Remaking Chinese Urban Form

Modernity, Scarcity and Space, 1949-2005

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About the Book

In this pioneering study of contemporary Chinese urban form, Duanfang Lu provides an analysis of how Chinese society constructed itself through the making and remaking of its built environment. She shows that as China’s quest for modernity created a perpetual scarcity as both a social reality and a national imagination, the realization of planning ideals was postponed. The work unit – the socialist enterprise or institute – gradually developed from workplace to social institution which integrated work, housing and social services. The Chinese city achieved a unique geography made up in large part of self-contained work units.

Remaking Chinese Urban Form provides an important reference for academics and students conducting research on China. It will be a key source for courses on Asia in architecture, urban planning, geography, sociology and anthropology, at both the graduate and undergraduate level. The insightful yet accessible introduction to urban China will also be of interest to architects, urban designers and planners – as well as general audience who wish to learn about contemporary Chinese society.

Reviews

'This volume is an insightful analysis of the urban built environment in the context of a transforming political economy within material constraints ... In the fields of Chinese development and architecture, this is an essential addition.' - Reginald Yin-Wang Kwok, University of Hawai'i at Manoa

'[This book] makes a major contribution to our understanding of the socialist production of space ... an important benchmark in the study of Chinese urbanism and urbanization.' - Margaret Crawford, Harvard University

'With extraordinary detailed first-hand fieldwork and archive search, [Lu] depicts space production in both socialist and reform periods... The book has two outstanding strengths: its sensitivity to history and keen observations of spatial details. It traces current urban forms to historical tradition and related many seemingly irrelevant forms to the their common logic of space production... Overall, this is a truly benchmark work in the study of Chinese urban form.' - Fulong Wu, China Information, Vol. XXI, No. 3, 2007

'The book is likely to be useful for scholars and students interested in Chinese development, urban planning, architecture, design and cultural theory' - Maurizio Marinelli, The China Journal, January 2008

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Socialist Space, Postcolonial Time Part I: China Modern 2. The Neighbourhood Unit in China: The Travel of a Global Urban Form 3. Work Unit Modernism Part II: Urban Dreams 4. The Socialist Production of Space: Planning, Urban Contradictions, and the Politics of Consumption in Beijing, 1949-1965 5. Modernity as Utopia: Planning the People's Commune, 1958-1960 Part III: Shifting Boundaries 6. The Latency of Tradition: From the City Wall to the Unit Wall 7. The New Frontier: Urban Space and Everyday Practice in the Reform Era 8. Epilogue

About the Author(s)

Duanfang Lu is Lecturer in the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Sydney, Australia. She was educated at Tsinghua University, Beijing and the University of California, Berkeley, and has extensive experience in architectural and urban design in China.