Slowing Down Shenzhen Speed

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Slowing down Shenzhen SpeedAn inclusive planning approach to regenerate thehomogeneous industrial areas o Shenzhen, China

THESIS

Maaike Zwart

[email protected] ID 1315536Department o UrbanismFaculty o ArchitectureDelt University o TechnologyDate: 01-11-2013

Studio

Shenzhen studio, Complex city studioStudio leaders: Qu Lei, Stephen Read

Mentor team

Qu LeiSpatial planning & [email protected]

Machiel van DorstEnvironmental [email protected]

In collaboration with

The International New Town Institute


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Preace

Can you imagine: standing in one o worlds most well known actories, in the middle oan area called The actory o the world. That what happened to me hal a year ago whenI entered the walls o the I-phone actory Foxconn in Shenzhen, a city o more than 12million people in the Pearl River Delta. This actory, as many others, is moving out oShenzhen soon, which has great implications or its workers and ormer buildings.

The last year I had the chance to work on this issue in the research program o theInternational New Town Institute (INTI), New Towns o the 21st century, I nternationalresearch and exchange program, the renewal o Shenzhen. Delt University oTechnology is collaborating in this research, with eight students doing research ondierent topics and in dierent areas. This Shenzhen Studio is within the complex citystudio o the Urbanism master track in Delt. This studio gave us the chance to visitShenzhen, collaborate in dierent workshops in China and the Netherlands and speakto many interesting people.

The research project o INTI is described as ollowed: Over a three-year period, a researchand exchange program or students, researchers and proessionals will be established

in six dierent cities. To do this, INTI is searching or cities that are experiencinglightning-ast urbanization as well as cities where the uture o existing New Towns issubject to major urban planning issues, whether or not this is in combination with theconstruction o new New Towns. Although the cities are logically dened by local andregional characteristics, the current tasks are more universal in nature and thereoreset an example or other parts o the world(International New Town Institute, 2012)Shenzhen is the rst city to ocus on within this three-year program.

I am collaborating in this program because China has intrigued me since the beginningso my studies. To have now the chance to work and learn a whole year rom this countryis a great opportunity. The Shenzhen project o my graduation concerns themes Iworked on beore and themes which intrigue me. First, I ocus on a vulnerable group, inthis case migrants. I have been ocusing in earlier work on vulnerable women in BuenosAires and India. Second, I ocus on alternative development strategies which I studiedduring my exchange time in Norway and I ocus on urban renewal, which I have doneduring my studies in Delt. To come to this nal result I ocussed also on topics I am lessexperienced in. Stakeholder analysis and management are tools I could or examplelearn during this thesis.

In ront o you lies the result o a year extensive research, planning and design in oneo the projects I enjoyed most during my studies. One o the main reasons I enjoyedthis graduation as much I did, was because o my mentor team Qu Lei and Machiel vanDorst, who guided me through several dicult situations and enabled me to gain anextensive amount o knowledge.

I hope you enjoy reading this master thesis as much as I liked writing it.

Maaike

Shenzhen

0.1 The world by night


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Abstract

Shenzhen is one o the largest cities in China with around 12,5 million inhabitants. Thecity is only 30 years old, and was decided to be the rst Special Economic Zone (SEZ)o China. This caused Shenzhen to have one o the astest growth rates o cities in theworld, explaining the saying developing in Shenzhen speed. A great deal o this rapidurbanization is due to actories which were attracted by the policies o the SEZ, causingShenzhen to have the nickname Factory o the World.

However, currently the economy o Shenzhen is moving away rom its traditionalmanuacturing base towards services and more specialised types o manuacturing.This shit, among other reasons, causes actories to leave Shenzhen, leaving behindvacant actory compounds and unemployed people. More and more o these people,mainly migrants, have the desire to stay in Shenzhen to build up a lie. Next to that,orm the vacant actory compounds oten a great opportunity or their surroundings.They provide the space needed or unctions and public space, currently not availablein many areas in Shenzhen.

The current approach o the Shenzhen authorities in redeveloping ormer actory areas,

does not take into account the will o these people, nor the local conditions o thesebuildings, and results in ast, big scale developments. This current urban redevelopmentapproach o the Shenzhen authorities cannot produce cities that are sustainable, equal,and inclusive. Alternative approaches are needed to create cities that are.

The aim o this thesis is to take position and to add knowledge to the debate oalternative planning approaches possible in Shenzhen. Dalang is chosen as a test site,because its population consist o 98% o migrants and the main economic ocus is onlow-end actories, o which some are already leaving.

The planning approach argued or combines a physical strategy with a social strategy.It is believed that the current problems in Shenzhen cannot be eectively solvedwith only physical interventions. Physically the planning approach is to combine bigstructuring projects with smaller projects that bring in the human scale. These projectsare developed by diverse, inclusive partnerships to have the local perspective takeninto account. Socially, the strategy ocuses on the empowerment o the neglectedmigrants. The approach presented suggests that when access to basic unctions isgiven, migrants can start to empower themselves.

The development strategy proposed in this master thesis suggests that an investmentin a diversity o projects, can be more eective than the current strategy o authoritiesin Shenzhen, who invest only in large scale projects. A combined physical and socialapproach slows down Shenzhen speed to a pace which can take into account localconditions and local needs. A slower speed allows the city to transorm gradually into amore diverse, liveable and resilient city, where people can build up their lives.

Key words - China, redevelopment, actory areas, empowerment, alternative planningapproaches, migrants

Reading guide

In the master thesis dierent pictures are used. The symbol at the bottom o eachpicture shows i this picture is a photo made by the author, a picture drawn by theauthor or i the picture o some one else is used. In the end o this master thesis theimage credits can be ound.

Picture made by the authorImage made by the authorImage or photo made by some one else

0.2 Shenzhen


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Introduction

1.1. PROBLEM FIELD 131.1.1. Introduction 131.1.2. Problem statement 14

1.1.3. Aim 141.2. RESEARCH QUESTIONS 16 1.2.1. Main Research Question 16 1.2.2. Planning: An alternative approach 16 1.2.3. People: Stakeholders and their interests 16 1.2.4. Place: Factory compounds in Shenzhen 171.3. METHODOLOGY 19 1.3.1. Methodology: Social constructionism 19 1.3.2. Methods 191.4. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE 21 1.4.1. Academic Relevance 21 1.4.2. Societal relevance 21 1.4.3. Ethics 21

Context2.1. INTRODUCTION 252.2. PEOPLE: THE HUKOU SYSTEM 272.3. PLANNING: THE ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT 282.4. PLACE: SHENZHEN 30

Theory3.1. PLANNING: THINK SMALL 37 3.1.1. What makes small scale projects strategic? 37 3.1.2. Discussion 40 3.1.3. An alternative planning method or Shenzhen 42

3.1.4. Conclusion 433.2. PEOPLE: EMPOWER! 45 3.2.1. Introduction 45 3.2.2. What is empowerment? 46 3.2.3. Empowerment as an alternative approach in Shenzhen 48

