City Planning Review（2023.8）

♦METHODS FOR PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION COORDINATION IN KEY AREAS OF METROPOLIS: A CASE STUDY OF PLANNING AND CONSTRUCTION MASTER PLAN IN SHANGHAI 

Author：XU Jian; HU Xiaozhong; JIN Shan

ABSTRACT: The construction of key areas is an important measure for metropolises to improve regional spatial layout and distribution of resource elements. The linkage between planning compilation and implementation is important to improve the territorial planning system and to meet requirements of high-quality development, high-quality life, and high-efficiency governance. The Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources has attempted to manage the Urban Planning and Implementation Platform of Construction Projects, and explored the ideological transformation and methodological innovation in Shanghai using the Planning and Construction Master Plan as its core technical achievement to carry out planning and implementation coordination. This paper systematically introduces the ideas and practices of Shanghai carrying out spatial planning, process coordination and stakeholder collaboration based on the Planning, and Construction Master Plan, to promote high-quality construction of key areas. It is expected to provide reference for the planning and implementation of key areas in other metropolises. 

KEYWORDS: key areas; planning and implementation; planning coordination; Planning and Construction Master Plan

♦EVOLUTION OF NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL SPACE IN THE MOBILE INTERNET ERA: A CASE STUDY OF HANGZHOU MAIN URBAN AREA 

Author：ZHONG Yuni; LUO Zhendong; FANG Pengfei

ABSTRACT: With the rapid growth of e-commerce in the mobile internet era, physical neighborhood commercial space is reconfigured by virtual elements, leading to new spatial development trends and spatial types. The analytical framework based on virtual-physical space interaction from a micro perspective enables a deeper understanding of the development trends of neighborhood commercial space in the mobile internet era. Through quantitative measurement on the online-to-offline (O2O) takeaway delivery business in the main urban area of Hangzhou and a qualitative-quantitative analysis on the new commercial space in Xiasha Sub-district, this paper establishes a theoretical framework of virtual-physical dual agglomeration, expounds on the development trends of neighborhood commercial space in the new era, and proposes three new types of neighborhood commercial space: virtual agglomeration overlapping with physical dispersion, virtual agglomeration overlapping with physical agglomeration, and virtual agglomeration generating physical agglomeration. Nowadays, in view that radical changes have taken place in the daily lifestyle and living space of urban and rural residents in China, it is necessary for urban and rural planning discipline to strengthen theoretical research on virtual-physical space interaction. 

KEYWORDS: neighborhood commercial space; virtual agglomeration; online-to-offline (O2O) business; type; Hangzhou

♦SPATIAL RESTRUCTURING OF LAND DEVELOPMENT RIGHT UNDER THE REGIONAL GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK 

Author：ZHANG Xianchun; LUAN Xiaofan; YUE Wenze; SHI Chen; GONG Hua

ABSTRACT: This paper aims to examine the spatial restructuring of land development right under the background of city regionalization in China, and interprets how the regional governance framework enriches the connotation and transfer mechanism of land development right based on a case study on the Shenzhen-Shanwei Special Cooperation Zone, in order to deeply understand the connotation of China’s land-based development model on the regional scale. Through the research methods including textual analysis and in-depth interview, the paper gets the following findings. Firstly, the land development right of the Shenzhen-Shanwei Special Cooperation Zone was initially monopolized by Shanwei municipal government, then shared by Shenzhen and Shanwei municipal governments, and finally is monopolized by Shenzhen municipal government. Secondly, the reasonable arrangement of land transfer fee and political achievements for inviting investment is essential to the stability of regional governance. Thirdly, the regional governance framework helps underdeveloped city seek for partners to raise development fund and enhance attractiveness for external investments. Finally, the lack of development funding and capacity for attracting external investments makes Shanwei lose the land development right. It can be seen that the regional governance framework is conducive to accelerating the spatial restructing of land development right, and can help underdeveloped cities to realize the cross-border flow of land development right, which will be a core issue to promote regional coordination. 

KEYWORDS: land development right; regional governance; spatial restructuring; Shenzhen- Shanwei Special Cooperation Zone; China

♦NATIONAL CENTRAL CITY: FUNCTIONAL FEATURES, DEVELOPMENT INDEX, AND CONSTRUCTION APPROACH 

Author：WU Zhenghai; FAN Jiangang

ABSTRACT: Development of national central cities, which are concerned with China’s general prospect, is of great significance and far-reaching influence. On the basis of literature review and practical research, this paper interprets the basic connotation of national central cities and summarizes their functional features in terms of location hubs, comprehensive services, development engines, innovation leadership, openness and inclusiveness, ecological livability, and cultural cohesion. In line with the above functional features, it identifies the national central city index and develops an index system. Based on the collected index data of nine national central cities, it calculates the national central city index using the index mean coefficient method, and carries out the corresponding index analysis and path exploration. 

