the action very recently. As of today, the community has been going through and is still going through many transformations which is affecting its users’ daily lives. As the transformation process is not over yet, and will most likely go on in the following years, the Kongjiang Road community provides an interesting study case on the subject studied in this thesis. The second reason concerns the community nature of the area, as the Kongjiang Road community is historically a workers’ village. The community, as opposed to globalized, inner-city areas, can be assimilated to a much smaller and local scale. The smaller scale provides different lifestyles compared to the more standardized areas, which can be identified more easily. The urban lifestyles of the neighbourhood’s residents, as well as the built environment of the neighbourhood, are also less diversified than in the more globalized areas. For these reasons, the changes on the urban lifestyles and on the built environment are more visible, as they have more impact on the users. The combination of these elements provides a good context for the study, as it is more focused than in more central city areas. This increases the chances of more homogenous survey results, and thus more exploitable conclusions. The base hypothesis is as follows: The government action which is taking place in the Kongjiang Road community, especially along the Fushun Road, is modifying the built environment of the neighbourhood, which is affecting the urban lifestyles of the Fushun Road neighbourhood’s users. The consequence is a discrepancy of the urban lifestyles and the built environment which, in turn, is affecting the good liveability of the neighbourhood. 50

The case study will develop the following method. The main goal is to define if the Fushun Road neighbourhood currently provides a good living place for its users. The definition of a good living place used in this thesis refers to a place with a good quality of urban life, as defined by Marans and Stimson’s definition of quality of urban life48 as well as Campbell’s model of quality of life49 (seen in chapter I. 3). The case study will apply the following method: Marans and Stimson’s definition of quality of urban life decomposes it into two elements: an objective reality – which is called here built environment – and the subjective, perception of this reality. Campbell’s model adds a third element which is life satisfaction of the individuals. To study the urban quality of life of the neighbourhood’s users and thus the liveability of the place, it is necessary to study all three elements. The objective reality of the built environment will be studied first. This part is essential to the rest of the study due to the transitioning status of the community. It is crucial to study the built environment and the transformations it is going through for it is the root of all other changes. First, the study of the built environment will be conducted by observation and by inquiry to the local users. Secondly, the impact the changes in the built environment have on the urban lifestyles will be studied by survey. Thirdly, the perception of the neighbourhood by its users, as well as their satisfaction of the neighbourhood will be assessed next, by survey. Finally, the observations of the physical changes and the survey results concerning the lifestyle changes and the satisfaction of the users will be linked together. The analysis of all these components will be made in order to assess the neighbourhood’s good liveability. Ultimately, the beginning hypothesis will be confirmed or refuted.

Marans, R. W., Stimson, R. J. (2011). Investigating Quality of Urban Life : Theory, Methods and

Empirical Research. Dordrecht Heildeberg London New York: Springer. 49

Campbell, A., Converse, P. E., Rodgers, W. L. (1976). The Quality of American Life: Perceptions,

Evaluations, and Satisfactions. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. 51

III. 1/ Context: Kongjiang Road community

Fig. 12: Kongjiang Road community near Tongji University (by the author)

Fig. 13: Kongjiang Road community â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Land use (Source: Shanghai Local Government, 2013)

A/ Access and transportation The case study is the Kongjiang Road community which is located about one kilometre East from Tongji University, in Yangpu district. It is located around three kilometres West from the Huangpu river. It is bordered by two canals at the West and North, by the Shuangyang Road at the East and the Zhoujiazui Road at the South. It is around 1.6 kilometres wide in the West-East direction and 1.8 kilometres long in the North-South direction, and has a surface of around 2.15 square kilometres. The community is well served by the transportation links.

The Inner Ring

Elevated Road crosses it in the middle, granting an easy access in and out of the community for fast transportation. The community is also well connected to the public transportation. It is crossed by the subway line 9, with three stops inside the community (Jiangpu Road, Huangxing Road and Yanji Middle Road). The community is also very close to the subway line 8, with three stops nearby (Siping Road, Tongji University and Guoquan Road). The subway line 12 is also 500 meters from the South border of the community. Bus transportation is also effective in the area as several bus stops can be found in and near the community. The road network and transportation networks makes Kongjiang Community highly accessible from both the neighbouring attractions and the rest of the city. The community is indeed conveniently located thirty to fourty minutes from downtown by subway, bus and private car. The proximity to Tongji University and its mixed-use surroundings is especially advantageous as it is only located fifteen minutes away from the Tongji University main gate and the roads leading to the entrance of the community are highly walkable. B/ History and identity The Kongjiang Road community was built in 1926. At the time, it was located in the northern boundary of Shanghai's public concession, on the southern edge of the Greater Shanghai Plan. It was the only liaison between Huangxing Road and Mayushan Road (now Shuangyang Road). After 1949, the construction of the community expanded as a workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; village.

Today, the Kongjiang Road community consists of 25 neighbourhood councils. It is home to 83,000 people and 32,000 households. Nowadays, the area still has a rich history as a workers’ village as most of the current population belonged to the worker community. Due to its status as a workers’ village, the community has generated a constant flow of population. C/ Land use and morphological analysis

Fig. 14: Activities in the Kongjiang Road community (by the author)

The land use in Kongjiang Road community is mainly residential. Commercial activities can be found on main roads including Kongjiang Road and Fushun Road. The community’s educational land use include eight schools affiliated with Shanghai Foreign Studies University, two primary schools, a middle school and the Yangpu Senior Vocational and Technical School. The institutional land use includes the District Housing Security and Housing Authority, the District Finance Bureau, the District Education Bureau. Other uses can also be found in the community, like the Yangpu Grand Theatre, the Kongjiang Hospital and several community centres.

Most of the communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s buildings are of residential use. They are mostly organized into compounds of residential lanes, with buildings 40 metres wide, ten metres deep and five stories high in average. On commercial roads like Kongjiang Road or Fushun Road, the first floor is often occupied by stores or other structures that sometimes encroach upon the pavement. These streets are among the main commercial activity of the community. In the past, the community used to have an abundance of commercial resources and a vibrant street life. However, since the last four years, the community has been through several mutations, mostly due to the implementation of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Five Violations and Four Mustâ&#x20AC;? government action. Since the action has been undertaken, commercial roads like Fushun Road have been subject to the progressive dismantlement and demolition of illegal lodgings, leading to the closure of a lot of stores in Fushun Road.

