Junyi Bai | Ba architecture thesis

URBAN COMPLEX Rethinking in Terms of Contemporary Urbanisation and Consumption Patterns

A case study of GUANGZHOU, CHINA ARC322 / JUNYI BAI / 140157297 Tutor: Chengzhi Peng University of Sheffield

Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my tutor Dr Chengzhi for the continuous support of my special study and research, for his patience, motivation, and the great conversations we had. His guidance helped me in all the time of research and writing of this dissertation.

My sincere thanks also goes the friends and the staffs of the library of University of Sheffield, for support me through the process of writing.

Last but not least, I would like to thank my family, for always giving me the best things and supporting me spiritually throughout my study in UK.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CASE STUDY

INTRODUCTION 2 BACKGROUND

38

TEE MALL

41

GRANDVIEW MALL

43

TAIKOO COMPLEX

44

PARC CENTRAL

6 LITERATURE REVIEW

INTERNATIONAL/NATIONAL

11 METHODOLOGY

LITERATURE REVIEW/CASE STUDY

12 LIMITATIONS 13 STRUCTURE DIAGRAM

DEFINITIONS, FEATURES, INEVITABILITY 16 DEFINITIONS 18 FEATURES

PROBLEMS 48

THE IMPACT OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

50

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE RELATIONSHIP

54

OVERSUPPLY

57

RECOMMENDATIONS

BETWEEN ELECTRONIC COMMERCE AND PHYSICAL STORES

21 INEVITABILITY

DEVELOPMENT 24 INTRODUCING THE SITUATION IN GUANGZHOU 26 A RECENT MEDIA BRIEFING 29 COMPARISON WITH TRADITIONAL SHOPPING STREET 32 NEW FORM OF URBAN COMPLEX CONNECT WITH SUBWAY STATION

CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY

ABSTRACT The urban complex as a new form of building type is favoured by developers all around the world, especially in China. Tianhe District in Guangzhou is one of the largest commercial districts in China. It has witnessed a huge amount of construction of urban complexes in the recent years. This dissertation aims at examining whether the urban complex is suitable for contemporary urbanisation and consumption patterns in China. It will start by the definition and features of the urban complex and attempt to reach a conclusion on whether this is the certain consequence of the process of urbanisation. It will then studying the emergence and current situation of the urban complex in Guangzhou Tianhe district and make a comparison with a traditional shopping street. This will be followed by an introduction to the combination of the urban complex with the subway system.

Urban complexes help the intensive use of land and ease the traffic problem of the modern city; however, under the background of developers pursue quick profit and people's consumption patterns influenced by electronic commerce and the improvement in life quality, there are issues appeared in urban complex.

The dissertation studies the phenomenon of the E-commerce and the influence on physical stores. Enable these to benefit from each other and maximise profit, the study recommends combining the online shopping with physical stores. The statistic shows that there is a growing vacancy rate in urban complexes in certain cities; the dissertation will examine the cause of this situation and put forward recommendations on how this phenomenon can be avoided in the future.

Keywords Urban Complex, Urbanisation, consumption patterns, vacancy, E-commerce, mixuse, intensive

INTRODUCTION

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BACKGROUND Urbanisation is an important engine of economic growth and economic restructuring, and a powerful driving force which is changing the social space structure and promoting the coordinated development of urban and rural areas. As the city space and its population expand, various contradictions become prominent, such as urban sprawl, social space differentiation, residential segregation, and an imbalance in the allocation of public service facilities.

The urban sprawl1 is growing faster than the increase in the city population. Inefficient use of land and low-density development causes a serious waste of land resources and affects the sustainable development of the city. On the one hand, intense pressure has brought about the urban environment: for example, the occupation of farmland and erosion of green space; whilst on the other, the low density of city construction and the phenomenon of suburbanisation have caused a decline in the quality of life of urban residents. Large scale suburban development increase the burden of traffic, resulting in a sharp increase in urban commuting distance and car ownership, causing the problems of traffic congestion to worsen.

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Causes and Effects of Urban Sprawl - Conserve Energy Future. Conserve Energy Future. 2017. Available at: http://www.conserve-energyfuture.com/causes-and-effects-of-urban-sprawl.php. Accessed February 10, 2017.

Many countries are suffering from the ‘urban disease 2’ caused by the rapid development of urbanisation. How can land use efficiency be improved? How to make the city more resource efficient? How can people enjoy a high quality of life instead of being gridlocked on the roads? Many architects and city planners have put forward their theories. Among them, the American architect Raymond Mathewson Hood 3 proposed to combining many public functions into a single building, known as the urban complex. He was working as a senior architect on a large design team, so he applied the idea to the design of Manhattan Rockefeller Center4(opened in 1933), which was a significant milestone in the process of urbanisation. The Rockefeller Center covers an area of twentytwo acres and, contains nineteen buildings on the site: including News Headquarters- the world's largest news centre, which houses the Associated Press, Time Warner, and most of the national television broadcast studios. It is also the headquarters of many international companies.

There are shops and restaurants underground and the landscape design of the sunken square makes it a popular place for recreation and cultural entertainment. It created a ‘miracle’ under the backdrop of the economic depression of the United States.

Figure1 Rockefeller Center

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Chuanwen Z. urban disease. Chinadialoguenet. 2014. Available at: https://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/3722-China-surban-disease-1-. Accessed February 16, 2017.

3 Hood, Raymond M. (Raymond Mathewson), 1881-1934. Socialarchiveiathvirginiaedu. 2010. Available at: http://socialarchive.iath.virginia. edu/ark:/99166/w6n305xx. Accessed January 16, 2017.

4 New York Attractions - Tourist Attractions in NYC | Rockefeller Center. Rockefeller Center. 2016. Available at: https://www.rockefellercenter. com/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwldzHBRCfg_aImKrf7N4BEiQABJTPKG4eETo6qL1xKITF3OTmfBLy2yUYKZso-4KkzYAzqz0aAoE-8P8HAQ. Accessed February 19, 2017.

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Roppongi Hills5 is an urban complex project built in Tokyo in 2003 and is one of Japan's largest integrated property developments. It is a composite area of residential, office, study, entertainment, and other functions. The average number of employees working on the site is 10,000, and a daily flow of million people. Because the project is located in eastern Asia with similar culture and lifestyle, Roppongi Hills has essential reference significance to China.

Figure2 Roppongi Hills

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Roppongi Hills. Enwikipediaorg. 2012. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roppongi_Hills. Accessed January 19, 2017.

After Reform and Opening Up, China’s economy has developed rapidly. Gross domestic product (GDP) increased from 30 billion yuan in 1978 to 744 trillion yuan in 2016 6.

The rapid economic development has promoted the development of urbanisation. According to statistics7, in 2016 China's urbanisation rate reached 56.1%. With increasing social demand, the urban development model is changing.

In the past, China has promoted the functional zoning model8 in urban planning; specifically, to build a single function building in the corresponding functional location. However, with the rapid development of the city, the residents expect more from the neighbourhood. The original zoning model not only cannot meet these new requirements, but, to a certain extent, also hinders urban development. A new model of mixed land use9 gave birth to the urban complex in China. It has the characteristics of complex functions which provide convenience for the lives of residents. With its intensive and efficient land use, it eases the tensions caused by scarcity of city land, traffic congestion, and environment deterioration.

In addition, due to the impact of the strict Chinese residential real estate purchase policy 10, a sizeable number of real estate developers are turning to commercial property. This has caused urban complexes to become popular with developers.