3.2.4. Conclusion 483.3. PLACE: COMPOUNDS IN CHINA 51 3.3.1. Traditional Chinese cities and the courtyard house 51 3.3.2. The idea o collectivism: The Danwei 55 3.3.3. The idea o the collective company: The urban village 57 3.3.4. The idea o community: The Xiaoqu 61 3.3.5. The idea o production: the current actory compound 65 3.3.6. Compounds compared to the basic rules or urban areas 68 3.3.7. Conclusion place 723.4. CONCLUSION THEORY 74

Analysis4.1. PLACE: LOCATION 78 4.1.1. Longhua 78 4.1.2. Dalang 80 4.1.3. Focus area 90 4.1.4. Conclusion place 1024.2. PLANNING: LOCATION 104 4.2.1. Focus areas in Dalang 104 4.2.2. Urban development by inrastructure 106 4.2.3. Focus area thesis 108 4.2.4. Conclusion planning 1084.3. PEOPLE: STAKEHOLDERS 111 4.3.1. Authorities 111 4.3.2. Private parties 118 4.5.3. Organized citizens 124 4.3.4. Academics 128 4.3.5. Unorganized citizens 129

4.3.6. Conclusion people 1374.4. CONCLUSION ANALYSIS 140

Development proposal5.1. PLANNING: GOVERNANCE 146 5.1.1. Proposal 146 5.1.2. Process 152 5.1.3. Discussion 153 5.1.4. Conclusion 1535.2. PLACE: STRATEGY AND DESIGN 154 5.2.1. Strategy Dalang 156 5.2.2. Strategy Focus area 158 5.2.3. Design Focus area 160 5.2.4. Vacant actory compound 163 5.2.5. Factory compound with multiple actories 173 5.2.6. Factory compound with one actory 183 5.2.7. Conclusion place 1925.3. PEOPLE: STORYLINES 198 5.3.1. Since Foxconn let, so much has happened! 198 5.3.2. There is room to play! 200

5.3.3. I now have my own company 202 5.3.4. I am very happy to stay with my son and his amily! 204 5.3.5. Conclusion people 2065.4 CONCLUSION DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL 208

Conclusion6.1. CONCLUSION 2126.2. RECOMMENDATIONS 2146.3. EVALUATION 216

REFERENCES 220IMAGE CREDITS 228ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 230


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Introduction

This chapter describes theproblem eld, problemstatement and aim or thismaster thesis, the researchquestions dealt with in thismaster thesis and whichmethodology is used.


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1.1. Problem eld

1.1.1. IntroductionIn 1978 the eleventh conerence o the Chinese Communist Party decided thatShenzhen should become the rst economic zone o China. The Shenzhen SpecialEconomic Zone (SSEZ) was created as an experiment or China to attract oreign capital,technology and management skills (Bruton et al., 2005). Shenzhen is where the rstoverseas bank established its presence in China in 1982; where the rst post-1949Chinese stock came into existence in 1983; and where the rst land auction took placein 1987 (Ng and Tang, 2004: 190).

Industrialization o Shenzhen

This opening up to the world had great consequences or the urbanization o Shenzhen.In 2005, 8.3 million people lived in Shenzhen, roughly 80 percent o whom aremigrants. There are hardly cities in the world that have a aster growth rate (McKinseyGlobal Institute, 2009). A great deal o this rapid urbanization is due to actories thatwere attracted by the policies o the SSEZ. The landscape o Shenzhen became anindustrial manuacturing area, predominated by widespread large-scale inrastructure

constructions or industrial development (Cartier, 2002). Shenzhen became the actoryo the world (BBCWorldService, 2012).

Factories leave

But, there are changes taking place. Wages and land prices have been increasing (Al,2012, Rein, 2012), the municipality has shited its ocus rom low-end manuacturingto nance, inormation, trade, commerce, transportation, and tourism, as well as ahigh-tech development and R&D (Ng and Tang, 2004: 206) and since 2008 the globalnancial crisis also hit Shenzhen (Chan, 2010, Worldbank, 2009).

Eects or buildings

These changes have as an eect that the low-end actories are leaving (The Economist,2012, Al, 2012, Friedmann, 2005, Ng and Tang, 2004), leaving behind empty low qualityactory buildings (Susan858, 2012, The Economic Observer, 2012) and unemployedpeople (Flynn, 2009, Yeung et al., 2009, Chan, 2010, Solinger, 2006) . These buildings stayvacant or are redeveloped into a dierent unction. These unctions or redevelopmentare restricted by the Chinese law, making the options or redevelopment limited.

Eects or workers

The people working and living in these actories are mostly migrants. They sometimeshave the choice to move with the actory, but mostly go home to their village (TheGuardian, 2009, Worldbank, 2009) or stay in the city (Chan, 2010). When the migrantsgo back to their village, many o them decide ater a year to return to the city (Pai, 2012,Want China Times, 2012) coming there without home or work. When the people decideto stay in the city ater their actory let, some o them get a new job arranged by theleaving actory or by themselves, but many o them stay unemployed (Yeung et al.,2009, Colquhoun, 2012).

In this master thesis it will be shown that many o the migrants preer to stay in thecity when their actory leaves. This is because they have more job opportunities inShenzhen than in their village, because amily is still living and working in Shenzhen orjust because they like Shenzhen and would like to built up a lie.

Reaction authorities

The authorities in Shenzhen have to react to these two problems. In the case o theunemployed migrants, they react in dierent ways. I n 2010 the Shenzhens vice mayorand police chie suggested that migrants who are three months or more unemployed,are orced to leave Shenzhen. He made this suggestion because he thinks the crime willdecrease ater this policy (Weinland, 2010). On their website thought, the municipality

1978 1983 1988 1988 1998 2003 2008

10000

20000

30000

40000

1.4 Number o actories in the Pearl River Delta

1.3 Factories leave to the Inland, India and Bangladesh

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2002

2000

955

1031

1126

886

820

778

702

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2002

2000

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1590

1688

1360

1140

1040

950

702

1.1 Increasing labour salary in the Pearl River Delta 1.2 Increasing land prices in the Pearl River Delta


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o Shenzhen states that they helped 49,000 people to nd jobs by the end o 2010(Shenzhen municipality, 2012) and also dierent scholars stress this eort o theChinese government and local authorities (Schucher, 2009, Solinger, 2006, Chan, 2010).

In the case o the vacant buildings, the municipality oten ignores the problem, lettingthe buildings stay vacant (Susan858, 2012, The Economic Observer, 2012), or lettingthem redevelop with a ocus on the powerul stakeholders (Wu, 2012), which resultsin top-down planned, high end buildings that do not respond to the local context(Miao, 2011) or to the local people (Abramson, 2010, Friedmann, 2005, UN-Habitat,2010). Next to this, the current top-down master planning approach used by Chineseplanners (Abramson, 2010) is also ineective in giving a solution or these problemsbecause it cannot produce cities that are sustainable, equitable and inclusive (UN-HABITAT, 2009: 214).

Dalang

Dalang is a subdistrict in the outskirts o Shenzhen and a very good example o theproblem dealt with in this thesis. It is a spontaneous developed area, there are manyactories and 98% o the inhabitants is migrant (Yan, 2013). Currently the area is rapidlychanging rom an area with only low end manuacturing to a more diverse economy,

which means that actories have let and are leaving. In this thesis, Dalang will be usedas a test site or the development proposal.