KEYWORDS: national central city; functional features; development index; construction approach

♦ABOVE FORM: ON THE VALUE FORM OF PLANNING HERITAGE – BASED ON THE DIALECTICAL PERSPECTIVE OF “TANGIBLE-INTANGIBLE” 

Author：ZHANG Yang; HE Yi

ABSTRACT: Planning heritage research originated from the UK’s cultural tourism list in 1975, and flourished in 2006 when planning heritage was introduced to Australia’s national heritage project. After 2011, case interpretation was carried out on a global scale. Meanwhile, planning heritage research was introduced to China for internalization exploration in 2019. In this process, the academic cognition of the value of planning heritage has shifted from “landmark node”, “symbolic landscape” and “communication tool” to “an emerging research perspective”, showing a generalization trend “from real to virtual”, which leads to difficulty in distinguishing its value core. In this regard, based on the essential property of planning heritage, this paper analyzes typical planning cases at home and abroad, and puts forward the idea that the value core of planning heritage lies not in pure and tangible historical space, but in intangible planning wisdom. Through cross-regional transmission, the latter considers both imported ideas and local conditions, realizes the value coupling “beyond the built environment”, and integrates the value relationship “above form”. Therefore, planning heritage research should be based on the dialectical perspective of “tangible” and “intangible”. It is necessary to further explore value transmission paths, such as the remote derivation of original concept and the recent practice of long-term vision, and to analyze the value expression ways of different types of planning, so as to explain the planning connotation behind the spatial form and the complexity of planning as a heritage. 

KEYWORDS: planning heritage; spatial form; planning connotation; cultural heritage; value form

♦PLANNING HERITAGE: REFLECTIONS ON THE VALUE OF RABAT WORLD CULTURAL HERITAGE

Author：WANG Zhugen; LI Baihao

ABSTRACT: In view that planning heritage research in China is still in the initial stage, this paper selects Rabat World Cultural Heritage as the research object, reviews the urban development and built heritage evolution of Rabat in the pre-Islamic, Islamic, and Arab periods from the perspectives of planning history and cultural heritage study, and analyzes the urban planning practice of Rabat and its characteristics in the period of being a French protectorate. The paper concludes that planning ideology, system, and methodology have embodied the core value of Rabat World Cultural Heritage as a planning heritage. On this basis, the paper further puts forward the thoughts on the generation, conception, and typology of planning heritage, with the aim to draw attention to the planning heritage issues and to provide reference for the study of planning heritage in China based on the development process of world cultural heritage. 

KEYWORDS: Rabat World Cultural Heritage; built heritage; urban heritage; planning heritage; planning culture

♦A STUDY ON ECOLOGICAL AESTHETICS AND SOCIAL AESTHETIC EDUCATION VALUE OF THE GRAND CANAL CULTURAL BELT 

Author：XU Wang

ABSTRACT: The Grand Canal cultural belt is valuable not only in historical, cultural and socio-economic terms, but also in aesthetic and aesthetic education aspects. The construction of the Grand Canal cultural belt can be analyzed from three theoretical dimensions of ecological aesthetics, i.e., practical foundation, ontology, and doctrine of being. Since all people live in a certain ecological environment, shaping the beauty of the ecological environment based on the ecological aesthetics is an important way of social aesthetic education. The three ways to give full play to the value of social aesthetic education in the Grand Canal cultural belt are: ecological aesthetic education by constructing ecological landscape; humanities and aesthetic education through the development of culture and tourism integration; and artistic aesthetic education through the creation of public art. The strategies to enhance the ecological aesthetics and social aesthetic education value of the Grand Canal cultural belt are as follows: “with culture as the soul” to highlight the historical connotation and era value of “beauty of the canal”; create a “poetic existence” ecology and promote the construction of “poetic canal”; optimize the supply of culture and art and promote the supply of social aesthetic education. 

KEYWORDS: Grand Canal cultural belt; ecological aesthetics; social aesthetic education; culture and tourism integration; public culture; construction planning

♦A STUDY ON THE STRATEGIES OF FLOOD CONTROL PLANNING FOR COASTAL CITY FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS 

Author：DAI Wei; MENG Meng; LU Peijun

ABSTRACT: The Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), which has become a research hotspot in recent years, highlights the concept of “learning from nature”. While giving full play to the role of grey infrastructure such as municipal drainage pipe network, NBS advocates minimum or no intervention in the ecosystem and emphasizes the service function of the ecosystem, providing new inspirations for flood control planning in coastal cities. Firstly, this paper clarifies the core connotation of NBS and expounds the main characteristics of urban flood control planning based on the concept of NBS. Secondly, based on the reality of coastal cities in China, the paper proposes a planning method with “ecosystem interpretation, flood risk assessment, urban flood control planning based on NBS, and planning effect evaluation” as the main logical line, as well as flood control planning strategies for coastal cities based on NBS. Finally, taking a typical bay city area – Lingshan Island, the starting area of the Pearl (Mingzhu) Bay in Guangdong Province as an example, it puts forwards a flood control planning scheme for Lingshan Island based on NBS and demonstrates the feasibility of the scheme. The purpose of this paper is to provide reference for flood control planning for coastal cities. 