III. 2/ Closure and dismantlement on Fushun Road A/ Fushun Roadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s built environment The study area is the Fushun Road which is located in the North-West part of Kongjiang community, more specifically the part included within the Kongjiang Road community, after the canal and the Jiangpu Road. The Fushun Road is one of the connecting streets between the Kongjiang Road community and the neighbouring Siping community.

Fig. 15: Fushun Road - Land use (by the author)

The Fushun road is located in a mainly residential neighbourhood with some public facilities and educational buildings. It is one of the main commercial streets in the neighbourhood, the others being the Changling Road at the East and the Yanji West Road at the South. Like these two streets, the Fushun Road is home to many commercial activities, like retail stores, convenience stores and supermarkets.

Fig. 16: Activities around Fushun Road (by the author)

The street, as opposed to the Yanji West Road and the Changling Road, is characterized by a large amount of retail stores and local businesses, and a few amount of convenience stores or bigger supermarket. The scale of the economic activity in the Fushun Road is very local and smaller than other commercial streets. Another characteristics of the Fushun Road is the abundance of illegal and informal stores. For this reason, the Fushun Road has been and is currently concerned by the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Five Violations and Four Mustsâ&#x20AC;? action. Under the plan of this action, demolition of the informal areas and buildings has begun. Indeed, the informal stores have been going through a demolition process consisting in the gradual closure of their front, resulting in the eventual total demolition of the store. The current situation of the Fushun Road and its neighbourhood has a repercussion on the quality of its urban space. The following part will analyse the urban characteristics of the Fushun road in the current situation, before focussing on the changes the actions induced.

The built environment in Fushun Road can be analysed by the following SWOT analysis: Strengths

Weaknesses

• Good localization

• Lack of street vibrancy

• Good accessibility

• Old and poorly maintained buildings

• Good environment with natural elements

• Lack of green spaces

• Good walkability

• Lack of public facilities and sanitary

• Good street planning

facilities

• Good occupancy of stores and

• Lack of cleanliness and security

residential buildings

• Lack of community interactions

Opportunities

Threats

• Improve vibrancy with mixed-use

• Threatened local economy

programs

• Livelihood of the store owners

• Provide more public facilities

affected

• Improve walkability and street comfort

• Threatened safety of the

with more green infrastructure and

neighbourhood

community oriented programs

• Loss of interest for the street • Higher cost of living for the residents

Table 1: Fushun Road SWOT analysis

Strengths: The studied portion of the Fushun Road is conveniently located at the Western entrance of the Kongjiang Road community which provides an easy access from the outside of the community. It is very close to the Jiangpu Road which provides an easy access by car. It is also close to subway and bus stations which provides a good public accessibility. Its closeness to the Tongji University Siping Road campus and mixed-use centre – fifteen minutes by foot – also provides a good pedestrian accessibility.

The street is also located at the junction of several housing units. The housing compounds comport mainly residential uses, and the street is the main place with commercial uses in the neighbourhood, which is a strength as it gives the street more urban quality, making it more lively. Additionally, the built environment has a high potential for street vibrancy and urban quality, which provides a good environment for its retail activity: the street is linear, 12 meters wide and double laned which helps relieve traffic congestion. The length of the street is more than 400 meters. Both pavements are planted with trees. Along the pavements, buildings are not higher than three stories. These characteristics provides good lighting and walkability conditions. The ratio between the amount of residential buildings and commercial buildings is also good, as the diversity of the retail activity provides a good opportunity for street vibrancy. Weaknesses: However, the street presents some major weaknesses. The ongoing closure of the retail stores induced a vibrancy loss as less and less people visit the street. As of the current situation, the street is only visited by the residents living in the buildings along the road and the shop owners. The street, despite its potential, does not attract outsiders. Another consequence is the lack of interactions between the street users. Indeed, most of the shop owners and residents do not talk to each other or have little interactions. The result is a feeling of unsafety: in order to achieve a safe street, an eye on the street is needed (Jacobs, 1992) 50 . If the street, especially the sidewalk is not used continuously, it is hard to attain surveillance from the people in the pavement and inside the shops, meaning that safety is harder to achieve. Another major weakness is the dirtiness of the street. The buildings along and around the street are mostly old and poorly maintained, and there is litter on the sidewalk. This issue is aggravated by the lack of public and sanitary facilities, as well as the lack of street equipment â&#x20AC;&#x201C; there is no parking infrastructure which results in bikes obstructing the sidewalk, and there is no place for the garbage which remain on the pedestrian space. Other weaknesses include the lack of green spaces: there is only one pocket garden on the street, however due to poor planning it is not used and therefore doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t add quality to the street (Jacobs, 1992). 50

Jacobs, J. (1992). The Death and Life of Great American Cities. United States: Vintage Books

Edition (first edition 1961). 59

Opportunities: The high potential of Fushun Road could be achieved with the improving of mixed-use activities. The good walkability potential could be improved by the implementation of public infrastructures which would help clean the street and make it safer for the residents, along with the implementation of green spaces which is currently lacking. The implementation of green spaces would also reinforce the community interactions as it would provide a meeting place for the people. Threats: The closure of the shops has had many consequences, resulting in major weaknesses which pose a threat for the near future of the street. The first threat is related to the vibrancy loss. As the stores close, there is a threat of lack of interest towards the street from the residents and outsiders. This means even less people in the street, which constitutes a threat for the safety of the street as the eye on the street cannot be achieved (Jacobs, 1992). The dirtiness of the street also adds to the safety threat. The lack of interest may also result in a threat to the local economy, as less and less people choose to shop in the street but rather go to other, more lively, places. This poses a threat for the livelihood of the store owners which may have to move their business. Another threat is the raise of the living costs for the residents and other users.

B/ Fushun Road’s urban lifestyles In order to understand the changes going through Fushun Road and the impacts it had on the users’ lives, it is necessary to first assess the urban lifestyles of the users. Although it may be difficult to fully categorize the essence of the urban lifestyle of one individual, some trends can be recognized in the daily patterns of the individuals. As seen in chapter I. 1. A/, the lifestyles will be assessed according to social, physical and urban need factors. The method is as follows: the lifestyles will be analysed over interviews51 which focus on the neighbourhood’s residents’ general lives (gender, age, situation, etc.) as well as their urban needs. The urban need will be assessed by having

Interviews in annexe 2 60

the residents draw maps of their daily activities around the neighbourhood 52 . The junction of the two allows to identify trends in urban lifestyles. The Fushun Road neighbourhoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s users are mainly residents (80% of the interviewees) who belong to the 40-65 years old age range (45% of the interviewed persons), the 65+ years old range (25%) or the 25-40 years old range (20%). The majority of the users are either retired (50%), professionally active (20%), or of another status (20%).

