Abstract
This paper analysed socio-spatial changes in old urban neighbourhoods (Danwei compounds) in Chinese cities as a result of two major national level reforms: the Reform and Opening Up and the Urban Housing reform in 1978 and 1997, respectively. Existing research indicates fundamental changes have taken place in the political, economic and social aspects of Danwei compounds. However, there is a paucity of research on micro-level changes. To understand how these reforms have affected the social-spatial schema of Danwei Compounds, the study utilised mapping, key person interviews and field observation in AMS compound, Hefei city of Anhui province. This paper compared the AMS Danwei Compound before and after the reforms in terms of public spaces, building features and compound management. The study found that the AMS Danwei Compound has experienced a significant reduction in public space, an increase in building density and a reconfiguration of compound management actors. The study suggests the need for local planning authorities and government to pay attention to planning and design of the old city core by emphasising improvement in public spaces, attention to compact design principles for urban neighbourhood planning, and establishment of local community management body.
Highlights
IntroductionPublisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
Our study argues that in the case of cities experiencing rapid urban transformations, such socio-spatial changes help unravel the specific details of evolution of urban neighbourhoods and to respond in a manner that capture the dynamics especially against socio-spatial discontinuities
This paper focuses on the AMS Danwei compound to analyse socio-spatial changes before and after the two reforms
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The ‘Danwei’ system, known as the ‘working unit’, is a unique community-level socio-spatial system which emerged after the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. The Chinese word ‘Danwei’ is the collective term for non-natural person entity unit of human society. ‘A Danwei’ could refer to, for example, a school, a hospital, a government institution, a factory, etc. The Danwei system was established to obtain the national mobilisation ability to rebuild the economy and industrialised productivity [1]. It is generally considered that this system contributed enormously to the physical shape of Chinese cities, in addition to the economic, political, social and spatial structure of modern
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