Western countries started to study the idea of the urban complex relatively early; whereas China did not begin to focus on the development of this urban structure until recent years. However, many urban complexes have been built in the country to date, especially in the first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. The urban complex has become the main type of commercial building in the city centre. Many urban complexes have rapidly emerged, promoting the city's economic development, but also bringing with them many problems. Compared to the single function building, the urban complex has mixed functions, complex structure, large-scale heavy construction, and high costs. Thus, cognitive and accurate development is of particular importance.

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China's economy grows 6.7% in 2016 - BBC News. BBC News. 2017. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38686568. Accessed February 19, 2017.

China's Urbanization Plans Need To Move Faster In 2017. Forbescom. 2016. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahsu/2016/12/28/chinas-urbanizationplans-need-to-move-faster-in-2017/#34b74bc374db. Accessed February 19, 2017.

8 Functional zoning and regional planning: Chinese plans, some European experiences and their relevance to China. Sussexacuk. 2004. Available at: https:// www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gateway/file.php?name=dunford-m-functionalzones-s&site=2. Accessed February 29, 2017.

9 China: A New Approach for Efficient, Inclusive, Sustainable Urbanization. World Bank. 2014. Available at: http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/pressrelease/2014/03/25/china-a-new-approach-for-efficient-inclusive-sustainable-urbanization. Accessed February 9, 2017.

10 Housing Bubble, Politics and Trouble: Problems and Policies for China’s Real Estate Market – China Business Review. Chinabusinessreviewcom. 2012. Available at: https://www.chinabusinessreview.com/housing-bubble-politics-and-trouble-problems-and-policies-for-chinas-real-estate-market/. Accessed January 27, 2017.

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LITERATURE REVIEW INTERNATIONAL In Japan, the United States, and Western Europe, the design level and construction quality of the urban complex is very advanced. Japan has the largest urban complex which is the Roppongi Hills. The characteristics of the urban complex in the United States is reflected in the construction of the urban space, the people-focused design of the environment, and the accurate positioning of the target planning. Most European cities have strict planning regulations to protect the overall historical style of the city, and, consequently, there is more concern about the continuation of the urban context.

In the process of urbanisation, the contradiction between people, land, and the environment appears gradually. This has led urban planners and experts to put forward different ideas to achieve a better city layout. Among them, the theory of mixed land use11, compact city12, as the basis for the emergence of the urban complex is of great significance.

Each of these theories is considered below.

Mixed land use consists of at least three major revenue functions supporting parts, for example shopping,cinema, hotel, apartment, conference; by integrating various parts in terms of function and space; follow the organised development plan, which includes the determination of the type and ratio of the functions. The theory of ‘mixed use ‘originated in ‘Mixed use--the new land use method'(1976)13 edited by the American Urban Land Institute (ULI). British author Andy Coupland pointed out in his book ‘Reclaiming the City - Mixed Use Development’(Taylor and Francis, 1996)14 that increasing the mix of uses is thought to reduce the need for commuting, lower the likelihood of crime, improve the ambience and attractiveness of areas, and contribute to the sustainability of cities.

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Mixed-use development. Enwikipediaorg. 2014. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed-use_development. Accessed February 19, 2017.

12 Compact city. Enwikipediaorg. 2011. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_city. Accessed January 19, 2017.

13 Mixed-use developments : new ways of land use (Book, 1976) [WorldCat.org]. Worldcatorg. 2012. Available at: http://www.worldcat.org/ title/mixed-use-developments-new-ways-of-land-use/oclc/2337940. Accessed February 19, 2017.

14 Reclaiming the City. Google Books. 2011. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Reclaiming_the_City. html?id=9kVDDS8DN_0C. Accessed February 19, 2017.

The compact city theory was first developed by two mathematicians, George Dantzig and Thomas L. Saaty, who worried about the efficient use of the urban resource.

The theory was later adapted in Michael Jenks' book 'The Compact City: A Sustainable Urban Form?'(Spon Press, 1996)15.

In the book, it is considered that a compact city is a highdensity, overall utilisation of the city, which encourages the development of urban construction within the existing city limits. This theory based on the control of the city construction expansion stressed that the efficient and sustainable utilisation of urban land, centralisation of city infrastructure, and sharing of resources could ease problems like environmental pollution and population expansion.

Figure3 'Compact city' by Michael Jenks

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Compact City: A Sustainable Urban Form. Google Books. 2014. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Compact_City. html?id=ZAeZti784w4C&redir_esc=y. Accessed March 19, 2017.

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NATIONAL In China, urban complex projects are mostly constructed in the first and second tier cities, and they are mainly driven by commercial interests. Chinese research on the urban complex started relatively late, but this is increasing with the widespread construction of this urban structural form and the increasing interests being shown by developers.

'Research and Practice on the development of large urban complex'(Longguxin, 2005) is edited

by Taskin Real Estate Consulting Firm following its experience on projects of the urban complex in the Chinese market. The book makes a systematic study on urban complex from the angle of the economy, planning, and operation, accompany with a large number of urban complex cases.

'Integrated urban and architectural design' was written by Han Dongqing and Feng Jinlong in 1999. In this book, the authors make a pioneering research on the organisation of urban architecture from the perspective of the city, elaborated the domestic and foreign examples of the organic combination of urban and architectures, which formed a profound impact on the further research of urban complex.

'Depth analysis on the urban complex as an intensive organisation' written by Dong Hexuan and Lu Jiwei is an in-depth research on the concept and attributes of the urban complex through the perspective of urban design.

'Research on the planning and positioning of urban building complex' (Wen Yizhou, 2008), 'Study on the method of pre-positioning of urban complex' (Ling Xiaojie, 2008), 'Study on the spatial structure of urban complex'(Lu Dongmei, 2008), 'Study on underground commercial space design of urban complex'(Yan e, 2009), 'Research on the intervention of public space of commercial pedestrian street in urban complex'(Jin Di, 2009) are all master's and doctoral thesis.

They all study from a certain aspect, enrich the theory of the urban complex.

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Based on the latest literature and research articles, most current studies on the urban complex are in favour of research of the concept of urban complex and space planning. The majority of the articles focus on the commercial parts of the urban complex, for example, the retail and restaurant spaces and discuss the planning; there is little attention to the current situation of the development of the urban complex as an urban form. Also, while the articles describe the concept in general terms, they do not have a specific analysis focus on the particular region of the country. Few articles discuss the actual circumstances of people's daily lives and consumption habits or take a perspective on the change and development involved. Also, there is a lack of insight into the problems that emerged regarding urban complexes in this period. Without research into this problem and solutions being proposed much blind development could result.

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Name of article Research and Practice on the development of large urban complex 《大型都市综合体开发研究与实践》

Integrated urban and architectural design 《城市·建筑一体化设计》 Depth analysis on urban complex as an intensive organization 《作为集约化城市组织形式的城市综合体 深度解析》

Main content

Aspect

The book makes a systematic study on urban complex from the angle of economy, planning and operation, accompany with a large number of urban complex cases.

examples

1999

The authors makes a pioneering research Han Dongqing, on the organization of urban architecture Feng Jinlong from the perspective of city

integrated design

NA

An in-depth research on the concept and Dong Hexuan , attributes of the urban complex through the Lu Jiwei perspective of urban design.

intensive organization

Year

Author

2005 Longguxin

Research on the planning and positioning of urban complex 《都市建筑综合体规划定位研究分析》

2008

Study on underground commercial space design of urban complex 《城市综合体地下商业空间设计研究》

2009

Wen Yizhou

Yan e

2006 Study on the urban form of Guangzhou Tianhe sport's center district 《广州天河体育中心地区城市形态研究》

Beware of indigestion under the banquet of urban complex 《城市综合体盛宴之下谨防消化不良》

The impact of Electronic Commerce on the retail industry space 《电子商业对中国城市零售业空间的影响》

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Zhou Fei

2013

2008

Wang Lijuan

Lu Shan

The article argures that the development of theurba complex is subject to the development of the company's overall strategy, economic and social benefits, short-term interests and long-term value.

planning

This paper focuses on issues related to the safety of underground space, analyze the underground accessibility and safety of external and urban complex internal space and function.