Fig. 17: General informations of the neighbourhood's users 52

In annexe 3 61

The urban needs of each individual dictates the way they use the built environment of the neighbourhood. This means that different individuals with similar needs or characteristics will tend to use the environment in similar manners. This allows to identify some trends in urban lifestyles regarding the use of the environment. The survey results show some of these trends. Most people in the 40-65 years old age range, as well as most retired people, are the ones who have the most time to move around the neighbourhood. Therefore, they are the ones who tend to go the furthest. They most usually go to the neighbouring parks (the Songhe park to the West and the Yangpu park to the East) which are bigger than the ones the neighbourhood possess. They also usually go to the supermarkets at the junction of Changling Road and Yanji West Road, and at the North edge of the community near the Inner Elevated Road. Consequently, they do not often go to the retail stores in Fushun Road or around the neighbourhood, preferring the bigger stores. For the rest of their daily activities they usually stay around their home and do not go around the rest of the neighbourhood a lot. The active part of the users tends to have limited trips in the neighbourhood. They usually stay around their house and compound, only taking the main roads but not wandering around the rest of the community. They also tend to go to the bigger supermarkets and do not go to the retail stores in and around Fushun Road. Contrary to the retired group, they do not go further away to parks or other leisure places as they are professionally active and do not have time for it. Other minor groups like young people and student tend to have similar daily patterns. The residents living in the residential compounds along Fushun Road are the one that usually go to the stores in the street the most, because of the convenience of the proximity. Like most users of the neighbourhood, they also belong to the 40-65 years old range and the 65+ years old range, and are also mostly retired. They usually stay around their compound and around Fushun Road, but do not go very far away. The store owners in and around Fushun Road mostly do not live in the community because of the expensive prices, usually living in dorms not too far away. They spend the most of their day in their store, and do not go around in the neighbourhood. 62

However, the scope of urban lifestyles is very broad and hard to fully define. Other lifestyles factors such as level of living, income, place of living, etc. also influence the daily life of the neighbourhood users. Although these criteria may disappear in the daily use of the neighbourhood’s space, it is important to note that such factors may play an important role in the perception of the neighbourhood. Indeed, even if it doesn’t necessarily differentiate their urban lifestyles from the other trends, it may affect their opinion on the neighbourhood’s liveability in a different manner than other groups of individuals. The following sequence of images try to depict a broader grasp of the lifestyles in the Fushun Road neighbourhood.

Fig. 18: Lifestyles in the Fushun Road neighbourhood (by the author)

Fig. 19: Environments in the Fushun Road neighbourhood (by the author)

C/ Transformation of the environment: closure of stores in Fushun Road

Fig. 20: Fushun Road's closure status (by the author)

Fushun Road is subject to the dismantlement of illegal lodgings planned by the 2015 « Five Violations and Four Must » government action. Since the action undertook, the government started to close the stores in the street by partially or entirely walling their front stores. According to their status, the stores in Fushun Road can be sorted into three categories, which indicates their closure’s status53: • Licensed stores, • Unlicensed stores pending closure, • Unlicensed stores already closed. The closure status of the stores divides the studied portion of Fushun Road in two parts: a first part which is partially closed, and a second part which stores remain open. The first part is the Western part of the studied portion, starting at the intersection between Fushun Road and Jiangpu Road, and ending toward the middle of the street. It is characterized by a completely walled side at the North, which stores’ fronts are fully closed; and a partially closed side at the South, which stores are pending closure. The second part of the street starts from the middle of the street and ending at Changling Road. The stores on this part of the street are mostly licensed and thus remain open. Both parts of the street can easily be identified by the physical characteristics induced by the stores’ status. Indeed, the stores will have different characteristics whether they are unlicensed and closed, unlicensed and pending closure, or licensed and open. 53

The store statuses were determined by inquiry to the owners (annexe 1) 65

â&#x20AC;˘ Licensed stores Licensed stores can be found all along of Fushun Road as well as on other roads on the community. Most of the licensed stores that can be found on Fushun Road are local businesses and commercial activities such as fruits and vegetable sellers, various sellers, and restaurants. Franchises can also be found, although less frequently, such as convenience stores and franchised fruit stores. Because of their status as licensed stores, they do not risk getting closed by the local government. Their morphology has not changed since the beginning of the action and will most likely remain as such. The urban morphology of the typical licensed store is as follows: the licensed stores usually have large openings on their front and their faĂ§ades are mostly open. The local licensed stores such as the restaurants or the fruit seller have a single opening on the street side which is completely open. They usually do not have windows, the shop being closed only by a metallic fence at night. The building morphology is based on a simple rectangular shape and average dimensions (around 3 or 4 meters wide). Like most of the stores on the street, they occupy the first floor, the upper floors being of residential use. The morphology of the franchises stores is similar to those of the local ones. They also have an almost completely open faĂ§ade which consists of large glass doors and windows, however their plan can be more complex and provides more than one open front. The shapes of such stores are more complex which provides more opening and thus better lighting. The franchises stores are also generally bigger.

Fig. 21: Licensed store - Fruits and vegetables seller

Fig. 22: Licensed store - Restaurant

â&#x20AC;˘ Unlicensed stores pending closure The second status concerns the stores which do not have a license, and which are currently being subjects of the governmental action. These stores have already undergone through a first, partial closure of their fronts. Such stores concern mainly local shops such as various sellers and retailers. The built morphology of such stores is closed to that of the local licensed stores, in the way it is built on a simple rectangular plan with a single opening side to the street, with similar or slightly smaller dimensions (from 2 to 4 meters wide depending on the store). However, the main difference concerns the storesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fronts. The large openings and windows have been walled, and the doors have been replaced by windows. The windows are not larger than one-meter-wide, and the bottom is around one meter off the ground. Most shops have one or two windows. Access in and out the store is usually helped by stairs placed directly on the street side. Those stores are currently pending the following stage of the closure, which may eventually result in the complete closure of their fronts.

Fig. 23: Unlicensed store pending closure - Window grill seller 68

Fig. 24: Unlicensed store pending closure - Fruits and vegetables seller

• Closed unlicensed stores Those stores are those which do not have a license and which have undergone the final stage of the closure. Their original features were the same as the licensed local stores and as the stores pending closure. However, their current features are quite different today. Due to the closure, their fronts had originally been completely walled. Recently, store owners had to ask the local government to open up a small window (50 cm high and less than one meter wide) which bottom sill is around 1.5 meter from the ground. Between November 2018 and March 2019, those windows have been fenced. The closure of these stores’ fronts means that there is no possible access from the street, as the windows are high and fenced which doesn’t allow the customer inside the store. The access is only possible via the main entrance of the residential compounds in the back lanes, some stores being open only on the backlane’s side.. Due to the restricted access, some of the stores are quite far from the entrance and the accessibility of the store is poor.

