Abstract
Urban villages play an important role in providing affordable housing to urban migrants in Chinese cities. They are considered as supplementary to the dual rural-urban system in China. Of central importance to studying urban villages is how the morphology of these informal settlements affects urban life. It is essential for urban planners and designers to examine the morphology of urban villages. This paper, therefore, investigates the morphology of urban villages using the case study of Dayuan Village in Guangzhou, China. The morphology of this urban village is tested against four main elements of urban morphology: urban density, accessibility, functional mix, and urban interface. Our results revealed that the type of street within the urban village has considerable influence on accessibility, functional mix, and urban interface. Regarding urban density, our results show that buildings’ height is not influenced by the centrality of buildings nor land value; however, it is likely that it is affected by planning agreements between the village committee and the local government. Land coverage does not comply with the planning regulation for residential districts. Regarding accessibility analysis, the number of entrances to streets is influenced by the type of street under analysis. The distribution of different types of functional mix is also affected by the type of street within the urban village. The buildings with a mix of ‘live/visit’ are concentrated along the formal streets and primary inner streets. The mono-functional use of ‘live’ and the bi-functional mix of ‘live/work’ are mostly located in the secondary inner streets. Regarding urban interface, our results demonstrate that the formal streets have an interface with considerable porosity, and that this can contribute to the livelihood of the immediate area.
Highlights
During the last few decades, China has experienced rapid urbanisation
In order to address this gap, this paper investigates how spatial characteristics of urban villages from the perspective of urban morphology contribute to our understanding of the complex informality of these settlements
The results of this study demonstrate that this framework can be used to examine the urban morphology of informal settlement of urban villages in China
Summary
During the last few decades, China has experienced rapid urbanisation. This is characterised by large-scale urban expansion and considerable urban rural migration [1]. Urban villages are considered supplementary to the formal planning system [5] and everyday neighbourhoods that provide urban life for migrants without legal urban status [6]. Scholars reveal this contribution from socio-economic perspectives, arguing that urban villages help integrate the migrants into urban society [3,4] by providing affordable housing and amenities [2,7,8,9]. The production and exchange of goods that occur in urban villages tend to transgress regulations and laws [12]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