1.1.2. Problem statementShortly said, Shenzhen is recently moving its ocus rom low-end manuacturing tohigh-end manuacturing and services. Next to that these low-end actories werealready leaving Shenzhen, leaving behind vacant actory buildings and unemployedpeople. The current reaction o the authorities does not solve upcoming problems orall stakeholders, because strategies currently used ocus on ast, large scale, physicalprojects and do not take into account local physical and social conditions. To improvethis, an alternative development approach needs to be developed. Dalang, as a testsite, is a good example o these developments and can thus be a good test site or analternative approach.

1.1.3. AimThe aim o this master thesis is to take a position on, develop more knowledge on andadd a new opinion to the debate around alternative planning approaches or Shenzhen.This master thesis tries to show that a social strategy is needed to complement aphysical strategy, that ocuses on dierent scales, to solve complex problems in areaslike Dalang. It is tried to be specic in developing an alternative planning approachto change vulnerable, homogeneous areas like Dalang into livable areas or all.Sustainable, diverse and integrated areas where people want to build up their lives.

1.5 Factory girl


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1.2. Research questions

In this chapter the research questions o the Master thesis are discussed. First the mainresearch question is explained, ater that the our sub research questions are introduced.

1.2.1. Main Research QuestionThe main research question o the graduation project is:

How can an alternative planning approach contribute to a solution to the problems andinterests o the stakeholders involved by the current transition o actory compounds inShenzhen?

The research question o this master thesis consists o three dierent componentswith three dierent emphasises: one ocussed on an alternative planning approach(planning), one on the dierent stakeholders involved in the process (people) and oneon the current transition o actory compounds (place). Each o these components has

sub research questions.

1.2.2. Planning: An alternative approachAs discussed and will be more explained in the theoretical ramework, there is anopportunity to add alternative planning methods to the current planning approachesin China. As Shenzhen is the experimental city o China and many authors address theimportance o alternative planning approaches, especially on a local scale, these will beresearched in this thesis.

We could ask ourselves the questions:1. What are problems with the current planning practises in Shenzhen?2. Can the small scale approach be used as an alternative planning method in

Shenzhen?

1.2.3. People: Stakeholders and their interestsDierent stakeholders with various ideas and interests are involved in the currenttransition o actory compounds in Shenzhen. However, not all stakeholders are equallyincluded in this process. This results in designs that ocus on the powerul stakeholdersand that do not respond to all needs. In this master thesis, it is researched what theinterests and ideas are o all stakeholders and how these can be brought together, sothat a liveable area or all can be developed.

We could ask ourselves the questions:1. Who are the (main) stakeholders involved by the current transition o actorycompounds in Shenzhen?

2. What are the interests and perceived problems or each stakeholder group,why is this and what is their position and inuence?

3. Which approaches can be used to bring the problems and interests o the dierentstakeholders together in a development proposal?

1.2.4. Place: Factory compounds in ShenzhenFactory compounds are interesting because they have an important role in social,economical and spatial terms or Shenzhen.

In social terms, actories are the spatial element were many migrants live, where theyget introduced to the big city lie and, in recent cases in Shenzhen, get orced into theurban lie when their actory leaves.

In economic terms, these compounds were part o the actory o the world. The currenttransition o Shenzhen rom an industrial city to a world city, brings many economicconsequences. The process o actories leaving Shenzhen, leaving a jobless workorcewithout many other job opportunities and vacant actory compounds behind, is seenin this master thesis as a problem, but also as an economic opportunity. That theseactories leave, creates possibilities or a more diverse economy. How this diversity canbe created is researched in this master thesis.

In spatial terms actory compounds can play a major role in the current transition oShenzhen. Because these are the areas where development is possible, it is importantwhat could be possible in the uture with these compounds.

We could ask ourselves the questions:1. What is the current condition and role o actory compounds in Shenzhen?2. How to use the current industrial shit to prepare these actory compounds or the

uture?


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1.3. Methodology

The research in this thesis has next to a spatial ocus, a strong sociology approach.The emphasis lies in understanding the daily lie and uture dreams o migrants livingin Dalang, Shenzhen and in translating this knowledge into a uture perspective anddevelopment strategy.

1.3.1. Methodology: Social constructionismThis thesis is created rom the views o social constructionism. This is a perspectivewithin the social sciences that sees social problems as social processes (Holstein,2007) and places great emphasis on everyday interactions between people (Andrews,2012). This causes the research shown in this master thesis to ocus on local knowledge,problems and insights beore conducting a large scale strategy. Such local knowledgederived rom interpreting, translating, discussing, and engaging in the lives o the studyrespondents, enhances [the] understanding o the richness and peculiarities in [a localsite] (May, 2005).

Next to the emphasis on local research, I use this perspective because social

constructionism cautions to be suspicious about assumptions o how the world appearsto be (Burr, 2003), and accepts that there are more realities. Because this research takesplace in another culture than the culture amiliar to me, it is important to stress this ideao relativism. The results o the research done on the daily lie and uture perspectives omigrants in Dalang are my interpretation o the answers the migrants gave to me andmy observations. I used the ndings o this research to present a convincing argumentrather than arguing that [my] results are denitive. This is consistent with the idea inconstructionism that the ndings o research are one o many discourses (Andrews,2012). This does not make these results unimportant or insignicant, because it ()can generate real debate and lead to change (Andrews, 2012), which is precisely whatthis master thesis is aiming or.

1.3.2. MethodsIn this master thesis many dierent methods are used. Following more researchers inurban planning, Im convinced that a multi-method research strategy can provide mewith critical understanding and an explanation o social reality (Stimson, 2010). This isbecause it is believed all methods have their own imperections, but i these methodsare combined, making a diversity o these imperections, not only their individualstrengths are compensated, but also their particular aults and limitation. Accordingto Brewer (2006) The multi-method approach is largely built upon this insight. Itsundamental strategy is to attack a research problem with an arsenal o methods thathave no overlapping weaknesses in addition to their complementary strengths (Brewer,2006: 4). For this reason many dierent methods have been used in this research.

In the scheme the methods used or the dierent processes are shown. This thesis ismainly divided in two parts, the research and the result part. Within these two par ts theocus, ollowing out o the main research question, is on planning, people and place.Within the research these areas are researched rom a theoretical perspective and romthe perspective o Dalang. Within the result it is tried to come up with a developmentstrategy that takes into account these three aspects. Within this process severalmethods have been used. These methods are described below.

Literature study

Literature is used in a big part o the research and result part. This literature researchconsists not only o academic articles and books, but also o non-academic books,websites, news paper articles, documentaries and movies. I tried to get as manyperspectives on the issues I researched on as possible, because I eel as a oreigner, thatis one thing I can do to understand the issues in China better.