Fig. 25: Closed unlicensed store - opened on the backlane only

Fig. 26: Closed unlicensed store - Hairdresser (November 2018)

Fig. 27: Closed unlicensed store - Hairdresser (March 2019) 71

IV. Urban transition and good living place The previous part focused on the physical analysis of the Fushun Road, by the observation of the consequences brought by the closure of the stores after the beginning of the “Five Violations and Four Must” action. The following part will focus on the subjective dimension of the definition of the quality of urban life, in order to conclude on the liveability of the neighbourhood. To do so, the perceptions of the users as well as their satisfaction will be analysed, by the realization of two surveys. A first survey54 was realized among the store owners and renters. The aim of this first inquiry was to determine the impact the closure of the stores had on the store owners directly, their opinions on the closure, and what they were planning to do following the closure. The questionnaire comported the following elements: •

General informations (gender, age, occupation, status of the store, etc.)

•

Thoughts on the neighbourhood (why they chose this neighbourhood, neighbourly interactions, recommendations)

•

Thoughts on the closure of the stores (future plans, status of communication from the local government) A complementary second survey 55 was then realized to focus more on the

perceptions of the neighbourhood and on the users’ satisfaction. This survey was realized on all users of the neighbourhoods, mainly residents. The questionnaire was established by taking into consideration the concept of quality of urban life developed by Marans and Stimson and Campbell’s model. The questionnaire inquires about the following: •

User profile (gender, age, occupation, what are their uses in the neighbourhood)

•

Perception of the neighbourhood (image of the neighbourhood, does it provide good conditions for their daily activities and why, mental map of their daily activities)

First survey in annexe

Second survey in annexe 72

â&#x20AC;˘

Impacts of the transitions of the neighbourhood (do they think it has changed, what changed, did the closure of the stores affect them and why)

â&#x20AC;˘

Life satisfaction of the users (are they satisfied now, are they more or less or equally satisfied as before the closure of the stores, what would improve their satisfaction, do they think the neighbourhood is a good living place for them)

Based on the survey results, the liveability of the neighbourhood will be assessed. Finally, the link between the understanding of the relationship between the urban lifestyles and the built environment, and the good liveability of a place will be discussed to conclude about the planning of better living places.

IV. 1/ Life satisfaction in Kongjiang Road community A/ Perception of the neighbourhood

Fig. 28: Perception of the organization of the neighbourhood

Fig. 29: Image of the neighbourhood according to the users

Most of the users have a neutral perception and image of the neighbourhood, as depicted in the figures 28 and 29. Indeed, when asked about their opinion towards the neighbourhood’s organization – about how well the community is managed in its organization and how clear is the community’s identity – 45% of the answers were neutral. In a similar manner, 40% of the interviewees have a neutral image of the neighbourhood. This reveals that most of the neighbourhood’s users do not think well or badly of the community, or do not have a pronounced opinion. The rest of the users who had a more biased opinion tended to have a rather bad than good perception of the neighbourhood, as 15% of them think the community is very badly organized and have a very bad image of it. Only a small amount of the interviewed users seem to have a good perception of the area, as only 5 % of them think the community is very well managed and have a good image of it. It is notable to notice that none of the interviewed persons had a very good image of the neighbourhood, even if they found good qualities to the community. Indeed, most of the interlocutors found more flaws than qualities to the neighbourhood, as shown in figures 30 and 31. One of the most recurring answers concerns the fact that there was too much cars and motorbikes in the neighbourhood (30% of the answers), making it not easily walkable enough (15%). Another important recurring answer concerns the lack of a strong community identity and feeling (30%) which can be explained by the fact that many of the interviewees do not have interactions with a lot of people (20%). Other weaknesses include the lack of green spaces and open spaces for leisure (25%) which explains the fact that many people tend to go to parks and other places further away. In addition, the neighbourhood is generally seen as dirty and unsafe (15%) and lacking amenities such as schools, markets, stores, etc. (20%). However, the neighbourhood also possess some good qualities which are well perceived by its users. The best quality of the area, according to the users, is the high accessibility by subway, bus, personal car, bike, etc. (40% of the answers). Other notable qualities include the good amenities (20%) and the good walkability (25%) of the community.

Fig. 30: Flaws of the neighbourhood

Fig. 31: Qualities of the neighbourhood

For the aforementioned reasons, the users have mixed feelings about the quality of the neighbourhood. Most of them find as much issues as qualities to the community and therefore do not judge it as “good” or “bad”. When asked whether the neighbourhood possessed good conditions for them to do their daily activities (shown in figure 32), most of the interlocutors remained neutral (25% of the answers) which mostly corresponds to the users who have a neutral image of the area. The users who have a rather bad image of the neighbourhood and who saw more issues than qualities have a rather negative opinion toward this question. Indeed, 20% of the subjects think the neighbourhood’s conditions are not suitable at all for their daily activities and 20% think they are not suitable. It is important to notice that even though most users have a neutral perception of the neighbourhood, and that very few have a good image of it, that a lot of users still think the neighbourhood is suitable for their daily lives. Indeed, 25% of the user think the neighbourhood’s conditions are good. This may be explained by the fact that many interviewees do not have a particular image of the community – neither a good nor a bad one – but still recognize the qualities which make their lives easier. The users who have a good image and perception of the area think the neighbourhood’s conditions are very good for their daily activities (10%). These differences opinions and neighbourhood perception can be explained by the differences in lifestyles and urban lifestyles as seen in chapter III. 2. B/.

