The Role of Urban Planning in the Spontaneous Redevelopment of Huaqianbei, Shenzhen: Fid-Bau Portal

The Role of Urban Planning in the Spontaneous Redevelopment of Huaqianbei, Shenzhen

Zacharias, John / Bliek, Desmond

As industries move from high-wage urban economies in the eastern plains of China to lower-cost locations inland, urban industrial land is being redeveloped for other uses. Former industrial estates that were leased at low or nominal rates at their creation now exhibit among the highest land values, distributed over many, small units. The urban centres emerging from these industrial areas are characterized by mixed land uses, high building density and concentrated public activity. Urban planning has been instrumental in creating this redevelopment opportunity and guiding its general direction. The first and most notable of these transformed industrial areas, Huaqianbei, Shenzhen, is examined in detail to understand how planning decisions guided the transformation. The layout, infrastructure and underlying planning regulations that were intended to support industry have also supported the re-use of these areas. Layout and public infrastructure were also key factors in generating local movement dynamics and related economic activity, which took on a spatial form consistent with the planning decisions. Such close links between urban planning practice and market outcomes should encourage the use of a more strategic, form-based urban design in the redevelopment of Chinese cities.