Through the 3 stages of the development of business in the district, this paper describes the development of the commercial group and makes a simple induction and analysis of the characteristics of the commercial groups in each stage

urban form of Guangzhou

A report about the oversupply problems emerged in different cities and remind the developers to be awear of the issue.

oversupply

This paper focuses on the analysis of the influence of Electronic Commerce on the spatial organization and the spatial behavior of consumers, and discusses the relationship between electronic commerce and traditional retailing

electronic commerce

List of important articles （Writtern in Chinese）

METHODOLOGY Literature Review To examine the definition and features of urban complex, the author has chosen the literature review as one of the methods of analysis. Most theories that help explain the emergence of the urban complex were written between the 1970's to 1990s by Western city planners and architects. Because the urban complex is a relatively new concept in China, the literature review includes many news reports and journals which describe the current situation and data. The author’s intention is to understand and assess what is lacking in the research area and conduct a further study on it.

Case Study Due to the broad research question, a case study of specific areas and boundaries is included in this dissertation. It will be more accurate if provided with certain geographic boundaries and correspond to the specific urban context for the data, and, thus, the analysis will be more dependable. The case study will be an analysis of the urban complex in Tianhe District, Guangzhou, China. The area is one of the largest commercial districts in the country and there is intensive development of urban complexes there. It is the ideal location to assess whether the urban complex is suitable for urbanisation and the local pattern of consumption. The case study includes a visit to the site and analysis of it; the process gives the author first-hand opportunity to observe how different urban complexes work in this district and enables a comparison to be made between the modern urban complex and traditional shopping street. During the site visit, photos were taken as proof of observation and analytical materials. Some statistical data was difficult to obtain on the site, and, therefore, the author collected this from open sources of the government and data company. In addition, there is other secondary data obtained from supporting literature.

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LIMITATIONS The development of urban complex in China started in the last decade and, consequently, the research on this building form is still far from comprehensive. In addition to the oversupply and problems generated by the E-commerce mentioned previously in the article, there are other problems such as combined function, location, operational strategy, and such aspects that can be studied. The problem of development and the market is a huge topic to study on, limited to the length of the article; the research can only examine the surface of the phenomenon and address the key issues. There is a limitation that the study is unable to penetrate to the theoretical study. Besides, it is not enough to study only one city, as each urban development has its own characteristics and progress track. A study of the spatial distribution of the urban complex and its interior design is also important. All kinds of functions are coming together but how to guide people so that they circulate in a comfortable way is a topic that the author will examine in a future study.

Also, it is difficult to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the development of the urban complex in the wider context of China.There are limited resources that can provide a primary study of the data. Most of the data in this paper come from the news reports and the credibility is difficult to verify. The author puts forward some recommendations for the improvement of the urban complex assisted by her own experience. However, it is a limitation of the work that these recommendations lack appropriate case study to prove if they are feasible.

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Definitions, Features, Inevitability

Urban complex development situation in guangzhou A recent media briefing supporting the build of urban complex

Development

Comparison with traditional shopping street

URBAN COMPLEX

New form of urban complex connect with subway system

Rethinking in terms of Contemporary Urbanisation and Consumption Patterns

Tee Mall

Case Study on Urban Complex On Tianhe Road

Grandview Mall Taikoo Complex Parc Central

The impact of Electronic Commerce

E-commerce Problems Oversupply

Reconstruction of the relationship between electronic commerce and physical stores Vacancy situtation in China Recommendations on how to avoid oversupply in the future

STRUCTURE DIAGRAM

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DEFINITIONS, FEATURES, INEVITABILITY

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DEFINITIONS The abbreviation for the urban complex is HOPSCA16 (Hotel, Office, Park, Shopping mall, Club and Apartment). All these functions are based within a single building or group of buildings connected to each other. The urban complex is a product of a city at a certain stage of development. As the population of the city increased and there is no longer sufficient land to develop within its perimeters, it is inevitable that such a comprehensive type of building would appear. With the city’s influence on the efficiency of people's life, the function of an urban complex is more and more complete . The consumers who use the malls provide a source of customer for the restaurants; busy staff choose the nearest shopping centre; people on business trips decide to stay in a hotel which is convenient for their meeting. Its various functions can be used at various times of the day, so the elements of the complex are organised in an orderly way and complement each other. However, it is not just about the mix of functions; it is also an organic combination. The economic behaviour of this kind of chain reaction produces high value to the urban complex. The essence of the emergence of the urban complex is to improve the spatial efficiency and value through the combination of different functions. Due to the high concentration and complexity of the services and formats at a specific location, the cost of transportation is reduced. Great accessibility and richness ensure that the quality of life is improved accordingly. Also, the transaction costs of the enterprise are reduced and correspondingly increase its overall efficiency. Because the urban complex has a larger scale and costs more to build than the single function building, it requires more customers; consequently, the location the location is usually in the city centre. The design of urban complex aims to be an icon of the city. At the urban level , the emergence of urban complex accumulates the resources, reduces the traffic pressure, and enhance the city’s image.

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Urban Dictionary: HOPSCA. Urban Dictionary. 2014. Available at: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=HOPSCA. Accessed February 19, 2017.

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H

HOTEL HIGH-DENSITY TRANSPOTATION SYSTEM

O

OFFICE ODEUM

P

PARK PARKING

S

SHOPPING SKYWALK SUPER DOME

C

CONVENTION CONFERENCE CINEMA

A

APARTMENT ADMINISTRATION CENTRE

Figure4 HOPSCA diagram drawn by the author

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FEATURES The urban complex is a new kind of architectural form, and the most favoured by real estate developers. To meet the requirements of the development of the city, the urban complex combines the urban functions with city spatial logic through the building itself , thus has the features of composite, intensive and openness .

Its primary features are as follows: (1) Composite of functions and operations Compared with the normal construction projects, the urban complex contains residential, commercial, entertainment, transportation, and other urban functions in one building.

These functions are interrelated and complementary to each other.

(2) Crowd flow, extended business hours.

Urban complexes are often aimed at different types of people, such as office workers, residents, consumers, and the flow of people using the complex is relatively dense. During the daytime it is mainly office workers and consumer groups, while in the evening it is primarily residents or business people staying in the hotels. Diverse kinds of individuals create complementary activity and ensure the operational hours of the urban complex are extended to nearly the full day.

(3) Large scale construction Because the urban complex contains many functions, it must be constructed on a larger scale in comparison with the normal single function building. Some complexes even contain a super high-rise tower, which becomes a landmark of the city; for example, Taiwan's 101 project17, and the IFC building18 and ICC projects19 in Hong Kong.

(4) Balance on the use of land Urban complex focus on the efficient use of land. Allocation of different functions in the same area avoids the waste of land resources cause by single function planning. The development of the urban complex promotes the balanced use of land resources and improves the efficiency of land use.

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Taipei 101. Enwikipediaorg. 2009. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taipei_101. Accessed January 28, 2017.

Ifc mall | International Finance Centre, Hong Kong. Ifccomhk. 2015. Available at: http://ifc.com.hk/en/mall/. Accessed February 7, 2017.

International Commerce Centre. Enwikipediaorg. 2016. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Commerce_Centre.