Fig. 32: Daily activities conditions in the neighbourhood 77

B/ Changes in lifestyles and in the built environment in the neighbourhood The users who feel the most changes in the neighbourhood are the owners and renters of the stores in Fushun Road (according to the surveys 1 and 2). The impact the closure has had on their lifestyles can be sorted into three categories which correspond to the status of their stores. •

Licensed stores

The owners of licensed stores are generally unaffected by the closure of the stores as their store is not threatened by the action. In consequence, the lifestyles of the store owners who have a license are also unaffected by the closure and remains unchanged. •

Unlicensed stores pending closure

The owners or renters of stores without a license and which are pending closure are being impacted by the closure, and their lifestyles have been modified. However, these changes are minor. As the closure is currently partial, the impacts it brought is not too important. Even though their lifestyles have been impacted by the partial closure, they can still continue their activity. However, were the stores’ fronts to close completely, the owners feel that the impact on their lifestyles would be too great to continue their activity and they would need to move to another place or another city to open a new business. •

Unlicensed stores with totally closed front

The owners and renters of such stores have been the most affected by the closure of the stores. The closure of their store’s fronts have deeply impacted their lifestyles as it made their activity very difficult. The stores’ activity has been weakened as the visibility decreased and the accessibility degraded, which has lessened the customer base of these stores. The owners find it very hard to continue their activity under such conditions, which they feel have happened too quickly with a lack of official information from the local government. As for the residents and other users, they mostly feel no changes (35% of the answers) or were neutral about the changes (35%). Only 10% of the interviewees felt that the neighbourhood changed a lot.

Fig. 33: Perceived amount of change of the neighbourhood

The users who felt that the neighbourhood had changed mainly noticed positive changes. The first change felt by the users is that the neighbourhoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population had decreased recently (25%). Other positive changes concerned the improvement of the sanitary conditions as the streets became cleaner and safer (10%) and that the neighbourhood now possessed more public services like public toilets and public infrastructures (10%), as well as more green spaces and open spaces for leisure (5%). Some people felt that the neighbourhood had become less lively when some other thought it became more lively (10% each).

Fig. 34: Perceived changes in the neighbourhood 79

Some of these changes can be related to the closure of the stores in Fushun Road. Most of the users are indeed aware of the closure of the stores’ fronts which is happening in Fushun Road (80% of the interviewees), however they are not all affected by the closure as only half of the interviewed persons claimed being affected by it.

Fig. 35: Awareness and impacts of the closure of stores in Fushun Road

The difference in the result may come from the fact that the interviewed persons have very different lifestyles as seen in the chapter III. 2. B/ and therefore doesn’t use the neighbourhood spaces in similar manners. Indeed, not only people perceive the changes in the neighbourhoods the same ways. The figure 36 shows the impacts the closure of the stores in Fushun Road had on the urban lifestyles of the neighbourhood’s users. Those users who were affected by the closure could feel both positive and negative impacts on their lifestyles. As seen before, the most affected are the store owners. They are the ones who felt the most negative impacts as they experienced customer loss (25%) and the closure of the stores made it harder for them to continue their business (20%), notably because of the lack of visibility the closure induced for the store (5%). Some of the store owners claimed that they couldn’t continue their activity and that they would have to move to another place to start a new business (10%). The residents and other users also felt some negative effects related to the closure. Some of them claimed that the closure had led the prices to raise and that it was now too expensive for them (10%), which is related to the fact that, now that the stores are closed, they can’t shop where they usually did (15%) and have to go somewhere else (15%) which may be more expensive. Because of these reasons, many users have disinterested themselves from Fushun Road as they now do not have any reasons to go there (15%). 80

Fig. 36: Impacts of the closure of the Fushun Road stores on the urban lifestyles of the neighbourhoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s users

C/ Satisfaction in transitioning Kongjiang Road community As the rest of the survey previously presented, the answers towards the life satisfaction of the neighbourhoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s users is also quite neutral (50% of the answers, as shown in figure 36). However, the answers regarding the life satisfaction are much more biased than the previous answers. Indeed, 15% of the subjects are not satisfied at all, whereas 15% of them are very satisfied with the neighbourhood.

Fig. 37: Life satisfaction within the neighbourhood 81

Although most of the users are not well satisfied currently, improvements to the neighbourhood could also improve their life satisfaction, and therefore, quality of urban life. The figure 37 shows the usersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; recommendation regarding what they think would make the neighbourhood more satisfying. The most recurring answers included cleaner and safer streets (50% of the answers) as well as more open spaces and green spaces (40%). Other recommendations included more community activities (35%), more informations from the government (25%), more activities for the elderly and children (25%), more diversity in stores (20%), an enhanced street walkability (20%) and better accessibility (20%).

Fig. 38: User recommendation for a better life satisfaction

The recent changes induced by the closure of the stores in Fushun Road have had impacts on the urban lifestyles of the users, and modified their image of the neighbourhood. Consequently, it may also affect their life satisfaction. However, since the closure of the stores, most of the users are neither more satisfied nor less satisfied (45% of the answers, as shown in figure 38). This corresponds well with the users which werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t particularly affected by the changes and had a neutral life satisfaction. The users who are more affected by the changes are also less satisfied now than before the closure (30%) whereas few users are more satisfied (20%).

Fig. 39: Satisfaction since the closure of the stores

Despite a rather neutral life satisfaction, most of the users are quite clear toward what they think about the liveability of the neighbourhood (shown in figure 39). Most users do not think of the neighbourhood as a good living place (55%), at least not in the current situation, whereas the rest of the users think otherwise (45%). It can be noted that even though their life satisfaction is neutral, many users still think the neighbourhood is not a good living place. This may mean that although they are aware that the environment is not ideal, they are neither satisfied or dissatisfied, probably because they cannot make it better for now. However, the answers provided in the figure 37, if realized, may change their thinking toward the liveability of the neighbourhood.

Fig. 40: Opinion of the users on the liveability of the neighbourhood 83

The amount of user thinking the neighbourhood is good living place and the ones thinking the opposite is almost the same. In a similar manner, the answers concerning the life satisfaction within the neighbourhood are quite heterogeneous. This can be explained by the very different lifestyles of the neighbourhood’s users. Indeed, some trends can be easily identified in the lifestyles of the individuals which has an influence on their perception of the neighbourhood, and therefore, their quality of urban life and life satisfaction. In consequence, the different individuals have different opinions on the liveability of the neighbourhood. It can be noted that the users living in areas with good living conditions – like the compounds around Changling Road – generally have a better perception of the neighbourhood as it provides good options for them to do their daily activities. Additionally, because of their higher living conditions, they are less dependent on the environment in Fushun Road as they can afford to go to other places which are further away and which may be more expensive than the stores in Fushun Road. Because they do not use the retail stores in Fushun Road, they are not as affected by their closure than other individuals. The fact they are mostly unaffected by the closure means that they haven’t felt a lot of changes in their urban lifestyles, so their satisfaction remains as good as before. For these reasons, they see the neighbourhood as a good living place. Residents living in poorer area – like the compounds near Fushun Road which contains formal and informal housing – generally have a worse perception of the neighbourhood. Indeed, due to poor living conditions, they cannot access all the amenities in the neighbourhood, making their daily lives harder. They are more dependent on the stores in Fushun Road which means that the closure of the stores is affecting them more than other users. As a result, they tend to have a lower life satisfaction, which means a lower quality of urban life and a worse opinion of the neighbourhood’s liveability. The store owners are also along the users who have the lowest satisfaction, even if they do not necessarily have a bad image of the neighbourhood. The low satisfaction comes from the closure of the stores which is hindering their activity and modifying their urban lifestyles a lot. As a result, they experienced a loss of satisfaction and do not think of the neighbourhood as a good living place. 84

