Transformation of Urban Land Use from Traditionality to Modernity—A Study of the Old Shanghai Town and Its Creek Landscape from Quality of Life Perspective

Abstract

Transformation or change in land use is directly or indirectly related to the sociocultural aspects of people and in turn affects the quality of life. Transformation of urban land use greatly affects land cover, agricultural land, demographic characteristics, environment, and urban landscape particularly in rural–urban fringe area. These play a significant role and assist the policy-makers, planners, and practitioners in improving the quality of life of people by making balance between urbanization and living environment in space and time. So far as the study of historical land use is concerned, much of the fruit produced by Chinese scholars concentrate on the rural style of land use, while the urban style is scarcely treated of; this has some relationship with the minor status of ancient Chinese cities in a powerful agricultural economy and life condition of people. This paper takes the Old Shanghai Town, a city located on the eastern edge of the Yangtze Delta, for a detailed case study. It deals with a transitional period between tradition and modernity, but other periods are also referred to when necessary from quality of life perspective. The author tries to explain the connection between the mode of urban land use and regional environment and also aims to find out the natural and social factors that affect urban land use and quality of life of the inhabitants. The conclusion is that while factors such as experiences, new concepts, and the regional environment all have an effect on urban land use, the basic and permanent one is the regional environment and its restricting power. Besides, to understand the “transformation” properly is also important to the studies in urban land use toward quality of life in modern China.