RESEARCH

PEOPLETheory: EmpowermentAnalysis: Stakeholderanalysis

Methods:Literature study

Interviews(stakeholders, experts)ObservationsMapping

PLANNINGTheory: Think smallAnalysis: Governmental plan

Methods:Literature studyMapping (dierent scales)

Interviews (stakeholders,experts)

EVALUATIONTheoryAnalysisStrategyDesign

BACKGROUNDContext: China, Shenzhen

Methods:Literature studyInterviews (experts)

RESULT

PLACETheory: CompoundsAnalysis: Site

Methods:Literature studyMapping (dierent scales)

Literature studyObservationsInterviews(stakeholders, experts)

PLANNINGPlanning strategy

Methods:Literature studyReference studies

PLACESpatial strategy

Methods:

Literature studyMappingDesigningReference studies

PEOPLESocial strategy

Methods:Literature studyMappingStorylines

1.6 Methods


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Interviews

Interviews are an important part o the research that I have done. The interviews canbe divided into two dierent groups o people. First, I interviewed experts on China,Chinese planning and Chinese society. Examples o experts that I interviewed areSteen Al, an expert on Chinese actory compounds, John van de Water, Architect byNext architects and Cecilie Andersson, PHD on daily lie o migrants living in China.Second I did interviews with stakeholders involved in the current transition o actorycompounds in Shenzhen and Dalang. Examples o stakeholders that I talked to areoxconn workers living in Dalang, Vanke real estate developers and the local governmento Dalang. These interviews were translated is this was needed.

Questionnaire

To get a better understanding o the current lie, the uture dreams and the needs omigrants in Dalang I did a questionnaire with more than 30 migrants. All questionswhere translated into Chinese and again all the answers were translated into Englishby Chinese students.

Mapping

I used mapping as a research and design method on dierent scales in Shenzhen. On

each scale dierent elements are mapped. The main scales I used are the Shenzhenscale, the Longhua new district scale, the Dalang scale and the ocus area I chose withinDalang.

Observations

During the eldwork I did in Shenzhen and Dalang I did many observations. Theseobservations can be both social and spatial oriented and are used or a betterunderstanding o the area. Most o these observations are later translated into mapsor conclusions.

Reerence studies

To test my ideas to the reality o planning and spatial strategies and to nd newinspiration, I have been doing reerence studies. These were oten places I have beenvisiting beore or or example, planning strategies somebody told me about. Thesereerence studies have been shortly described in this research.

Design

Designing an alternative uture or Dalang elt as drawing a conclusion o all the researchI had done beore. I could combine all knowledge and inspiration in these drawingscausing the designs telling the story o my research. O course there are exceptions,because some interventions are also made because they are just looking beautiul andI think they can work in Dalang.

Story linesTo test my approach I made story lines out o the social research I did and tested thesestory lines to my development proposal. The goal was to answer the question what myintervention really means to local people.

1.4. Research signicance

1.4.1. Academic RelevanceThis master thesis tries to contribute to the discussion o alternative planningapproaches possible in China, especially on the local scale and with a ocus on people.Dierent authors stress the importance o planning on a smaller scale than currently ishappening in China. While in the Western world many experiments are going on withthese kinds o approaches, in China this has just been started. More research on thistopic is thus valid.

1.4.2. Societal relevanceThe societal relevance o this master thesis is two-old. First, it tries to develop aplanning process that includes migrants, a group normally completely let out o theplanning process in Shenzhen. It tries to show that by using a dierent approachthan the government currently does, problems or this group can also be solved.Second, this master thesis tries to give alternative utures or actory compounds in arapidly changing district as Dalang. It tries to generate ideas so that it can be used asan example or uture developments or actory compounds in areas like Dalang. In

general this thesis tries to contribute to these two discussions currently going on inShenzhen: how to deal with migrants in uture planning and what can be alternativeutures or actory compounds?

1.4.3. EthicsSeveral critics state that because o Western intervention, Chinese cities are acingproblems. Westerns are mainly criticized because they experiment with urbandevelopment and do not take into account the local context (Lee, 2011). In thisdevelopment proposal and research this is tried to be prevented through extensivelocal research and especially ocussing on the local scale and its residents.


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Context

This chapter describesthe context in which thismaster thesis works. First,the Chinese context willbe explained and aterthat a short explanation oShenzhen will be given.


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De-collectivization Industrialization

Deindustrialization

Indu

stria

lizatio

n

11%

44 %

st ubanization wave UrbanizationSending backmigrants

Urbanization

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Cultural Revolution

Great leapforward

Economic

recovery

Early

development

Joins WTO

Reform period Continued economicdevelopment

2.1 Time line urbanization and industrialization China

2.2 China rom out o the sky in 1990 and 2010

2.1. Introduction: Chinese urbanization and industrialization

China is a country with 5,000-year-long civilization and a long andrich history. The compass, gunpowder, art o paper-making andblock printing invented in China have made great contributions tothe progress o mankind. The Great Wall, Grand Canal and other

projects built by the Ch inese people are engineering eats in theworld. The history o Chinese cities can be traced back to LongshanCulture in the Yellow River Valley about 4,000 years ago. The recordswritten in words started in the Shang Dynasty (16th-11th centuryBC). China, a arming society or more than 3, 000 years, began todecline to become a semi-colonial and semi-eudal society rom theOpium War in 1840. In the Revolution o 1911, the Chinese people

put an end to the eudal and monarchic rule what lasted or morethan 2,000 years in China. On October 1, 1949, Chairman Mao

Zedong declared solemnly to the world the ounding o the PeoplesRepublic o China in Beijing. This was the new starting point or thegreat revitalization o the Chinese nation.() In 1978, the ocuso the Chinese government began to be shited to the economicconstruction. As a series o policies and measures were introducedto conduct economic reorm and opening up China to the outsideworld, the national economy and urbanization developed at highspeed (UN-HABITAT, 2010: 13).

Because history is understood dierent by dierent parties, I have chosen to give theall agreed upon history by the United Nations. Over the past three decades Chinahas undergone two major transormations. It went rom a rural, agricultural societyto an urban, industrial one and rom a command economy to a market-based one(Worldbank, 2012). In this short introduction these two major events will be explainedby clariying the urbanization and industrialization waves rom 1949 until now. It will beshown that as well governmental intervening as major events have been infuencingChinas urbanization and industrialization.

First urbanization wave

The rst urbanization o China started already around 1950, when millions o peasantsstreamed into coastal cities orm the countryside. However, Mao wanted to stay incontrol o the country and its developments and wanted the country to industrializewithout the incurring heavy costs o urbanization. Between 1949 and 1960, the urbancomponent had doubled to nearly 20% o the total population. In the ollowing decade,however, this gure was stabilized at around 17%, as millions o young urbanites weresent down to the countryside in an eort to de urbanize Chinas large cities and avoidthe embarrassment o large numbers o educated but unemployed youths (Friedmann,2007: 267).