Although the changes induced by the closure of the stores in Fushun Road has had mainly negative effects on the usersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; opinion toward the liveability of the neighbourhood, it can be note that some users have felt the changes as a positive impact for the neighbourhood, one that could make the neighbourhood a good living place. Indeed, as seen in the previous part about the changes the users have noticed, many interlocutors have observed that the neighbourhood had become less lively and less populated. For many of them, especially the older users, this change is positive as it makes the neighbourhood quieter and thus more enjoyable. Another positive thinking about the closure and later demolition of the stores concerned the safety of the community. Indeed, as the stores being closed are unlicensed, informal stores, many residents believe the closure is a good think as it reduces the informal phenomena and therefore make the neighbourhood safer and cleaner. In this regard, the better safety and cleanliness of the community makes it a better living place for the residents than before the closure. The situation in the Fushun Road neighbourhood shows the complexity of the notion of a â&#x20AC;&#x153;goodâ&#x20AC;? living place. Indeed, even though the built environment may be the same for all users, their different urban lifestyles and uses of space give them different perceptions of the place they live in, different quality of urban life, different life satisfaction, and therefore, different opinions on the liveability of the place they live in. In transitioning neighbourhoods, these differences are even more noticeable as the changes in built environments and urban lifestyles affect each individual in different manners.

IV. 2/ Planning better living places in neighbourhood in transitions A/ From good quality of urban life to good living places in transitioning neighbourhoods A neighbourhood, or any living places, is a place where cohabit various individuals who have different urban lifestyles, different urban needs, different urban uses, in the same environment. Even in a “normal” state, or in its “usual” state, the same environment of a neighbourhood may provide a “good” or “bad” living place for the users depending on their personal characteristics, lifestyles and needs. The qualification of a place as a “good” or “bad” living place is then delicate as it depends on the individuals. Indeed, what can be seen as a “good” living place for one individual may not be so for another user. The liveability of a place needs to be understood in a subjective manner, especially in the context of transitioning neighbourhoods. When a neighbourhood enters a state of transition, whether it is due to lifestyles changes or environment changes, the transitioning place will have repercussions on both the users’ urban lifestyles and on the built environment of the place they live in. Indeed, as seen in the first chapter, the cyclic nature of the relationship between urban lifestyles and built environment implies that the modification of either urban lifestyle or environment will impact the other and eventually lead to its modification as well. When one element changes in a neighbourhood, whether it is a general and progressive transition of the lifestyles of the users or of a group of users, or the physical transformation of the environment the users live in, the modifications are bound to affect to users or the environment in a cyclic way. This inevitably leads to modifications in the way individuals live in the neighbourhood or place. However, as neighbourhoods are generally composed of vastly different individuals, due to the differences in lifestyles and the hierarchy of the needs among the users of one place, the repercussions of the transitioning place will vary among the different individuals. Indeed, due to their personal attributes, some users may be greatly affected by the modifications, when some others may not be very affected or not at all affected. Some may be affected in a positive manner, some in a negative way, some may remain unchanged. In these conditions, the transitions and their influences and

repercussions on the environment and urban lifestyles of the user of the transitioning place will affect their quality of urban life. Indeed, the transformation of the living place, whether in physical (transformation of the environment) and non-physical (transformation of the lifestyles) ways, eventually impacts the objective attributes of said place. The modification of the environment, of the physical dimension of the place, leads to the modification of the image of the place in the minds of the users, in other words, to the modification of the users’ perception of the place. In turn, this affects the user’s satisfaction within a life domain which is inevitably related to the general life satisfaction of the users. The alteration of the life satisfaction induces changes in the users’ quality of life56, as well as on their quality of urban life57. As seen earlier in the chapter I. 3., the quality of urban life of the individuals is directly linked to the “good” or “bad” liveability of the place they live in. The transitions of the place having different influences on the users, the changing quality of urban life of each user will directly influence the quality of the liveability of the transitioning place. Just like the transformations may or may not affect the different individuals, the liveability of the place may improve, degrade, or remain unchanged according to the users and their personal attributes, urban lifestyles and needs. In the case of the Fushun Road neighbourhood, the transformation of the built environment - the closure of the stores on Fushun Road - has had different repercussions on the people's quality of urban life, depending on their personal urban lifestyles and attributes. Indeed, the perception of the neighbourhood's liveability before and after the urban transition mostly depends on people's lifestyles and on the way they perceive the environment - thus, how satisfied of it they are. The physical transformation of the neighbourhood has had very different impacts on the users' perceived liveability depending on their urban lifestyles. The previous survey results have showcased differences in the users' opinions on the liveability of the neighbourhood and on their 56

According to Campbell’s model of quality of life, in:

Campbell, A., Converse, P. E., Rodgers, W. L. (1976). The Quality of American Life: Perceptions, Evaluations, and Satisfactions. New York: Russell Sage Foundation 57

According to Marans and Stimson’s model of quality of urban life, in:

Marans, R. W., Stimson, R. J. (2011). Investigating Quality of Urban Life : Theory, Methods and Empirical Research. Dordrecht Heildeberg London New York: Springer. 87

satisfaction according to the way they live and to the way they use the urban space. Indeed, the users whose lifestyles didn't involve the use of the stores in Fushun Road users living in the compounds further away from Fushun Road, with higher standards of living, etc. - are the less impacted by the change. As their lifestyles do not depend on the stores, and as they do not use the urban space in Fushun Road nor do they need to, the urban transition has had little to no change on their life satisfaction. Before and after the change, their satisfaction remains high and their perception of the liveability of the neighbourhood remains good. However, users whose lifestyles involve the use of the space on Fushun Road - residents living in the compounds along Fushun Road, with lower living standards, store owners on Fushun Road - are affected by the change in a different manner. Those users are the ones who are the most impacted by the neighbourhood's transformation. The urban changes having had important repercussions on their urban lifestyles, it also affected their satisfaction of the place, in different ways according to their personal attributes and lifestyles. The result is the modification of the way they perceive the neighbourhood as a "good" or "bad" living place. Indeed, their personal characteristics are essential to the understanding of the relationship between urban lifestyle, built environment and urban satisfaction and liveability. The personal attributes behind the users' lifestyles make for different opinions regarding the satisfaction and perception of the liveability although the users may be equally affected by the change. Indeed, even if Fushun Road's residents and the store owners are both strongly affected by the closure of the stores, the way they perceive the change and their opinions are drastically different. The residents' lifestyles and their use of space are centered around living in the neighbourhood, whereas the store owners' revolve around working. For this reason, the residents tend to be more satisfied after the transition as the closure of the stores makes for a cleaner and safer neighbourhood in their opinions. On the contrary the store owners are generally less satisfied. Insofar as urban lifestyles and built environment changes are connected in such an intricate way, and insofar as the users' personal characteristics dictate their urban lifestyles, needs and uses, built environment changes - associated with urban lifestyles - are also closely linked to the users' satisfaction and to the perception of the liveability of a place. Moreover, in a place such as a neighbourhood where urban lifestyles are multiple, the transformation of the environment will have multiple effects on the users, meaning that the perception of the liveability will have multiple outcomes as well. 88

B/ Learning from Kongjiang Road community: Toward better living places The transitions currently happening in the Kongjiang Road community allow us to understand two major issues. Firstly, it demonstrates the subjective relationship between urban lifestyles, built environment, and the quality of the liveability of a place. Indeed, like the previous chapter explains, the transitions of either urban lifestyle or built environment affect each individual in different manners, leading to different perceptions of the liveability of the same place which may be seen as good for some just as it can be perceived as bad for others. Secondly, and consequently, it showcases that there is no definite outcome for the transitions of a place in regards to the liveability. This means that even if the outcome seems good or bad, it doesn’t mean the resulting liveability will be so. In the case of the Kongjiang Road community, the closure and suppression of the stores may have seemed as if it would affect the neighbourhood and its users in a negative manner. Indeed, if we refer to guidelines in literature, like the ones Jane Jacobs described as good neighbourhood and street environment, the situation happening in Fushun Road seems like it will a negative impact on the liveability of the neighbourhood, making the street less attractive, less dynamic, thus making it harder to maintain the “eye on the street” and thus to maintain the security. However, due to special circumstances, like the informality of the phenomena, the suppression of the stores and its repercussion on most users seem to go against Jacobs’ recommendations as most people in the neighbourhood actually like the street becoming quieter and think that the closure of the stores makes the neighbourhood safer. Insofar as each individual may react differently to the transition of its living place, there is no way to assume whether a transitioning neighbourhood will evolve into a better or worse living place, just as there is no way to define the quality of its liveability as a whole for all users. To put it in a nutshell, the question of how to plan better living places in transitioning neighbourhoods have no definite answers on its own, as the different lifestyles and environment transformations impacts the individuals in different ways and leads to a very subjective grasp of the term “good” or “better” living place. However, the understanding of the relationship between transitioning urban lifestyles 89

and built environment, in addition to the knowledge of how they affect the users’ quality of urban life and their own perception of the liveability of the transitioning place – in other words, the knowledge of the link between the urban lifestyles-built environment relationship and the liveability of a place – helps to assess this question. The study of the transitioning neighbourhood and its users, as well as the assessment of its repercussions on the users and their quality of life is essential in the planning of better living places in transitioning neighbourhoods.

Conclusion The closure of stores in Fushun Road in the Kongjiang Road community in Shanghai showcases that, not only do the transformations of urban lifestyles and built environment lead to the modification of the quality of urban life of the users of one place, thus altering the liveability of said place; but it also affects the individuals in different manners depending on their personal attributes, bringing a very subjective dimension to the concept of a “good” living place. Indeed, there is no clear and predefined answer to the question of what makes a good or better living place, especially in neighbourhoods in transition. The situation in the Kongjiang Road community demonstrates the importance of the understanding of the relationship between urban lifestyles and built environment, as an essential study to be able to grasp an understanding of the notion of liveability in transitioning neighbourhoods. In the 21st century this understanding is more important than ever as cities all around the globe continue to urbanize, develop, transition, creating more and more different types of urban lifestyles and environments, transforming the urban citizens’ lives into an array of multiple options. In such a transitioning urban world, the concept of “good” living place is more subjective than ever, as the multiplication of lifestyles and environment in transitioning contexts leads to numerous individual perceptions of the life satisfaction of one place’s users and of the liveability of said place. Today, the notion of liveability of a place is especially important in the transitioning urban sphere, as all the various urban transitions happening in the 21st century – urbanizing and developing cities, shrinking cities, informal phenomena, etc. – continue to transform both urban lifestyles and city environments, thus creating many challenges regarding the liveability of the transforming neighbourhoods. In today’s ever changing urban society, it is more than ever essential to understand the links between both urban lifestyles and environments, and what makes a “good living place”.

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Annexes

Annexe 1: Survey 1

Annexe 2: Survey 2 This survey is anonymous and is held in the context of a master thesis from the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University. It focuses on the relationship between urban lifestyles and built environment and the links to the planning of better living places. This survey aims to study the lifestyles changes around the Fushun Road since the beginning of the government action “Five Violations and Four Must” and the following changes in the neighbourhood, and to qualify the neighbourhood in terms of “good living place” according to the changes and the satisfaction of the neighbourhood’s users. General information 1. You … in the neighbourhood: ☐ Live ☐ Spend time in public / open / green spaces 2.You are: a) ☐ A Man ☐ A Woman

☐ Work ☐ Shop

b) ☐ <18 YO

c) ☐ Student

☐ 18-25 YO

☐ Active

☐ 25-40 YO

☐ Retired

☐ 40-65 YO

☐ Other

☐ >65 YO

Perception of the neighbourhood

3. What do you think of the organization of the community? (Community management and identity) 1 = very bad 4 = neutral 7 = very good ☐1 ☐2 ☐3 ☐4 ☐5 ☐6 ☐7 4. How is your image of the neighbourhood? 1 = very bad 4 = neutral ☐1 ☐2 ☐3 ☐4

