Remaking Chinese Urban Form: Modernity, Scarcity and Space, 1949-2005

by Duanfang Lu

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415354509
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/06/2006
Series:	Planning, History and Environment Series
Pages:	228
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Duanfang Lu is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning at the University of Sydney, Australia.

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

Editorial Reviews

‘With extraordinary detailed first-hand fieldwork and archive search, [Lu] depicts space production in both socialist and reform periods...It traces current urban forms to historical tradition and related many seemingly irrelevant forms to the common logic of space production... Overall, this is a truly benchmark work in the study of Chinese urban form. ―Fulong Wu, China Information

‘In the fields of Chinese development and architecture, this is an essential addition.’ - Reginald Yin-Wang Kwok, University of Hawaii

‘Remaking Chinese Urban Form is a work that anyone interested in the question of China and urban planning must read. Yet, in many ways, it is also much more. Bursting with new ideas, the author takes the reader on a barnstorming tour of issues and problems that have afflicted Chinese architecture and urban planning over the last fifty or so years.’ - Michael Dutton, Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review

‘Lu’s discussion of the architectural and social history of the work unit is a major contribution to Chinese architectural history.’ - Johnathan A. Farris, Journal of Society of Architectural Historians

‘This book is 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...It traces current urban forms to historical tradition and related many seemingly irrelevant forms to the common logic of space production... Overall, this is a truly benchmark work in the study of Chinese urban form. ―Fulong Wu, China Information

‘In the fields of Chinese development and architecture, this is an essential addition.’ - Reginald Yin-Wang Kwok, University of Hawaii

‘Remaking Chinese Urban Form is a work that anyone interested in the question of China and urban planning must read. Yet, in many ways, it is also much more. Bursting with new ideas, the author takes the reader on a barnstorming tour of issues and problems that have afflicted Chinese architecture and urban planning over the last fifty or so years.’ - Michael Dutton, Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review

‘Lu’s discussion of the architectural and social history of the work unit is a major contribution to Chinese architectural history.’ - Johnathan A. Farris, Journal of Society of Architectural Historians

‘This book is an important benchmark in the study of Chinese urbanism and urbanization.’ - Margaret Crawford, Harvard University

From the Publisher