First industrialization wave

The danwei system, which is the spatial element o the rst industrial wave, as wellhas been introduced during the rst years o the Peoples Republic. Danwei actuallyreerred to all the government (or party and military) agencies, enterprises and non-

Mao ZedongSun Yat-senEmperor Puyi Deng Xiaoping Hu Jintao Xi Jinping

1644 1911 1949 1978 2003 2013

Peoples Republic o ChinaQ in g d yn as ty R ep ub li c o C hi na

1st urbanizationwave


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government institutions in the city. () In the planned socialistic society o China, inwhich the collectivity takes priority over the individuality, it was not the single personbut the danwei that composed the basic unit o social lie (Hui, 2012: 66). Spatially, thedanwei was a walled compound organized around a state-owned enterprise or otherinstitution (educational, research, or administrative). Its work orce was housed in whatwas to be a minuscule version o a ull-fedged socialist society. Small apartments wereto be provided at nominal prices. Collective provision would be made or basic healthcare and child care, as well as educational and recreational services (Friedmann, 2005:102).

Urban and industrial stagnation

Ater and during the introduction o the danwei, China underwent a couple oevents, that led to the stagnation in growth and development o China. From 1958to 1960, The Great Leap Forward introduced a collectivization o agriculture andthe nationalization o industry and commerce that let to serious economic suering.Tens o millions o Chinese died o starvation. To change this, the government tried toincrease the agricultural production and sent more than 26 million people back to ruralareas between 1960 and 1963. These people were supposed to work in agriculturalproduction or teach peasants to read and write. During the next great revolution in

Chinas history, the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), again between 14 to even 30million young Chinese people were sent to the rural areas. This time they were sent backto be reeducated and learn about the harsh lie in Chinas rural back lands (McKinseyGlobal Institute, 2009, Friedmann, 2005).

Reorm period

In 1978, the open door policy was initiated by the new Chinese leadership underDeng Xiaoping. Under this policy China underwent dramatic changes in urbanizationand development. Through a strategy o gradualism, this new policy was implementedin coastal cities beore it was adopted nationwide. Four Special Economic Zones (SEZs)were established in 1979, all close to Hong Kong and Taiwan. Massive oreign investmentrom overseas Chinese and the return o the youth who had been migrated out o therural areas and later an infux o migrant labour made these SEZs an immediate successand made them grew rapidly (Xu and Li 1990). The industries developed around thistime were the low-end manuacturing industries, that still cause Shenzhen and thePearl River Delta to have the name actory o the world.

Rapid urbanization and industrial development

Since 1990 urbanization has accelerated dramatically in China. Where between 1950and 1990 the level o urbanization increased with 3.6 percent, this was 5.5 between1990 and 2005 (McKinsey Global Institute, 2009). Urbanization has gone hand in handwith economic development. Because oreign and domestic investments increasedrapidly, urbanization also took place in a rapid pace. A large amount o the urbanization

was the development o industrial areas. In 2001 China accessed into the World TradeOrganization (WTO) China expanded and deepened its economic integration with theglobal economy. This policy reaped large dividends or China, bringing investments,advanced technologies, and managerial expertise; opening the international marketor Chinas goods and services; and giving a boost to Chinas internal economic reorms(Worldbank, 2012)

Eects

These reorms and events lead currently to millions o rural-to-urban migrants everyyear, that makes China as one o the most rapidly urbanizing regions in the world(Huang et al., 2007). It is even estimated that i current trends hold, nearly one billionpeople will live in urban centres by 2025 (McKinsey Global Institute, 2009). But nextto urbanization, the reorms had also eect on other sides o the daily lie o Chinese.Positively, the poverty rate ell rom more than 65 percent to less than 10 percent(Worldbank, 2012), the enrolment rate or primary schools in China reached 99.4%, theconsumption market is prosperous and the Chinese living standards have obviously

been improved (UN-Habitat, 2010). Negatively, millions o migrants are being exploited(Ngai and Smith, 2007), the housing supply and demand contradiction is outstanding(UN-Habitat, 2010) and Chinese planners still have nd a way or sustainable cityplanning (Friedmann, 2005), as well in city orm as in institutional sense.

2.2. People: The hukou system

The hukou system is a social management system that ties benets like health care,education and pensions to a persons place o birth (Friedmann, 2005). This meansthat migrants, coming rom the countryside but living in the city, dont have the samebenets as the urban residents (The Wall Street Journal, 2013).

Eects hukou system

This system was established rom 1951 onwards to restrict migration rom rural areasto urban areas (McKinsey Global Institute, 2009). The eects o the system were andare that a two-tier society (Friedmann, 2007: 278) is created. Because migrant workersdo not have the same benets as the urban residents, this signicantly limits theirparticipation in the labour market () That is because without access to health care,

pensions or education or their children in their host city, migrants must return to theirhometowns to settle down and raise a amily (The Wall Street Journal, 2013).

1980: Reorms

Beore 1980 this system was inviolate, but ater China initiated its economic reormsand opened up the country, it enorced the hukou program to be less strict. Couponswere no longer required to buy ood. A worker without a Hukou was now able to ndemployment in a city - but was still not eligible or many services in that area includingeducation and medical care (McKinsey Global Institute, 2009: 54). This relaxation hadas an eect that urbanization could take place, and took place at a massive extend.

Reorms continue

Currently these reorms continue. Last June or example, the National Developmentand Reorm Commission o China argued that the government should gradually teardown household registration obstacles to acilitate the orderly migration o peoplerom rural to urban areas (Xinhuanet, 2013). The main reason behind this relaxation isprobably the need or more consumerism in China. Chinas economy relies too muchon investment and too little on consumer spending (The Economist, 2010) and Chineseworkers are only willing to spend i they are sure o a living in the city.

Only in small cities

The relaxation o the hukou however, will be introduced rom small cities to megacitiesgradually (Businessweek, 2013). For this strategy is chosen because the scal burdens

are lesser in smaller cities than in big cities and because the Chinese governmentwants to prevent Chinas largest cities to grow even more. Dierent researchers, mainactors in China and journalists argue though, that the impact o this reorm will belimited, because the migrants preer big cities with job opportunities over smallcities (Businessweek, 2013, China Media Project, 2013) and argue thereore or thegovernment to step up and help to cover the costs o major cities in China (The WallStreet Journal, 2013).

Shenzhen

Shenzhen has been experimenting with the hukou over the years, but with nottoo much result (China Labour Bulletin, 2008).The main problems or migrants inShenzhen are that they are excluded rom making use o unemployment insurance,birth insurance, education, aordable housing, and other public services (Zhai, 2012).Dierent theorists say however, that the abolishment o the hukou system could have apositive infuence on migrant cities like Shenzhen (Cox, 2012, Yeung et al., 2009, Leongand Pratap, 2011) and could be needed to stimulate an economy ocussed on services


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and consumerism. Some have even argued that Shenzhen may be again called uponto serve as a national laboratory, but this time as the countrys rst special politicalzone, in which political reorms () are tested beore dissemination elsewhere in thecountry (Yeung et al., 2009: 237).

The experimental city Shenzhen

With the introduction o the Special Economic Zone, the new ruling class had alreadydecided not to go too ast and on a large scale without experimenting rst and slowlyon a small scale (Leong and Pratap, 2011: 157). The next step could be, to go withtesting social reorms in large cities, on a small scale. Not in whole cities, but in areas.Experimentation with the hukou reorms could happen slowly and on a small scale.Shenzhen could again be an experimental city or China.