7 = very good ☐6

☐5

☐7

5. Does the neighbourhood possess good conditions for you to do your daily activities? 1 = not at all 5 = a lot ☐1 ☐2 ☐3 ☐4 ☐5 6. It is not good because: ☐ There isn’t enough amenities (schools, markets, retail, etc.) ☐ There isn’t enough public infrastructure (public toilets and baths, public services, etc.) ☐ The accessibility is not good (bus, subway, cars, etc.) ☐ The neighbourhood is dirty / unsafe ☐ The neighbourhood doesn’t have enough leisure/open/green places (plaza, parks, etc.) ☐ The neighbourhood isn’t walkable enough ☐ There is too much cars/motorbikes ☐ There isn’t a strong community feeling ☐ I don’t know people in the neighbourhood

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7. It is good because: ☐ There are good amenities (schools, markets, retail, etc.) ☐ The public infrastructure is good (public toilets and baths, public services, etc.) ☐ The neighbourhood is easily accessible (bus, subway, cars, etc.) ☐ The neighbourhood is clean / safe ☐ The neighbourhood has leisure/open/green places ☐ The neighbourhood is walkable ☐ The different activities (living, commercial, leisure, etc.) are within walking distance ☐ I know and talk to many people in the neighbourhood

Transition of the neighbourhood 8. Do you think the neighbourhood has changed in the last few years? 1 = not at all 5 = a lot ☐1 ☐2 ☐3 ☐4 ☐5 9. If it changed, what do you think changed? The neighbourhood: ☐ is less populated ☐ is more populated ☐ is less lively ☐ is more lively ☐ is more dirty / less safe ☐ is less dirty / safer ☐ has more places for leisure ☐ has less places for leisure ☐ has more public services (toilets, parking infrastructure) ☐ has less public services (toilets, parking infrastructure) 10. Are you aware of the closure of the shops in Fushun road? ☐ Yes ☐ No 11. Are you affected by the closure of the shops in Fushun road? ☐ Yes ☐ No 12. If yes, in what aspects did the closure affect your way of living in the neighbourhood? Residents: ☐ The prices have gone up / are too expensive ☐ I need to shop/go somewhere else / farther away ☐ I don’t / can’t to the places I usually went before ☐ I have less / no interest going to Fushun Road now that the shops are closed Shop owner/renter: ☐ I have less customer now ☐ My store has less visibility now ☐ It’s harder to continue my business now ☐ I can’t continue my business now ☐ I don’t know what if my store is going to close (lack of information from the government) ☐ I will have to move to another place / open a store somewhere else Quality of Urban Life and satisfaction 13. Are you satisfied with the neighbourhood? 1 = very dissatisfied 4 = neutral ☐1 ☐2 ☐3 ☐4

☐5

7 = very satisfied ☐6 ☐7

14. Since the closure of the shops, are you more, equally or less satisfied with the neighbourhood? ☐ I am less satisfied now ☐ I am as satisfied as I was before ☐ I am more satisfied now 15. What could make you more satisfied? ☐ More open / green spaces ☐ More information from the government ☐ Cleaner and safer streets ☐ More walkable streets ☐ More diversity in stores ☐ More activities for the elderly and children ☐ More community activities ☐ More accessibility 16. Would you qualify the neighbourhood as a good living place now? ☐ Yes ☐ No 101

Results

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

Annexe 3: Daily trips

110

111

112

113

114

115

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Table of illustrations

Fig. 1: Definition of the concept of urban lifestyles (by the author) .......................................................16 Fig. 2: Definition of built environment (by the author)...........................................................................17 Fig. 3: The urban lifestyle – built environment cycle (by the author) .....................................................19 Fig. 4: Suburbanization in Levittown, USA ............................................................................................22 Fig. 5: The development of the shopping centre: Woodfield Mall, Chicago, USA ................................22 Fig. 6: Urbanism of signs (Source: Venturi et al., Learning from Las Vegas, 1977) ...............................24 Fig. 7: Architecture of signs (Source: Venturi et al., Learning from Las Vegas, 1977) ...........................24 Fig. 8: Facilities’ distribution of 15-minute community life circle. (Source: Shanghai Urban Planning and Land Resources Administration Bureau, 2016.).......................................................................27 Fig. 9: Marans and Stimson's model of quality of urban life ..................................................................32 Fig. 10: Campbell's model of quality of life ............................................................................................34 Fig. 11: Urban village in Guangzhou (by the author) ..............................................................................45 Fig. 12: Kongjiang Road community near Tongji University (by the author) ........................................52 Fig. 13: Kongjiang Road community – Land use....................................................................................52 Fig. 14: Activities in the Kongjiang Road community (by the author) ...................................................54 Fig. 15: Fushun Road - Land use (by the author) ....................................................................................56 Fig. 16: Activities around Fushun Road (by the author) .........................................................................57 Fig. 17: General informations of the neighbourhood's users ...................................................................61 Fig. 18: Lifestyles in the Fushun Road neighbourhood (by the author) ..................................................63 Fig. 19: Environments in the Fushun Road neighbourhood (by the author) ...........................................64 Fig. 20: Fushun Road's closure status (by the author) .............................................................................65 Fig. 21: Licensed store - Fruits and vegetables seller .............................................................................67 Fig. 22: Licensed store - Restaurant ........................................................................................................67 Fig. 23: Unlicensed store pending closure - Window grill seller ............................................................68 Fig. 24: Unlicensed store pending closure - Fruits and vegetables seller ...............................................69 Fig. 25: Closed unlicensed store - opened on the backlane only.............................................................70 Fig. 26: Closed unlicensed store - Hairdresser (November 2018) ..........................................................71 Fig. 27: Closed unlicensed store - Hairdresser (March 2019) .................................................................71 Fig. 28: Perception of the organization of the neighbourhood ................................................................74 Fig. 29: Image of the neighbourhood according to the users ..................................................................74 Fig. 30: Flaws of the neighbourhood .......................................................................................................76 Fig. 31: Qualities of the neighbourhood ..................................................................................................76 Fig. 32: Daily activities conditions in the neighbourhood ......................................................................77 Fig. 33: Perceived amount of change of the neighbourhood ...................................................................79 Fig. 34: Perceived changes in the neighbourhood ...................................................................................79 Fig. 35: Awareness and impacts of the closure of stores in Fushun Road ..............................................80 Fig. 36: Impacts of the closure of the Fushun Road stores on the urban lifestyles of the neighbourhood’s users .................................................................................................................................................81 Fig. 37: Life satisfaction within the neighbourhood ...............................................................................81 Fig. 38: User recommendation for a better life satisfaction ....................................................................82 Fig. 39: Satisfaction since the closure of the stores.................................................................................83 Fig. 40: Opinion of the users on the liveability of the neighbourhood....................................................83

117