Defining liveability in a Chinese context : determining the qualities of liveability at the level of residential streets in Shanghai

Abstract

In Chinese cities, existing studies of liveability have either produced broad and unspecific results, or have overlooked liveability at the level of the street, in direct connection to the way people live. For this research, Shanghai, a Chinese city with foreign influences, is selected as case study city. The first stage of the study was conducted with design and planning professionals. Thereafter, an extensive field study consisting of interviews with residents and systematic observations was conducted on fifteen selected street sites nominalized as S, M, L, XL1 and XL2 streets, according to their historical-morphological characteristics. The study puts forth the definition of liveability at the level of residential streets in Shanghai through six liveability qualities: ‘the Local Humanized Environment’, ‘Physical Facilities for Living and the Mix of Uses’, ‘Local Economic Activities’, ‘Safety’, ‘Social Interaction and Public Life’, and ‘Sense of Place and Belonging’. The study reveals the value of social life and the particular way it manifests in Shanghai especially on the smallest streets (S and M streets). This has been particularly captured through the context-sensitive qualities of ‘social interaction and public life’, and ‘sense of place and belonging’, which are reinforced by the ‘local economic activities’ on residential streets. In regard to these three vulnerable, yet crucial qualities of liveability in Shanghai, the study identified the most significant differences when compared to the international literature on liveable streets. This research offers guidance to urban design and planning in order to improve liveability in this Chinese context.