KEYWORDS: Nature-Based Solutions; urban flood in coastal cities; flood control planning; planning strategy; Lingshan Island in the Pearl (Mingzhu) Bay

♦REFLECTIONS AFTER THE PANDEMIC: THEORETICAL MODELS AND IMPLEMENTATION PATHS OF HEALTHY HUMAN SETTLEMENTS 

Author：XIE Hongjie; MAO Yuwei; WANG Qiankun; SHAO Rui

ABSTRACT: After three years of the COVID-19 epidemic, people attach greater importance to healthy human settlements, but the basic theoretical framework of healthy human settlements has not been established. This paper proposes “health niche” as the research paradigm of healthy human settlements with reference to systems theory and ecology theory, and establishes a theoretical model of healthy human settlements based on the relationship between environment-behavior-health with reference to the epidemiological triangle model. On this basis, the multi-level influencing factors of healthy human settlements are analyzed, and a multi-level causal chain model of space-behavior-health outcomes is developed. This paper explores the profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the study of healthy human settlements, analyzes the new demands of people for healthy cities, human settlements, and architectural design, and proposes a path to achieve healthy human settlements. 

KEYWORDS: healthy human settlements; healthy niche paradigm; theoretical model; implementation path; multi-level influencing factors

♦RESEARCH ON WATER ADAPTABILITY OF SANGYUANWEI POLDER EMBANKMENT SYSTEM: INTEGRITY, DIFFERENCE, AND LINKAGE 

Author：XIE Shixian; GUO Wei; ZHANG Qingran

ABSTRACT: The water adaptability of Sangyuanwei Polder Embankment, as a typical example of water conservancy landscape in the polder of the Pearl River Delta, still plays an important role under the influence of global warming. Firstly, this paper studies the background environment of Sangyuanwei, and then analyzes the adaptive characteristics of Sangyuanwei as a whole to flood and tide disasters from the perspective of water adaptation. Then, it divides Sangyuanwei into upper, middle, and lower reaches. According to the disaster characteristics of drought in the upper reaches, waterlogging in the middle reaches, and water intrusion in the lower reaches, the differences and changing laws of water adaptability characteristics in each area are analyzed from four aspects, i.e., water system adaptation, land use adaptation, site selection adaptation, and water management adaptation. Finally, this paper discusses and summarizes the evolution model, land use model, and related management model of the water adaptability in Sangyuanwei, and explores its landscape value from the aspects of history, ecology, economy, and society. The research provides reference for the protection of the world’s irrigation engineering heritage and sustainable urban and rural development. 

KEYWORDS: human settlements; water adaptation; Sangyuanwei

♦RESEARCH PROGRESS ON SPATIAL OPTIMIZATION OF RIVER BASINS 

Author：WANG Gaoyuan; CHEN Tian

ABSTRACT: The river basin system and its spatial optimization are currently important research fields and key tasks of territorial planning. Based on the relationship between the river basin system and territorial space optimization, this paper systematically reviews the research on the spatial patterns, conflicts, and optimization theories and methods of river basins, and presents suggestions for the spatial optimization of river basins. In view of the challenges posed by climate change and the characteristics of China’s river basins, the paper gives insight into the future research from the three aspects of theoretical connotation, research method, and application of research results. In addition, it further proposes potential research directions such as integrated analysis framework, multi-system conflict measurement, functional-spatial applicability, tools and implementation, urban design thinking, and specific study areas, in hope of providing reference for the research and practice of spatial optimization of river basins. 

KEYWORDS: river basin system; territorial space; optimization; research progress

♦MAIN PROGRESS AND IMPORTANT ISSUES IN THE RESEARCH OF SMALL TOWNS IN CHINA: A DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNING PERSPECTIVE 

Author：ZHANG Li; YANG Mingjun; BAI Yuxin; PANG Lei

ABSTRACT: With the advancement of urbanization in China, new progress has been made in the research of small towns, which is mainly reflected in the deepened research on the development impetus and functions of small towns, the more comprehensive understanding of the characteristics of small towns, the new ideas and new methods of small town planning, and the strengthening of the differentiated development paths of small towns. From the perspective of development and planning, this paper analyzes the main progress of relevant research results, and puts forward important issues that need to be addressed in future research, including: establishing a common context and consensus-based platform for small town research, introducing the concept of urban-rural integration to study the functions of small towns, focusing on the establishment of relevant systems to improve the governance level of small towns, strengthening the research on the differentiated paths of small town development, enhancing the study on development and planning experience of small towns in other countries, etc. 

KEYWORDS: small towns; development; planning; progress; issue