2.3. Planning: The role o the government

The role o the government in the urbanization and industrialization o China is assumedto be large. The scale o the phenomenon is been so extensive that it is dicult tobelieve that also other actors have been playing a role. The McKinsey Global Institutebelieves that it is certainly true that, in earlier years, the national government exerted

signicant infuence on the balance between Chinas countryside and its cities. Oten,national policies had the eect o making urbanization relatively anaemic (...) In morerecent times, central government has played a more enabling role (McKinsey GlobalInstitute, 2009: 58). The government did this through designate certain cities as SpecialEconomic Zones to oer potential investor incentives and strategies as the ChinasGreat Western Development Strategy and the recent strategy to move 250 millionpeople into cities ( The New York Times, 2013)

The last 15 years though, have seen a change in Chinas approach to urbanization. Thepower has decentralized. Today, the decisive actors in Chinas urbanization are citygovernments themselves (McKinsey Global Institute, 2009: 58). City leaders have greatreedom to develop their cities, which explains the dierences in approaches cities useto ace their problems.

2.3 Migrants moving home during Spring estival, scene rom the movie Last train home


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2.4. Place: Shenzhen

Introduction

The city o Shenzhen is located on the south east coast o mainland China, north othe border with Hong Kong, and is part o the urban agglomeration know as the PearlRiver Delta region, that is one o the largest and astest growing urban areas in theworld (Forbes, 2013). Compared to Amsterdam, Shenzhen is 10 times as big, has anestimated population 15 times as big and is more than twice as dense, making it theth most dense city in the world (Shenzhen Standard, 2012). An estimated 80% o theinhabitants o Shenzhen is migrant. The city has currently the 4th port in the world andover 150 international fights per week (Demographia, 2012).

Urbanization and industrialization in Shenzhen

In the 17th century the Qing Dynasty built deence towers in Baoan and named oneo them Shenzhen. Probably because the area was criss-crossed by deep drains in thepaddy elds (shen means deep and zhen means drains) (Ng, 2003). Mee Kam Ngexplains urther: .

In 1911, when the Kowloon Canton Railway was built betweenHong Kong and Guangzhou, a small station was set up in Shenzhen.

Ater the setting up o the Peoples Republic o China in 1949,Shenzhen, like the rest o the country, underwent a collectivization

process in the 1950s and the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and1970s. These developments let Baoan a destitute County. () In1979, the city o Shenzhen was set up. In 1980, Shenzhen, togetherwith Zhuhai, Shantou and Xiamen were designed as SEZs and theywere entrusted with the ollowing unctions:

1. As a window or observing global trends in economic, scientic,technological, managerial and market developments.2. As a training ground or talents in the Mainland.3.As experimenting ground or reorms such as special economicmanagement systems, exible economic measures or enhancingeconomic cooperation and technology interow between Chinaand oreign countries (Shenzhen Museum, 1999, p 22).

These were ormidable challenges or the local governments inthe SEZs. For the rst time in the history o the Peoples Republico China, a city level unit was entrusted with the task o running alocal economy instead o just ollowing investment decisions romcentral ministries (Ng, 2003: 431).

AmsterdamPopulation: 820.000Area: 166 kmDensity: 3506/km

km

km

km

km

km

ShenzhenPopulation: 12.500.000Area: 1748 kmDensity: 7200/km

Outward

processing

industries

Focus on foreign

investment and

restructuringtowards high-tech

and tertiary sectordevelopment

Planning control Shenzhen

extended: Longang and

Boan & reinvention newidentity Shenzhen: World

class city?

Flo

ating

popula

tion

Registere

dpopulatio

n

8Million

1500

312600

2,5Million

20%

100%

Urb

aniz

atio

nrat

e

1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

1978 2003

Cultural Revolution

Joins WTO

Reform period Continued economic

development

2.6 Shenzhen urban growth 1988 - 20042.5 Timeline Shenzhen

2.4 Location ShenzhenShenzhen


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Ater its creation, oreign direct investment(FDI) fooded into the city, o which morethan 70 percent came rom Hong Kong, with aocus on low-value-added and labor-intensivemanuacturing. From this base, Shenzhenrapidly industrialized () As the economygrew and the employment opportunitiesexpanded, massive waves o migrants startedfooding into the city. In 1980 the populationwas less than 100.000 people, but by 1992Shenzhen had 2.33 million urban residents(McKinsey Global Institute, 2009: 260).The majority o these were young, womenmigrants (Cartier, 2002).

In 1992 thought, both land prices and labourcosts were increasing and manuacturingcompanies started to move out toneighbouring cities. The city decided that

it needed to move up the value chain. Itput considerable eort into boosting itsnancial sector, establishing the ShenzhenStock Exchange in 1991, and into developinghigh-tech industries. () From 2000 to 2005Shenzhens real GDP took o again (). Threepillars o Shenzhens modern economy drovethis robust expansion: high-tech servicesand manuacturing, nancial services, andlogistics (McKinsey Global Institute, 2009:260 - 261).

Currently authorities want Shenzhen tobecome a city with world class status (SDPB,2002), but as the Third Master Layout Planstresses, one with local characteristics.Shenzhen is according to several scholarsan economic driven city, but is developingits strategies more and more with a ocus onsocial and environmental issues as well (Ngand Tang, 2004).

The rapid urbanization and industrialization

growth in Shenzhen is called Shenzhenspeed (Cartier, 2002), because it is uniquein its magnitude. And it is not nished.Shenzhens population is projected to swelleven more, making it a mega city (McKinseyGlobal Institute, 2009). The governmentocials and planners are positive though,and try to develop Shenzhen into a city thatthey can be proud o (Ng and Tang, 2004:207).

Highspeed train to

Guangzhou

New highspeed

train to

Guangzhou

Guangming station

Longhua district

Shenzhen North

station

The original Shenzhen

economic zone and

Shenzhen city centre

Hong Kong specialadministrative region

Hong Kong city centre

Dalang sub district

Shenzhen municipality

Rail station/Cargo depot

10Km N

2.7 Shenzhen


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3.

Theory

In this chapter the researchquestions are dealt with roma theoretical perspective.An alternative planningapproach will be researched,a closer look will go to theempowerment approach andthe meaning o compoundsthrough Chinese buildinghistory will be explained.


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3.1 Vacant actory in Dalang

3.1. Planning Think small

The ocus o economy in Shenzhen is changing. While the authorities are still lookingor a new identity or Shenzhen that can replace the actory o the world image, thecity coops with the problems o this economic change. Not only are many actorybuildings let vacant ater their actory let, also the ormer workers are oten letbehind unemployed, making both these areas and its residents vulnerable. The currentredevelopment approaches o the authorities do not take into account all necessaryscopes and scales and miss out on, or example, the local scale.

