Social justice in spatial change:transition from autonomous rural development to integrated urbanization in China

Abstract

Village-based bottom-up industrialization and urbanization in high-density dynamic regions give rise to prevalent rural sprawl in a form of considerable fragmentation in land uses, which begs for planning intervention. A paradigm of compact city is aiming to cure the rural sprawl. Nevertheless, spatial restructuring entails reconfiguration of villages' landed interests, which beckons spatial justice discourses. Market-driven rural non-agricultural development without fair allocation of land development rights between villages has given rise to market bias due to the location premium in the land market. Plan-led spatial change without corrective mediation between villages constitutes planning bias. Transition from rural sprawl to urban compactness suggests institutional change in governance jurisdiction from rural villages to urban districts. Inequality between villages caused by market and planning biases has to be dealt with so as to create initial equality based on socio-spatial justice for villages as rural entities to be incorporated into an integrated city. This paper builds up the narratives of social injustice inflicted by spatial change. Gentrification and informal in situ urbanization are two phenomenal spatial changes that do injustice to certain social classes and groups. Implementation of new planning paradigm entailing spatial change could also incur injustice to some of the stakeholders, which beckons institutional intervention to address spatial injustice.