Accessed January 19, 2017.

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8 Figure5 Urban Complex Design for Sanxiang Square, Suzhou Figure6 Urban Complex Design for Jinding, Fujian Figure7 Urban Complex Design for Tailin Square, Shanghai Figure8 Wuzhou International Plaza, Shanghai

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Urban Complex, a Certain Product During Urbanisation Influenced by the traditional idea of zoning planning, the city’s functions are often located separately in different areas; hence the planning of industrial areas, residential areas, commercial areas, and cultural areas. Although the zonal planning has a certain rationality, the biggest drawback is that the approach ignores that the city is a closely-connected organism. It should be noted that each of these functional elements has a certain degree of independence, but, at the same time, they are interdependent and complementary. For example, a residential area does not have the corresponding facilities like retail, education, medical and entertainment, nor does it possess a sufficient traffic system. Even if the housing itself is good, it will not be favoured by the residents, because life is extremely inconvenient and a single residential building is unable to meet the needs of people's daily lives. Similarly, in the central business district, if all areas are occupied by business offices and the high-end hotels, restaurants, shopping centres, apartments or government office are separated apart, the environment is empty and lacks vitality.

Therefore, the building model formed by the different nature of properties within a certain geographical area is not a human fabrication; it is the inevitable result of the blended and organic linkage of the social economy. There can be seen that the city itself is a huge, multi-functional, urban complex. Inside the city, the urban complex can be regarded as an essential part of the urban system because of the spatial combination of its various functional elements.

Figure9 Urban Sprawl in the United States

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DEVELOPMENT

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Urban Complex's Development In Guangzhou No ‘shopping centre’ was developed in Guangzhou or even in China before the 1990s. People used to shop at outdoor markets and on shopping streets, where the stores had a high density and each sold a specific kind of goods. They would go to a certain trading area to buy the things needed, since shopping at that time was done only to meet the needs of daily necessities. Not until the mid-1990s, did the level and type of consumption increase, and, accompanied by the influence of the Hong Kong commercial form20, shopping centres began to appear in the city of Guangzhou. When the Tee Mall opened in 1996, this new type of shopping centre with its collection of retail outlets, supermarkets, restaurants, and entertainment facilities became one of the first large shopping centres in China, along with Beijing World Trade Center21 and Shanghai Hang Lung Plaza22. The Tee Mall Shopping Centre was the first phrase of the Tee Mall Urban Complex. A hotel and an office were built soon after the successful opening of the shopping centre. With its functionality gradually completed, Tee Mall became the first example of an urban complex in China.

Starting in 2011, the urban complex entered a phase of rapid construction in Guangzhou. By the end of 2013, the city had over 100 urban complexes and shopping centres, each exceeding 100,000 square meters in size23. In 2017, several large urban complexes will be opened in the central business district24. Among them, International Grand City in Line Village is a reconstruction of an area that once was an urban village. Also, the K11 Complex, an urban complex aimed at spreading a sense of art during shopping, will open its doors.

Tianhe commercial district is the largest commercial area in Guangzhou, and one of the largest in China25, and exerts an important social and economic influence throughout the country. Tianhe commercial area starts from Guangzhou Avenue and ends at North Tianhe Road. Tianhe Road sets as the axis , where more than ten urban complexes are located on both sides of the road.

It has the characteristics of linear distribution. The Tianhe commercial area brings Guangzhou economic prosperity and promotes the process of urbanisation in the city. The city centre was originally in the Dongshan district, moved to Tianhe district in 2000 because of transportation development, policy support, and the construction of high-rise buildings and urban complexes.26 The Tianhe commercial area became the first commercial area of China, with an area of more than 160 million square meters, followed by Beijing central business area with 100 million square

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Figure10 ten years change in Tianhe District

20

Hong Kong: becoming a Chinese global city. Choice Reviews Online. 2010.

The China World Trade Center. Enwikipediaorg. 2014. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_China_World_Trade_Center. Accessed February 19, 2017.

22 IHanglung Plaza Shanghai. 2016. Available at: http://www.hanglung.com/en-US/mainland-china-properties/Shanghai/plaza-66. Accessed January 5, 2017.

23 Tee Mall- an unrepeatable miracle. Blogsinacomcn. 2009. Available at: http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_553c6bdb010008tz.html. Accessed January 19, 2017.

24 7 newly open urban complex in Guangzhou in 2017. Gzlejucom. 2016. Available at: http://gz.leju.com/news/2016-0320/07396117101932495814724.shtml. Accessed January 4, 2017.

25 Tianhe District. Enwikipediaorg. 2012. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tianhe_District. Accessed January 30, 2017.

26 Guangzhou then and now: The rise of Dongshan, the city's most affluent district. That's Online. 2012. Available at: http://www.thatsmags.com/ guangzhou/post/9874/guangzhou-then-and-now-the-rise-of-dongshan-the-citys-most-affluent-district. Accessed February 23, 2017.

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This intensive development is supported by the government planning of Tianhe District . On April 4th, 2017, the central business district (CBD) of Tianhe district held a media briefing27 about plans to turn Tianhe CBD into the world's top CBD. Deshu Huang, the deputy director of the Tianhe CBD, said at the briefing that the development and regional influence of Tianhe central business district, as one of the three National Central Business District in China, was still on the rise, although there was still room for improvement. The government intends to invest 10,400 million yuan hiring consulting agencies to enhance the city’s image, business, and living environment using the ‘a CBD in the park’ concept. It has three aims: convenience of use, beautification, and a stronger sense of experience. This will be combined with the innovative technology of the ‘smart city’, including big data , networking, and other infrastructure to match the future management of the city.

There are some suggested improvements shown in the briefing; (1) Creation of a park in the CBD focused on the axis.

(2) The CBD image will be recognised through extract the concept of cultural theme and spatial landscape elements to establish a unified and complete systematic identification system.

(3) Construction of an intelligent public service platform and, over time, full coverage of wireless networks.

(4) Development of Mixed-use building, let the functions in CBD more comprehensive.

(5) Exploit and connect the whole underground space in the CBD area.

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A media brief about planning Guangzhou to be a world level CBD. Chinanewscom. 2017. Available at: http://www.chinanews.com/cj/2017/0406/8192908.shtml. Accessed April 14, 2017.

Figure11 Central axis of Tianhe District

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The development of Tianhe Road shopping district is very intensive, and the briefing showed that the local government is full of confidence about their ability to turn this region into a world-class CBD. However, behind the glossy city development, there are still unresolved issues. At 600 meters from the Taikoo Complex, there is a 6 kilometre square urban village called Shipai Village28, where the harsh living environment is occupied by many migrant workers. In another paper from this year, the author studied the causes of the urban villages in Guangzhou, the political factors and influence on the city in compare with the slums in Mumbai. According to the author, the existence of the urban village makes it difficult for the city image to be completely improved, and it also poses potential social contradictions and safety risks. Looking at the future development of the Tianhe District, it is planned to extend the business area to the urban village, but no mention is made about rebuilding this area in the government's CBD planning. This large residential area houses 100,000 people, and the problem therefore, needs prompt attention and resolution as soon as possible.

Figure12 Shipai Urban Village

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Shipai Village. Enwikipediaorg. 2015. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shipai_Village. Accessed February 19, 2017.

