China City Planning Review (No.1, 2019)

♦From Directive to Legislation, from Separation to Integration: Rural Planning Evolution Since the Founding of New China

Author：Zhang Yuanyuan, Huang Jingnan, Wang Guo’en

Abstract：Since the founding of new China in 1949, rural development in China has experienced three periods, which have been first the collective economy, second the household contract responsibility system, and third the chronological coordination of the urban and rural. Meanwhile, there are three types of statutory planning that guide rural construction and management in China, i.e., land use planning, land consolidation planning, and village and town planning. This paper summarizes their different characteristics in the three periods respectively. Firstly, the period of the collective economy from 1949 to 1978 is the embryonic stage of rural planning, during which land use planning was just introduced from abroad, while land consolidation planning and village and town planning had not yet been formed. In this period, rural planning had a strong planned economy feature. The following period of the household contract responsibility system from 1978 to 2003 is the growth stage of rural planning, during which all three types of planning developed their independent preparation, regulation, and management systems. In the period of urban and rural coordination from 2003 to the present, there has been a trend towards urban and rural integration and joint development among three types of planning. Based on the rural development history in China since 1949, this paper concludes that the three types of statutory planning have transformed in adapting to China’s national conditions toward a more standardized, legislated, and integrated mode.

Keywords：rural planning; land use planning; land consolidation planning; urban and rural coordination

♦An Exploration on Four Generations of Urban Design Paradigms from the Perspective of Rational Planning

Author：Wang Jianguo

Abstract：Urban design is becoming a hot topic in academic discussions and engineering practice in the transformation of urban development in China. This paper systematically summarizes the historical development concerning urban design ideas and thoughts. Based on an in-depth analysis on the development frontier in urban design discipline and professional field in both China and abroad, the paper concludes that urban design has undergone several development phases, including traditional urban design, modernist urban design, and green urban design. Considering the new urban design development trend that is characterized by digitalization as the method and tool, the paper puts forward the “digital urban design paradigm” as the fourth generation and sums up its five innovative values. The most important characteristic of urban design is “multi-scale experiential control on space in the whole chain,” and digital urban design has greatly expanded the scale of such kind of experiential control. The relationships between the four generations of urban design paradigms are not simply successive, but inherited and partially iterative urban design “paradigm synthesis” under the joint effects of design objectives with difference in similarity, various spatial scales, and various social demands. Digital urban design possesses not only the social values and design originalities of man-machine dialogues, but also quantitative properties and database outcomes, which can more effectively combine with or even merge into the statutory urban planning system of China. Thereupon, the leap-forward development of urban design based on systematical coordination can be realized.

Keywords：urban design; paradigm shift; digitalization; rational planning; China

♦Transformation of Urban Design from the Perspective of Society-Space Relationship

Author：Bian Lanchun, Chen Mingyu

Abstract The New Urban Agenda approved at Habitat III – The United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development in 2016, promises to achieve the urban transition toward sustainability in response to future challenges facing cities worldwide. In the current context of new urbanization in China, urban development is experiencing a transition from incremental development to regeneration. In order to realize people-oriented objectives, planners need to gain scientific understanding of urban development and grasp the basic concepts of urban design and value orientation, so that they can shape spaces that meet diverse needs, achieve social inclusion and enhance the quality of urban life. The purpose of this paper is to reiterate the importance of studying urban development from the “society-space” perspective and the concern about its values in urban design. The paper analyzes and discusses the characteristics of urban development and changes in social needs that appear in the practice of urban design from the perspective of society-space relationship. In addition, it emphasizes the spatial-temporal characteristics and value orientation in the development of urban design theory and practice. Considering China’s current urban background, the paper also argues that the current transformation of urban design practice needs to be guided by theories on human settlements and reinforce three important aspects of urban design characteristics and values: seeking truth from science, seeking kindness in humanities, and seeking beauty through art.

Keywords：urban design; society-space; shaping of space; value orientation

♦Urban Design in Contemporary China: Consensus and Contention

Author：Liu Jinhua

Abstract：Contemporary China has seen a fragmented and tortuous urban design development process with frequent interactions with other countries and it is impossible to adopt a linear thinking in relevant historical studies. This paper starts with controversies over urban design in contemporary China and reaches a conclusion that two differentiated development paths exist, i.e., technology and value. Based on the two paths, the paper analyzes four urban design ideas, design of physical form, comprehensive design of the environment, control of design, and design of policy, and summarizes the characteristics and evolution mechanism of these ideas. It attempts to establish an evolution framework of urban design, so as to provide a reference for its localization in China against the backdrop of globalization.

Keywords：contemporary; China; urban design; thought; history

♦How to Implement Urban Design in China?

Author：Jin Guangjun

Abstract：With the focus on urban design projects for key urban areas, this paper reviews the evolution and practice of urban design in the United States, and analyzes two different development paths of urban design in China. By comparing specific urban design projects, it expounds similarities and differences between detailed control planning and urban design, hence putting forward recommendations for urban design implementation in terms of statutory status, implementation rules, and team building. The paper intends to clarify the stratified relationship between urban and rural planning and urban design, so as to avoid needless repetition and overlap of design, thereby enhancing the healthy development of the urban design discipline in China.

Keywords：urban design; urban characteristics; detailed control planning; design implementation; statutory status

♦Incorporating Equity Concerns into Transportation Planning and Policies in Urban China: The Status Quo of Practice and Implications

Author：Lin Xiongbin

Abstract：Transportation equity is one of the most recent concerns toward sustainable urban development, which aims to help municipalities or local planning authorities incorporate equity issues into transportation planning and policies, avoiding multifaceted potential inequity outcomes. As for the urbanizing China, do the mainstream planning approaches fail to take equity issues into account? What are outcomes and the potential counter-measures based on Chinese cities’ spatial and policy contexts? From the perspective of transportation equity, this article aims to examine the multidimensional effects related to equity concerns of urban transportation planning and policies in China. It suggests that the municipal government should enhance the service level of public transit and efficiently address the inequity issues of transportation systems. The potential measures include: building a multi-modal transit system, linking affordable housing to the transportation system, highlighting the role of non-motorized mode, and offering proper parking spaces around transit stations.

Keywords：transit-oriented development; transportation equity; transportation planning and policy; urban China

♦Improving the System of Historic and Cultural Heritage Protection Through Social Participation: Based on the Practice of Guangdong

Author：Yuan Qifeng, Cai Tianshu

Abstract：The early historic and cultural heritage protection is regarded as the responsibility of the government, and is promoted by the government, protection experts, planners, and a few other elites. These bodies constitute a top-down historic and cultural heritage protection system based on their cultural consciousness. In the social transition of market-oriented reform and property right reform, due to the profit-driven demands of individuals, enterprise, and development-oriented government, the protection system was gradually differentiated and a lot of “protective development” practices emerged. With the advent of the post-industrial era, based on the need for cultural identity, the historic and cultural heritage protection began to get attention from third-party organizations, community residents, and even the public, who launched “bottom-up” social participation. Therefore, this paper, based on social governance theory, takes the development of civil cultural conservation organizations in Guangdong as the research object, explores how to construct a society participation network in Guangdong, and discusses the influence and limitation of the network in promoting the historic and cultural heritage protection. The paper puts forward the idea of improving the system of historic and cultural heritage protection through social participation.

Keywords：historic and cultural heritage protection system; social participation; civil cultural conservation organization; social network; governance