China City Planning Review (No.3, 2018)

♦Study on Spatial-Temporal Evolution of Residential Differentiation in Shanghai from an Employee Perspective

Author: Wu Mengdi, Li Zhifeng, Xiao Yang

Abstract: Against a background of deepened globalization, the socio-spatial distribution characteristics of the employed population are one of the important perspectives that reflect the impact of globalization on urban social space. Based on data of the population census of Shanghai in 2000 and 2010, using location quotient and index of dissimilarity, this paper analyzes the residential differentiation evolution in Shanghai from 2000 to 2010. The results show that except the high-end service industry, the residential differentiation of the employees in the other three types of industries has intensified but is not serious. In addition, the proportion of employees in high-end service industry within the Middle Ring has increased, while that of employees in the middle- and low-end service industry beyond the Middle Ring has increased, which further proves that globalization has an increasingly obvious impact on the socio-spatial differentiation in Shanghai. However, the adjustment in spatial development made by the Shanghai municipal government in response to globalization makes the socio-spatial evolution of Shanghai greatly different from the suburbanization of social elites in the West.

Keywords: globalization; residential differentiation; employed population; spatial-temporal evolution; Shanghai

♦Research on Planning for Integrated Development of Marine and Terrestrial Industries in the Blue Economic Zone of Shandong Peninsula

Author: Wang Cui, Xie Zhengguan

Abstract: The measuring of the integration degree between marine and terrestrial industries is a crucial part in formulating strategies of industrial adjustment and industrial development for coastal regions. Taking the Blue Economic Zone of Shandong Peninsula as an example, this paper conducted grey correlation analysis on the correlation between the three industrial sectors in marine and terrestrial areas, as well as on the internal interaction between main industries in marine and terrestrial areas. In the end, the paper puts forward related suggestions on the integrated development of marine and terrestrial industries in the Blue Economic Zone of the Shandong Peninsula.

Keywords: marine industry; terrestrial industry; grey correlation degree; industry chain theory

♦The Dialectic of Cross-Cultural Learning: What I Learned from Chinese Fellows

Author: Bish Sanyal

Abstract: This brief article summarizes my positive impression of the Chinese scholars over the last fourteen years in the Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies (SPURS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. In particular, I highlight the fellows’ intellectual humility and passion for continuous learning from others. The fellows are, however, very comprehensive in the way they analyze all aspects of design problems and quite bold in their design imagination, compared to United States’ graduate students who are more cautious to propose any radical change in urban form. Surprisingly, the Chinese fellows rarely address social equity issues in project design and do not usually worry about project implementation challenges, perhaps because they assume that such issues are to be addressed by policy makers at higher levels. In contrast, the U.S. students frequently raise issues of social equity but are hesitant to propose radical changes because of limited power of public planning institutions in the United States. Such contrasts in design thinking is ideal for comparative and critical analysis which has enriched the SPURS program.

Keywords: SPURS; intellectual humility; comprehensive thinking; equity

♦Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder: My SPURS Experience and Reflections on Planning Education in China

Author: Tian Li

Abstract: As a SPURS fellow, my one-year study at MIT had a great impact on my career in urban planning and education. I gained knowledge regarding planning systems in the USA, and my view on planning was changed and expanded. This paper reviews my experience as a SPURS fellow at MIT, and concludes with an analysis of planning education in China from the perspective of a SPURS fellow.

Keywords: SPURS; MIT; planning education; China

♦Transgressing Local Planning Cultures, the SPURS Program, and the International Studios

Author: Jota Samper

Abstract: Today, we are living in a more interconnected world, as globalization has already reached most urban confines of the planet. However, as this phenomenon becomes ubiquitous, understanding how local planning cultures interact with the effects of such globalization has become a hurdle for the discipline of planning and for the educational institutions attempting to prepare planners for today’s multicultural planning environment. Here I present my reflection on the Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies (hereinafter referred to as SPURS) and the accompanying MITDUSP abroad planning courses. I offer these experiences as windows into the complexity of teaching multicultural audiences and preparing planners to perform in a varied set of contexts. In this 21st century multicultural world, we need to create a new globalized planner, not one raised on the belief of a globally homogenized culture but one always aware of the cultural and professional differences and open to learning from them.

Keywords: planning education; abroad studios; globalization; planning cultures; international education

♦Two Studies Carried out in the SPURS Program

Author: Qing Feng

Abstract: The SPURS program in MIT provides an encouraging environment for fellows to carry out studies on a wide range of topics. In this essay, I briefly describe the two research works I finished as part of SPURS in 2016. One of them originated from the shared interest in affordable housing among SPURS fellows. The other one came from a combination of urban study with my previous study on architectural history and theory. Besides a short description of the contents and conclusions of these projects, this essay also illustrates the positive impacts the SPURS program made on my current work and studies.

Keywords: SPURS; MIT; affordable housing; Louis I. Kahn; impact

♦Design & Beyond Design: Inspirations from the SPURS Program at MIT

Author: Wang Ying

Abstract: As a SPURS fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from August 2014 to June 2015, I had a great opportunity to participate in many MIT courses and professional trips and interviews offered by SPURS. Based on this experience, this paper discusses inspiration gotten from American planning practice and education, such as the Big-Dig of Boston the High Line Park of New York, involving complicated space shaping content, pre-simulation analysis, continuous post-evaluation of policy-making, and cross-disciplinary research for urban problem solving.

Keywords: MIT; SPURS; inspirations; design

♦Overview on Chinese Historic Conservation Areas and Countermeasures: Technical Analysis Based on the Application Materials of the First Chinese Historic Conservation Areas

Author: Hu Min, Zheng Wenliang, Tao Shiqi, Xu Long, Wang Jun

Abstract: This paper establishes two sample databases: a full sample database and a small sample database through data organization and selection on the basis of the application materials of the first Chinese historic conservation areas. Adopting both quantitative and qualitative analytical research methodologies, the paper obtains the status quo of Chinese historic conservation areas and the recently designated historic conservation areas. Based on the data analysis and the overall survey of Chinese historic cities in 2011, it proposes countermeasures for improving the protection of historic conservation areas in the future.

Keywords: historic conservation area; preservation; protection; status quo; countermeasures

♦A Study on the Spatial Evolution of Public Entertainment Space in Modern Shanghai (1843 – 1949)

Author: Deng Linshuang, Wu Jiang

Abstract: For nearly one century during a time of modernization, Shanghai has seen the coexistence of local autonomy and colonial rule, traditional culture and western culture, Chinese natives and Western colonists, becoming not only a window for the finance industry, foreign trade, and cultural exchange, but also a hub for the entertainment industry. Focusing on the period from the opening of Shanghai in 1843 to the founding of the PRC in 1949, this paper studies the evolution, development, and distribution of various types of entertainment space in the city and analyzes its aggregation, dispersion, structuration, and stratification in urban space and the ultimate formation of its overall spatial structure, aiming to explore the relationship between the distribution and relocation of entertainment spaces and various urban elements and to reveal the internal driving force and basic laws shaping the urban entertainment space structure in modern Shanghai.

Keywords: modern Shanghai; public entertainment space; spatial structure; spatial evolution