Comparison Between Urban Complex And Traditional Shopping Street

Before the emergence of the urban complex, people usually did their shopping on the shopping street. Beijing Road29 in Yuexiu District was the most prosperous business district in Guangzhou until 2010. Beijing Road is occupied by many old and cultural stores and has an average daily flow of 350,000 people. There are five state-owned bookstores and three movie theatres located in a stretch of just 400 meters. Such an intensive agglomeration of cultural facilities was very rare in Guangzhou in the early days of Reform and Opening Up. West Lake Road night market30, which was China's first night market, provided trading opportunities for young self-employed people and led to the building of two department stores in the 1990s: the Guangzhou Department Store and the Sun Department Store. These two department stores almost opened simultaneously and brought an enormous number of people to the area.

However, with the rise of the urban complex, Beijing Road and other commercial streets began to experience a decline in customers. Before, the commercial streets were overcrowded, but no longer for now. The CEO of Comic City, Yu Weiwei said: ‘Many brands choose to go to the new business district because the rent of Beijing Road rises too fast, the brands are gone, and so are the consumers who follow the brand, so the prosperity of Beijing Road is no longer here‘31. The ‘2015 Guangzhou Building Rental Reference price’ shows that typical rent price of a Beijing Road commercial property is 1700 yuan/square meters, whereas the Tee Mall is 1431 yuan/square meter, and Taikoo Complex is 1800 yuan/square meter32. This means that the rent being asked on Beijing Road is at the same level as the high-grade areas in Guangzhou.

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Guangzhou Beijing Lu. Guangzhou Travel Guide. 2011. Available at: http://www.guangzhoutravelguide.com/guangzhou_ shopping/guangzhou-beijing-lu.html. Accessed January 22, 2017.

30 West Lake Road night market. Hkhuaxiacom. 2014. Available at: http://hk.huaxia.com/hxjk/sssh/zyzz/2011/12/2706029.html.

Accessed January 28, 2017.

31 Beijing road declare 4A scenic spot. Epaperoeeeecom. 2016. Available at: http://epaper.oeeee.com/epaper/G/html/201609/06/content_73708.htm. Accessed February 30, 2017.

32 Beijing road declare 4A scenic spot. Epaperoeeeecom. 2016. Available at: http://epaper.oeeee.com/epaper/G/html/201609/06/content_73708.htm. Accessed February 30, 2017.

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Rental pressures and the loss of big brands are just two of the problems that the traditional shopping street is facing in relation to the urban complex. People's experience and feelings about the shopping venues also determines where they want to go for entertainment. The traditional shopping street contains shops open to the street and has a relatively simple function and finds it hard to meet the growing demand of consumers. The Qilou33, introduced by the Chinese returning to Guangzhou from overseas in the 20th century, was widely used in shopping street construction because it combines street pavement and the corridor-style shelter. However, controlled by the upper level's housing, the area of ground floor cannot expand and the narrow street facade is not suitable for the showcase windows of international brands. Although the long arcade corridor provides a comfortable environment for people, it restricts shops to a linear arrangement and only a limited number of people can walk inside and have a look at the shops. In Guangzhou, the average temperature is up to 36 degrees in summer, and the indoor air-conditioned environment in the urban complex can attract more people to stay for a longer time. Also, with the improvement of living standards, people no longer shop just to buy daily goods, they want to get a full range of consumer experience: eating, watching movies, even skiing. These on-site consumption projects in the urban complex can well satisfy consumers.

Moreover, parking is a natural disadvantage for the outdoor shopping street. In general, compared with the traditional shopping street, the advantage of the urban complex is the minimum expenditure of consumers (money cost, time cost, energy cost and transportation cost).

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Qilou Guangzhou. 2014. Available at: http://arts.cultural-china.com/en/85Arts12823.html. Accessed February 6, 2017.

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Figure13-16 Old photos of Beijing Road Figure17,19 Lively scene in Beijing Road Figure18 Silence scene in Beijing Road

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New Form Of Urban Complex —Connected To Subway System With the development of subway construction and urbanisation, a new form of building type emerged - the construction of urban complex above the subway station. This building form mainly refers to the urban complex which has a seamless connection with the subway stations or is located close to the subway station. This allows the urban complex to enjoy a huge flow of customers’ and provides them with the possibility of rapid consumption during their commute.

The main characteristics of this urban complex are mobility, rapid circulation and, multiple types of customer groups.

The subway flow effect can enhance the value of property along the rail lines, attracting business, entertainment, and cultural facilities to set up around the subway station and create a commercial area. This connection can effectively improve the land value and the efficiency of people’s daily life. Realising this, developers began to place value on the land along the subway lines; and advertisers began to use slogan ‘Reach the subway station in five minutes’ as an attractive advertising pitch. With the maturity of the subway system in Guangzhou, the urban complexes above the stations are also developing rapidly. Most core commercial areas are connected to the subway lines and gradually develop into a network.

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25 Figure20-27 Shopping center connect with subway system

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Figure28 Guangzhou prospective subway map for 2020

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CASE STUDY Tee Mall/ Grandview Mall/ Taikoo Complex/ Parc Central

Figure29 Map of Southern China

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Figure30 Map of Tianhe Road, with urban complexes shown eight main commercial center in Tianhe central district

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Figure31 Tee Mall, Parc Central , Grandview Mall (left to37 right)

Tee Mall

Address: 208 Tianhe Rd, TianHe ZhongXin, Tianhe Qu, Guangzhou Shi, Guangdong Sheng, China, 510620 Phone: +86 20 8559 2818 Open year: 1996 Areas: 340,000 sqm

Tee Mall34 is the first urban complex appeared in China. It was built in 1996, when most of Tianhe district was still farmland. Due to the Asian Games being held in Guangzhou and the opening of the subway35, Tee Mall attracted many people from its opening. The Tee Mall Shopping Centre was the first phase of the Tee Mall Complex; with the construction of a 49-floor office building and a 39-floor apartment building, Tee Mall became the first large-scale, fully functional urban complex in China. After ten years of operation, Tee Mall is known as ‘China's best mall ‘which 'Brings the Beijing Road into a building'36, thereby promoting the process of urbanisation and creating a new shopping concept.

Tee Mall promotes Guangzhou's economy to a new level and, in consequence, the business centre was moved from Yuexiu district to Tianhe district, resulting in the current Tianhe business centre. The success of Tee Mall has led not only to the prosperity of the surrounding areas but also created a considerable number of successful business owners. The ‘Tee Mall effect’ became a phenomenon for developers and researchers to study and a goal for other cities to reach. After years of development, Tee Mall has brought many business opportunities to the centre. Transportation is highly developed in this area, with three subway lines, BRT system, and a massive underground parking areas. In addition, Guangzhou East Railway Station is situated nearby. The universities and luxury residential areas bring many customers. Surrounding public facilities and parks create a superior condition for the deployment of more large institutions and gather more urban functions.

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Tian He Chen (TeeMall) – GZ SHOPPER. Gzshoppercom. 2011. Available at: http://gzshopper.com/10-tian-he-chenteemall.html. Accessed February 19, 2017.

35 2010 Asian Games. Enwikipediaorg. 2011. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Asian_Games. Accessed January 19, 2017.

36 Tee Mall- an unrepeatable miracle. Blogsinacomcn. 2009. Available at: http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/ blog_553c6bdb010008tz.html. Accessed January 19, 2017.

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Figure32-35 Tee Mall overview and entrance

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38 Figure36-38 Grandview Mall overview,entrance and resting area Photos taken by the author, Grandview Mall, 2017-04-10

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Figure39-46 Experiencial activities held in Granview Mall

Grandview Plaza Address: 228 Tianhe Rd, TianHe ZhongXin, Tianhe Qu, Guangzhou Shi, Guangdong Sheng, China, 510620 Phone:+86 20 8550 5330 Open year: 2005 Areas: 420,000 sqm

Grandview Plaza37 was opened in 2005, ten years after Tee Mall and located only 300 meters away (opened in 2015, Parc Central is located between Tee Mall and Grandview Plaza, showing the high commercial density of Tianhe Road business centre). Grandview Plaza has a total construction area of 420,000 square meters and it has a 48-floor five-star hotel and an office of the 30-floors. It was known as ‘Asia's largest shopping centre’38 . To attract consumers to this commercial space, Grandview Plaza determines to position in customers' experience, creates the Asian Experience Centre, provides environment that cannot be present during the online shopping, .