As an alternative method to deal with these vulnerable urban areas, dierent authorsstress the possibility o intervening on a small scale. In 1973 Schumacher already statesthat every activity and intervention needs to be done on a dierent scale to be eectiveand that when you live in a poor environment, you should start with something small(Schumacher, 1973: 69-70). Friedmann continues with this statement that it is only inthe local community [] that real changes can be brought about (Friedmann, 1987:382). He also argues that in China particularly at the local level a process can start othoroughgoing reorm o governance (Friedmann, 2005: 116), an argument Flynnagrees upon when he says that in China more local initiatives can be undertaken(Flynn, 2009: 3). Furthermore, in 2009 UN-HABITAT concluded that Ideally, decisions onurban planning issues should be made as close as possible to those aected by them(UN-HABITAT, 2009: 215) and should thus take place at a local level.

When intervening on a small scale could be an alternative planning method oractory areas in Shenzhen, how to make sure that these small projects have eect ona larger scale and a longer term? In other words, how to make these small scale urbaninterventions strategic? That is what this chapter will explore. First, dierent theorieswill be looked into on how to makes small scale interventions strategic. Second, theseapproaches will be discussed. Third, the possibility o the dierent theories will betested within the current planning system o China, to conclude with a method thatcould be used as an alternative planning method or redeveloping actory areas inShenzhen.

3.1.1. What makes small scale projects strategic?As many authors agree on the importance o intervening on a small scale, many moreagree on the importance o making these interventions strategic. These strategicplanning systems though, take many orms (Bryson, 2004 in Friedmann et al., 2004:57). Four dierent methods o looking to strategic planning and how to make projectsstrategic are discussed below. Beore the paper can look into these variables though,we need to understand what makes planning strategic. Louis Albrechts (2004) gives adenition where most authors agree upon.

Strategic planning is centred on the elaboration o a mutuallybenecial dialectic between top-down structural developmentsand bottom-up local uniqueness. ()Strategic planning is selectiveand oriented to issues that really matter. As it is impossible to doeverything that needs to be done, `strategic implies that somedecisions and actions are considered more important than othersand that much o the process lies in making the tough decisionsabout what is most important or the purpose o producing air,structural responses to problems, challenges, aspirations, anddiversity. Strategic planning relates to implementation. Things mustget done! () Strategic spatial planning is not just a contingentresponse to wider orces, but is also an active orce in enablingchange (Albrechts, 2004: 751 - 752).

In other words, strategic planning according to Albrechts is selective in issues to


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address, is somewhere within the collaboration o top-down and bottom-up processesand is ocussed on ac tion and enabling change. This is a clear denition, but too broadto use or a methodology. The authors discussed urther on, have gone deeper andmore specic into this denition and have given their own interpretations o it.

Healey: collaborative planningHealey (1997, 2003), Carter (2000) and Hall (1997) agree on the need or a long-termstrategic ramework. Hall starts rom the perception that small initiatives have lowereect on a larger scale when they work in isolation. He states that strategic linkages andpartnerships between local initiatives are needed to make projects eective on a longterm and on a city-wide level (Hall, 1997). Next to this, he states that beore a projectstarts, it has to take a view within the wider context o a vision or the city-region asa whole (Hall, 1997: 886). Healey (1997) continues on the importance o involvementand a longer-view perspective.

() planning processes need to work in ways which interrelatetechnical and experiential knowledge and reasoning, which cancope with a rich array o values, penetrating all aspects o theactivity and which involve active collaboration between experts

and ofcials in governance agencies and all those with a claimor attention arising rom the experience o co-existence in sharedplaces (Healey, 1997: 87).

In other words, collaborative planning according to Healey tries to involve all sectorso society into the planning process through dialogue, negotiation and consensus(Friedmann, 2008), which makes this process as inclusive as possible. She ocuses inher research especially on governmental processes within planning institutions andhow to change them (Healey, 2003). Healey concludes that a long-term strategicramework is essential. She agrees with Rein and Schon that a ramework should haveconceptual coherence, a direction or action, a basis or persuasion, and a rameworkor the collection and analysis o data (Rein and Schon, 1993: 153). According to Carter,this ramework should refect a process capable o ostering links between issues andthose involved in them (Carter, 2000: 38). A vision can be part o this process, and canbe important because it captures the attention o others and organises their actions(Healey, 2007: VIII).

Friedmann: strategic issue management in scenariosFriedmann suggests that strategic planning should shit rom mainly making plans toa ocus on strategic issue management and more on helping produce decisions andactions, especially or Chinese coastal cities.

What is being argued or here is a locally based, in-depth explorationo strategic issues o urban development under dierent sets oassumptions or scenarios as a way to assess potential outcomesand their eect on local populations, the economy and the ecologyo cities. It is a way o probing the uture in order to make moreintelligent and inormed decisions in the present. (Friedmann etal., 2004: 56).

In other words, Friedmann ocuses on making dierent perspectives or the utureor strategic problems that have no best solutions. He suggests that the emphasis inChinese coastal cities should be shited away rom plans to planning studies, whichwould then become part o a wider planning discourse about the uture o city-regionsby involving sectors o civil society in the debates (Friedmann et al., 2004: 55).

De Meulder et al.: projects o projectsDe Meulder, Loeckx and Shannon propose in their essay a project o projects a planningorm including visions and actions orming together a strategic way o intervening.

According to them:

visions generate a general, open and exible development strategyand rame social commitments which strive to enlarge the civicrealm, to enrich the urban culture and create new, sustainable urbanspace; they are premised upon attractive long-term perspectivesand the structuring o the city as a whole. () Strategic actionsand projects conront visions with a specic context or the realitieso urban lie and development: a real site, a concrete problematic,actual programmes, limited resources, actors in esh and bloodwith tangible interests and legitimate (or other) concerns (DeMeulder et al., 2004: 187 - 188).

These strategic urban projects are characterized by that they make a undamentaldierence, that they have the capacity to link, mediate and organise multiple actionsand actors and that they are easible, visible and innovative. The abstraction o visionsallows them to adapt to changes. Both projects and visions are created by urbanistsand architects. Through communication and debate these visions become layered,enriched and substantiated (De Meulder et al., 2004). According to Joan Busquets,

each o these projects must have the ambition to constitute a partial contribution toa consistent overall strategy. The ormulation o this wider strategy can be considereda project in itsel. This wider strategy is what Busquets has called a project o projects,a concrete demonstration o the way in which local projects can be part o a widerconstellation o projects (Calabrese, 2011: 3).

Hamdi: backward reasoning and emerging structuresNabeel Hamdi (2004, 2010) builds his ideas in Small Change and The placemakersguide to building community on the theories o Fritjo Capra (2002). Capra stresses theimportance o both designed structures and emergent structures. Designed structuresprovide stability, rules and routines or an organization to work and emergent structuresprovide novelty, creativity and fexibility.The issue is not one o discarding designedstructures in avour o emergent ones. We need both (Capra, 2003: 121). According toHamdi strategic means a trigger or emergence. Urban actions should be a trigger orbuilding new partnerships, which could emerge as a network in the city. These urbanactions should be small because the closer one is to the source o the problem, thegreater is ones ability to infuence it (Hamdi, 2010: 157). His method he explains asollowed:

Starting small and starting where it counts, we build up the largerplan or social enterprise and good governance based on new ormso mutual engagement, a network o community-based partnersin [urban issues]. These larger plans will certainly need evaluation,

on the basis o which options or implementation will appear andwhich will need analysis. ()The process is cyclical and is morelikely to lead us to a policy environment which is at once connectedto issues on the ground and which acilitates emergence, which isenabling. It provides a ramework o standards, legal structures and

partnerships or mutualisation and puts into practice the idea onetwork governance (Hamdi, 2004: 105 - 106)

Small scale urban projects, based on specic issues, involving multiple stakeholders arethus the start. These small projects should be able to serve as a catalyst or achievinglonger term more strategic objectives, to tackle constraints and scale it all up (Hamdi,2010: 165) and should have a trigger or emergence. The urban planner has a centralrole in this theory, because o his/her initiating, negotiating and implementing role.When implemented, these projects need evaluation to nally lead to eective networkgovernance. This evaluation can be done by dierent actors. This kind o governance isan inside-out structure o social organizations and enterprises held together by well-


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connected and well-networked systems () (Turnbull cited in Hamdi, 2004: 107).