The shopping centre uses a large area of market space to design an indoor greenery atrium with China's highest musical fountain. In recent years, Grandview Plaza has developed a 10,000-square meter Polar Aquarium39 39within the shopping centre, huge fish tank with mermaid show in the atrium, 3D movie theatre, large indoor amusement park, real ice skating, and other experience projects. The idea is that consumers should not only shop and eat in the urban complex, but also learn science, visit the zoo, and play in the park to make shopping a more exciting activity. ‘Experience’ activities such as these attract and retain customers and also bring in profit, in addition to retail sales. There are eight major functions in Grandview Plaza: retail, entertainment, catering, exhibition, sports, leisure, tourism, and business, which meet the consumption needs of high-end people of all respects.

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Grandview mall official website. Zhengjiacomcn. 2017. Available at: http://www.zhengjia.com.cn/. Accessed February 19, 2017.

38 Transform into a super experience centre. Newswinshangcom. 2016. Available at: http://news.winshang.com/ html/058/5198.html. Accessed February 26, 2017.

39 Grandview Mall Aquarium. Enwikipediaorg. 2017. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandview_Mall_ Aquarium. Accessed February 19, 2017.

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Figure47 Taikoo Complex model

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Figure48 Taikoo Complex overview

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Figure53-56 Roof gardern and cafes

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Figure57-60 Artriums and staircases

Figure49-52 Entrance of Taikoo Complex

Photos taken by the author, Taikoo Complex, 2017-04-10

Taikoo Complex

Address: 383 Tianhe Rd, TianHe ZhongXin, Tianhe Qu, Guangzhou Shi, Guangdong Sheng, China, 510620 Phone: +86 20 3808 8000 Open year: 2011 Areas: 406,000 sqm

Tianhe Road commercial centre was ushered in a new era when the Taikoo Complex40 opened to the public in 2011, The high-end commercial position of the Taikoo Complex was complemented by international luxury brands, such as Chanel, GUCCI, and LV. These companies opened their flagship stores in the complex and attracted a lot of fashionable people come to visit. Moreover, a food court provided a wide range of choices and a bookstore held lectures, as well as introducing foreign books. These give more options to customers apart from the usual shopping and match the new consumption habits. The different commercial position compared to Grandview Mall and Tee Mall, allowed Taikoo Complex to seize the market with differentiated business ideas. Taikoo Complex targets the high-end elite, providing them with an international lifestyle, while Grandview Mall and Tee Mall target the middle-class local people.

The Taikoo Complex includes a shopping centre, Mandarin Oriental Hotel41, and two grade A office buildings, which are connected with the shopping malls and provide a convenient environment for travellers and business people. People in the urban complex do not need to go out of the building to participate in the meeting, working, shopping, eating, and beauty services, which minimises the pressure of traffic and energy consumption during the commuting process.

The food and beverage industry is very developed in China nowadays and becomes the main source of income at most shopping centres. The Taikoo Complex follows this pattern and is especially concerned with the development of international food, introducing the snack and refreshments from different countries and providing a rich choice for food lovers. On the roof garden, there is a collection of internationalstyle outdoor pubs and cafes, provide eating and drinking choice for both locals and foreigners living and travelling in Guangzhou.

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Taikoohuicom. 2017. Available at: http://www.taikoohui.com/en/Shopping. Accessed February 29, 2017.

Luxury Hotels and Resorts Worldwide | Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. Mandarinorientalcom. 2017. Available at: http://www. mandarinoriental.com/?kw=mandarin-oriental-hotel_e&htl=MOHG&eng=Google_EN&src=PPC&gclid=Cj0KEQjwldzHBRCfg_aImKr f7N4BEiQABJTPKKgC32hmWcrA6uXGj6B8YuLLlHcPxAzfZzid2qkUQ14aArXZ8P8HAQ. Accessed February 28, 2017..

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Parc Central Address: 218 Tianhe Rd, TianHe ZhongXin, Tianhe Qu, Guangzhou Shi, Guangdong Sheng, China, 510620 Phone: +86 20 2203 3061 Open year: 2015 Areas: 568,000 sqm Opened in 2015, and located near Taikoo Complex, Parc Central42 introduced new brands into China to match with the growing consumption needs. To highlight the leisure shopping characteristics, Central Plaza is designed as a high-end shopping park, with a large public space and outdoor greenery in the high-density city centre, allowing people to feel relaxed and shop in the park. Guangzhou's climate is comfortable throughout the year; a good outdoor environment is very attractive to consumers. The central park is open all year round, showing that the urban complex often provides the urban infrastructure such as parks and greenery. The demand for high-end markets is growing in Guangzhou, and, together with the Taikoo Complex, the opening of Parc Central will make the overall competitiveness of Tianhe Road shopping district stronger.

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Parc Central / Benoy. ArchDaily. 2016. Available at: http://www.archdaily.com/791640/parc-central-benoy.

Accessed February 28, 2017.

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Figure61 Hand drawn design concept Figure62-64 Central Plaza overview

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PROBLEMS

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The Impact Of Electronic Commerce On Urban Complexes With the development and penetration of electronic commerce43, people's consumption habits are undergoing subtle changes, while the structure of social consumption has undergone tremendous changes. From the national statistical data, from July 2014 to June 2015, the growing rate of retail sales showed a downward trend of about 10%.

However, in the first half of 2015, the national online retail sales reached 16459 billion yuan, of an increase rate of 39.1%44. With the consumption concept becoming more diversified and personalised, the manufacturers change the production model of large-scale production and internal resources integration to the individually customised production and external resources integration. This indicates that the city's traditional business model will experience an enormous change. With the rise of the Internet business, the emergence of new commercial formats such as Taobao45 and Amazon46 has a significant impact on traditional business. It is the first time to achieve the non-store business, creating a three-dimensional market space. The enterprises can break through the geographical limitations to deal directly with consumers, to achieve low cost, high efficiency and zero inventory, which is regarded as a revolution in business. This revolution influence industries like print, clothes and electronic supplies. People would go to physical stores to try on which they like, but they will finish the deal on the internet, where offer lower price. In the past decade, with the invent like Kindle and Ebook, physical bookstores have experienced a decline in profits. This phenomenon cannot be ignored when talking about the consumption patterns.

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E-commerce. Enwikipediaorg. 2016. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-commerce. Accessed February 16, 2017.

Chinese online shopping ability is the first of the world. Techsinacomcn. 2016. Available at: http://tech.sina.com.cn/i/2015-12-29/ doc-ifxmxxsr3917177.shtml. Accessed January 26, 2017.

45 Taobao. Enwikipediaorg. 2017. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taobao. Accessed February 19, 2017.

46 Amazon. Enwikipediaorg. 2017. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon. Accessed February 19, 2017.

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Figure65 E-commerce brands

Figure66 E-commerce diagram

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Reconstruction Of The Relationship Between Electronic Commerce And Physical Stores Before discussing the replacement of one thing by another, it is necessary to assess whether the function can in fact be replaced. 'Human is the measurement of everything', for business, the standard is to provide what people needs. The extent to which the supplier can satisfy the people's demands determines the value of the business.

Similarly, in the competition between electronic commerce and physical stores, the magic weapon is to reflect the respect and concern about what people want . What E-commerce and physical stores provide to people with is rather different. E-commerce can satisfy those people who want to buy something but do not want to leave the home, while a physical store provides a nice environment and experiential services for people who want a comfortable walk with families and friends. Nowadays the nature of the business is transferred from the relationship of sale to the relationship of service. That is why the future of both methods of commerce looks postive.

Figure67-68 Eslite Bookstore reading club

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In the retail environment, online is a ‘shopping place’ while the physical store is a ‘living place’. The electric supplier provides the transaction as a single function, but physical stores - especially the urban complex - contain the combination of the experience of multidimensional functions; for example, the face-to-face customer service, the spatial experience created by the architectural design, and pleasure of shopping with best friends. Although the ‘shopping’ and ‘living’ both contain consumption, the latter is concerned not only with ‘objects’ but also ‘events’ which have better opportunity to attract consumers and encourage spending money. Also, with the increase of income and the improvement of educational level, people will spend more and more on the emotional aspect. A good example is the Eslite Bookstore47 in Taiwan; the books are used as a stimulation of the value of the place. They sell books to sell the experience, allowing people with similar values gather together, read books, attend lectures, make friends and talk, so the business can become very exuberant. Similarly, the urban complex as a new type of commercial form provides consumers with a new way of shopping, entertainment, and leisure. To some extent, the urban complex saves the declining situation of physical stores.

The characteristics of the urban complex, being multi-functional and highly efficient, plays a positive role in attracting the consumer flow. The urban complex as the commercial centre which facing the residents and immigrates of the whole city, collects the leisure, entertainment, shopping and other functions into one huge integrated space. It has a significant volume and can satisfy the one-stop shopping goal of most consumers.

Faced with today's rich and diversified ways of consumption, the urban complex has had to work with the internet to promote and attract customers and to use its restaurants, cinemas, game centre and other experience facilities to keep them lively. Moreover, a large urban complex can not only provide an excellent place for leisure and entertainment but also become a city's landmark and cultural centre, which the electronic commerce cannot offer. For example, the Dubai Mall48, which is the biggest mall in the world by total area, has a 250-room luxury hotel, 22 cinema screens, plus 120 restaurants and cafes. It bears the responsibility of showing off the city image and attracting customers from all over the world.

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Eslite Bookstore. Enwikipediaorg. 2017. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eslite_Bookstore. Accessed February 19, 2017.

The Dubai Mall. Enwikipediaorg. 2017. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dubai_Mall. Accessed February 19, 2017.

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Figure69-71 Virtual reality experience stores

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Figure72-74 Electronic products experience stores

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Figure75-77 Furniture experience stores

Virtural reality (eonreality, PC World)

Electronic products (Apple Store, 1+)

Furniture (IKEA, Argos)

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OVERSUPPLY As the urban complex becomes popular all around China, there is a saying that ‘Where there is a city, there is an urban complex’49. However, as a result of this phenomenon, the problems of over-supply and uniformity have gradually appeared. Most urban complexes just use the core format of 'shopping+dining+movie', which make the urban complex lack character, and, on the inside, it is just a real estate development. They are almost the same regardless of where they are located, lacking local cultural elements and characteristics.

These problems are caused mainly by policy incentives and developers chasing high profit. ‘The local authority is very smart. The development of housing cannot bring lasting benefits, but the urban complex can create jobs and bring tax. Also, it belongs to the process of urbanisation; the development seems to be good in every aspect. So, the local government will encourage developers by selling land at a low price and giving support of relevant policies. With the government's promotion, policy support, coupled with the market itself has a certain demand, the development of urban complex can be easily excess.'50 said Chen Sheng, the executive director of China Real Estate Data Research Institute.

Some developers buy land without a proper development plan to gain the initiative. They rent the stores facing the street regardless of unified investment and operation, the qualities of the shops are highly uneven, resulting in a considerable number of vacancies.

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Land market operation and Reform in China. Google Books. 2013. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?%E6%9C%89 %E5%9F%8E%E5%B8%8288%E4%BD%93&f=false. Accessed January 25, 2017.

50 Twenty-first Century annual meeting of China urban complex forum 2011. Shhouse163com. 2011. Available at: http:// sh.house.163.com/special/sh_cszht2011/. Accessed February 29, 2017.

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Figure78-81 Empty stores in Tianhe Road Photos taken by the author, Tianhe Computer Town, 2017-04-10

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The market itself is also a problem that developers need to face. Although shopping flow volume of Tianhe Road central business area is expected to reach 2 million people every day, it consists mainly of local residents who do not spend any money during the shopping process. According to the current market conditions, even there are more shopping malls, but the 'cake' is certain, the situation of competing for customers between the shopping malls is inevitable. Reasonable competition is good, since it can eliminate less competitive shops, but vicious competition should be considered and prevented.

Judging from the current situation, the national development of urban complexes is of huge. The ‘2013 China Urban Complex Early Warning Report'51 issued by the China Commercial Real Estate Industry Summit shows that, in the first half of 2014, the total urban complex commercial area was more than 300 million square meters. In 2015, this figure reached 360 million square meters, and in 2016 will amount to 430 million square meters.

In 2014, the number of Chinese large urban complexes was 885, an increase of 24.47% compared to 2013; the number exceeded 1000 in 2015; and in 2018, it is estimated that there will be around 1200 complexes. The report also shows that in recent years, China's urban complex (including shopping center) vacancy rate increased year-by-year. In 2012, the average vacancy rate is 10.5% in China's second-tier cities, higher than the 10.2% figure in 2011, while in the first tier cities, the vacancy rate increased from 7.9% in 2011 to 8.4% in 2012. In Guangzhou, the overall vacancy rate rose rapidly from 4% in 2011 to 10.2% in 2012.52 The problems of high vacancy rates, of supply exceeding demand, and low-profit returns are issues for developers to be concerned about. The urban complex is a complicated architectural form, which carries out a number of urban functions. It needs to adapt to the local economic development level and support local business and industry; otherwise, it may become the new ‘urban disease’.

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2013 China Urban Complex Early Warning Report. Bjwinshangcom. 2013. Available at: http://bj.winshang.com/news-182846.html.

Accessed October 25, 2016.

52 2013 China Urban Complex Early Warning Report. Bjwinshangcom. 2013. Available at: http://bj.winshang.com/news-182846.html.

Accessed October 25, 2016.

RECOMMENDATIONS (1) Experiential business 'Experiential business' is different from the traditional business which is mainly in the retail format. The experiential shopping pays more attention to consumers' participation, experience, and feeling. It is important to have a perceptual design of the shopping space and add more facilities and services. For example, cinema, ice rink, fitness centre, game centre, KTV, beauty and children's recreation The experience can make people stay longer and driven other forms of consumption, also effectively shorten the incubation period of the new project.

(2) Quantity control The Urban complex is favoured by local government and developers, but the unhealthy development which ignores the demand of people and urban bearing capacity may even hinder the city's development and the environment. Therefore, it is necessary to control the scale of construction from two levels; the control of a single development project and the control within the regional level. The local authority should evaluate comprehensively the regional productivity level and calculate the needs of the people, to prevent causing a significant number of vacant and waste.

(3) Positioning differences and show characteristics Diversity is the nature of a city, especially in the city centre. The urban complexes which are locateed in the city centre should become a symbol of the central area. There will be a lot of duplications of services within certain areas, so the different positioning and operating plan become crucial. How to show its characteristics and stand out from the numerous urban complex and shopping mall will be the main focus of the design.

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CONCLUSION

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The overall aim of this dissertation is to discuss whether the urban complex is suitable for the urban development and consumption patterns in contemporary Chinese society. The urban complex as a new architectural form connects functions such as shopping centre, hotel, office that used to be housed in separate buildings, and allows people to enjoy these different services in a single complex. The urban complex gathers the resources , saves the land, reduces the traffic pressure, and makes people's daily lives easier, which is a certain product which will appear during the urbanisation stage and it is suitable for the contemporary urbanization in Guangzhou. This building form has attracted many developers, and, with the encouragement of political and economic factors, the construction of urban complexes is in a pattern of rapid growth. Take Guangzhou as a case study; this dissertation has analysed four urban complexes located on the same road in the Tianhe district, each with its own business patterns and characteristics. Also by comparing urban complex with a traditional shopping street in Guangzhou, the result showing again that the urban complex form is suitable for the city development. But nothing is perfect, not all urban complexes are successful and not all blind buying of land and construction can be profitable. The recent phenomenon of vacant commercial property in the urban complex reminds us that ignoring the local economic environment and market demand will lead to a new ‘urban disease’. Thus, market research and market positioning must be done before the buildings are constructed.

Also, faced with the contemporary consumption patterns influenced by the rapid development of electronic commerce, the demand to visit physical stores is declining. Consequently, the urban complex also faces a decline in customers. The author suggests it should reposition and work with electronic commerce to create a win-win situation. Thankfully, the experiential function and multi-function consumption of the urban complex accords with people's consumption expectations and patterns after improvements to the quality of life, saving the decline of the physical store to a certain extent.

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During the literature review, the author found that while many articles discuss the definition of urban complex, few of them mentioned the emergence of this architectural form combined with case study, as well as pointing out the current issues. This dissertation discusses the emergence of urban complex; also, the problems encountered in the development process. It puts forward recommendations for improving the oversupply issue. Thus, this paper is very useful for the process of development of the urban complex. In this article, the recommendations of improvement lack practical case support, which is suitable for future research content.

In the long run, the rate of China's land use will increase; the single function building will be eliminated because it is inconvenient to use. The urban complex as an all-day use architectural form will become a trend in the country’s future. In the years ahead, the city is likely to be composed of blocks of urban complexes, people forming a community within the urban complex in the realisation of necessities of life and other entertainment purposes.

In the process of writing this paper, the author read many books that she benefited from it. Learning about intensive development, she knows how to make the city operate more efficiently. Living in the Tianhe District for 20 years, she witnessed the high-rise buildings being constructed, saw the rise of the business district, and always wanted to look deeply into the phenomena.

Studying in the UK provides the author with the opportunity to explore the urban complex at a certain distance and provide objectivity in the analysis. The author believes that this study will allow her keener observation and cognition about the logic behind the phenomenon in the future.

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LIST OF FIGURES 1 https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/architecture-20c/a/rockefeller-center 2 http://www.roppongihills.com.e.nt.hp.transer.com/christmas/2015/guidemap/ 3 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Compact-Cities-Sustainable-Developing-Countries/dp/0419251308 4 Diagram drawn by the author 5 http://uk.archinect.com/suxiansun/project/city-forest-urban-complex-design-for-suzhou-sanxiang-squaresuzhou-integration-of-commercial-space-and-urban-space-2014-06?ukredirect 6 http://www.fzjzy.com/Commercial/ 7 http://www.xltkwj.com/wendang/7ECepkyNduzHNLjl.html 8 http://www.archdaily.com/319665/shanghai-wuzhou-international-plaza-winning-proposal-synthesis-designarchitecture-inc-shenzhen-general-institute-of-architectural-design-and-research 9 http://twistedsifter.com/2010/07/urban-sprawl-aerials-christoph-gielen/ 10 https://m.mp.oeeee.com/a/BAAFRD00002016121722007.html 11 https://tuchong.com/401235/13898384/ 12 https://readingdevelopment.wordpress.com/tag/ruralization/ 13 http://www.shorpy.com/node/16984 14 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%AA%91%E6%A5%BC 15 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sincere_Company_Canton_1928.JPG 16 http://lingnancultureexhibition.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/guangzhou-qilou-building.html 17 http://chuansong.me/n/294989651169 18 http://m.chachaba.com/travel/zixun/284977.html 19 http://chuansong.me/n/294989651169 20 Photo taken by the author 21 http://news.winshang.com/html/052/3757.html 22 http://house.southcn.com/fcgd/content/2016-07/18/content_151740458_2.htm 72

23 http://house.southcn.com/fcgd/content/2016-07/18/content_151740458_2.htm 24 http://www.shangdd.com/user_website/web/new_project_particulars.do?houseId=997 25 Photo taken by the author 26 Photo taken by the author 27 Photo taken by the author 28 https://m.fang.com/news/gz/12188_22773965.html 29 Map drawn by the author 30 Map drawn by the author 31 http://inhabitat.com/eco-conscious-parc-central-adds-beautiful-green-lungs-to-guangzhou/ 32 http://www.gzdi.com/project/list_25.aspx?lcid=24 33 https://www.agoda.com/en-gb/sheraton-guangzhou-hotel/hotel/guangzhou-cn.html 34 http://chihe.sohu.com/20170312/n483090828.shtml 35 http://www.neeu.com/mall/?ID=272 36 Photo taken by the author 37 Photo taken by the author 38 Photo taken by the author 39 http://www.travelihub.com/visit-to-the-lotte-world-seoul/1347871831000/ 40 http://bbs.szhome.com/40-90050-detail-77379533.html 41 http://bbs.szhome.com/40-90050-detail-77379533.html 42 http://french.china.org.cn/china/txt/2016-09/22/content_39350619.htm 43 http://s.dianping.com/topic/6503639 44 http://www.vntourism.cn/3/1098650.html 45 http://www.beiii.com/spot/item/197?aid=197 46 http://news.winshang.com/html/061/0644.html 47 http://www.cuntuba520.com/xiaozhishi/2346145.html 73

48 http://www.urundata.com.cn/about.html?1 49-60 Photo taken by the author 61 http://www.lead-8.com/en/news/detail.php?id=175&t=The%20design%20vision%20for%20Parc%20 Central:%20a%20new%20paradigm%20in%20retail%20place-making%20&type= 62 https://www.linkedin.com/biz/1117787/feed?start=10 63 http://www.archdaily.com/791640/parc-central-benoy 64 http://www.archdaily.com/791640/parc-central-benoy 65 http://www.indianbro.com/top-10-online-shopping-sites-india-foundersceo-headquaters/ 66 http://garments.etraderwebsites.co.uk/latest-news/post/eTrader-E-Commerce-Advice-Perfect-ForSMEs 67 https://www.departures.com/things-do-taipei/4 68 http://english.cntv.cn/2015/04/24/VIDE1429821477669799.shtml 69 http://www.emaxvr.com/ 70 https://wx.abbao.cn/a/9428-4e782d75fe649918.html 71 http://vrscout.com/news/htc-viveland-vr-theme-park-taiwan/ 72 http://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/apple-store-zorlu/ 73 http://mobile.it168.com/a2015/1123/1779/000001779780.shtml 74 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HK_%E4%B8%AD%E7%92%B0_Central_IFC_mall_%E8%98%8B%E 6%9E%9C%E5%BA%97_Apple_Shop_interior_duplex_visitors_n_uniform_at_work_Oct-2011.jpg 75 https://www.shutterstock.com/search/ikea 76 http://argos.careers/ 77 https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/b6/74/e8/b674e836aebce533c0ea03f004c2c0a1.jpg 78-81 Photo taken by the author

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