3.1.2. DiscussionIt can be understood that the dierent theorists dont agree completely on each othersmethods. On what issues they agree and disagree can be red here.

3.2 Backward reasoning according to Hamdi

Common thinkingAll authors are within the tradition o the communicative model. According to Fainstein,within communicative theory, the planners primary unction is to listen to peoplesstories and assist in orging a consensus among diering viewpoints (Fainstein, 2000:454). They agree thus on the importance o the negotiating part o planning andinvolving (local) people within the planning process. Second, all authors agree uponthe importance o the existence and collaboration between scales and the importanceo having a long-term perspective. Small may be beautiul but big is necessary andinevitable (Hamdi, 2004: 139). Third, almost all authors agree upon an evaluation,refection and/or conrontation moment between the small and the larger scale.Fourth, adaptiveness to change, i.e. fexibility, o all aspects o the planning process isseen as an important actor. Last, authors agree pretty much how local plans shouldlook like. Local plans should be ocused on implementation and action, they shouldbe ocused on critically selected specic issues, they should be ocused on a short tomedium-term perspective and they should be build on partnerships or partnershipsshould emerge rom them.

Dierent thinking: the start o the planning processThe biggest dierences between the authors are in the rst place on what scale theystart their planning process rom. Healey and De Meulder et al. start rom a high scale.Healey starts rom the perspective o institutions, and tries rom there to build a robustinclusive planning process. De Meulder though, starts rom a designers perspectivewith the ormulation o a vision with a long-term perspective and on a large scale.Friedmann and Hamdi start rom a local perspective. Friedmann argues that a strategicplanning process should start with specic issues and locally-based studies. Hamdi, onthe other hand, starts with listening to people and their specic problems and visions.

The discussion on where to start goes into two directions. First, Hamdi argues that acity plan made rom a single, large-scale vision cannot produce a good city plan. His

main point is that a vision should be multiple, made by people on the ground andcreated by multiple issues. Friedmanns main critique on starting at a larger scale isthat it is ineective because by the time plans are completed rom these visions, thingshave already changed. The main critique on the approach o Friedmann and Hamdi,with starting with local studies and plans, comes rom Albrechts (2004). He argues thatthe heart o planning is creating willed utures: a uture and place we want to live in(Albrechts, 2004 in Friedmann et al., 2004: 63). In his opinion it is important to start withthe current conditions, but it is also important to ocus on the uture.

Dierent thinking: the nal product o the planning processSecond, the authors disagree on the nal product o the planning process. Healey andFriedmann do not ocus on making plans but more on the political meaning o the nalproduct: an institutional change. Friedmann states that the goal o strategic planning isnot necessarily to produce a plan, but to help produce decisions and actions that shapeand guide what an organization is a nd what it does. Sometimes plans help, but otenissue analyses, visionary statements, dialogue, discussion or something else is moreimportant (Bryson, 2004 in Friedmann et al., 2004: 57). The nal product according toDe Meulder et al. and Hamdi is a city plan made up o small, networked interventions.Hamdi is very clear in how these interventions are able to network: by the people

involved in them.

The main critique within this discussion is that the nal product is not always aneective communication tool. Balducci states that a strategic plan, instead o thestrategic studies argued by Friedmann, has an important symbolic character. It can bean understandable communication tool and an eective process o involving dierentstakeholders with dierent status and dierent powers into the planning process(Balducci, 2004 in Friedmann et al., 2004). The same critique Hamdis approach gets.

Strategic thinking onhigh level

Political

Selective inissues andactions

Inclusiveness

Partnerships

Healey

De Meulder, et al.

Hamdi

Friedmann

Planning studies

Scenarios

A city plan madeup of small,

networkedinterventions

Negotiating

Inspiring political

vision and a policiesframework: aninstitutual change

An inclusive planningsystem on all scales

Vision

Debates &discussions

Local visions

Emergence

Evaluation

Collaboration between scales

long-term perspective

Strategicactions and

projectsAdaptiveness to change

3.3 An overview o key words


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Not having one single vision creates diculties in steering urban development(DeMeulder et al., 2004: 187). The strength o the approach o De Meulder et al. is that bothplans and visions can be eective communication tools in holding all stakeholderstogether and in communicating to all o them where the city is going to.

3.1.3. An alternative planning method or ShenzhenWhen testing the eectiveness o the dierent theories in Shenzhen, China, thecontextual background o the dierent theorists is very important. Healey andDe Meulder et al. argue rom a western perspective and a more or less reliable andeective planning system. Especially in the case o Healey this is clear, when she arguesor a collaborative approach on a high institutional level. This could be possible in someWestern countries, but is at this moment not realistic or China. Also the approach oDe Meulder et a l. meets some problems within the Chinese planning system becauseit also build on an eective planning system. Thereby it is not said that visions cannotwork in China, but the process o making them and actors involved in creating themcould be reconsidered.

Hamdis theories are mainly ocused on planning in developing countries. He arguesthat i a country does not have an eective planning system, small changes can be

an alternative planning method because these projects do not necessarily rely on theplanning system. In China though, not all locations are possible or these small changes.Very strategic locations where real estate developers are ghting or developmentoptions could be unsuitable. But vulnerable location, as actory areas, with loweducated, vulnerable people, could be suitable or these small change interventions. InHamdis approach the urban planner has a key role. Wu (2012), arguing a new planningapproach or urban redevelopment in China, agrees with this role. In his vision the urban

Strategic thinking onhigh level

Political

Selective inissues and

actions

Inclusiveness

Partnerships

Healey

De Meulder, et al.

Hamdi

Friedmann

Planning studies

Scenarios

A city plan madeup of small,

networkedinterventions

Negotiating

Inspiring political

vision and a policiesframework: an

institutual change

An inclusive planning

system on all scales

Vision

Debates &

discussions

Local visions

Emergence

Evaluation

Collaboration between scales

long-term perspective

Strategic

actions and

projectsAdaptiveness to change

3.4 The position o small strategic projects in China within the theoretical discussion 3.5 Proposed planning approach

planner should play the role o coordinator to organize negotiations throughout thevarious planning stages to establish an open, equitable and transparent negotiationplatorm (Wu, 2012).

Friedmann is the only one o the theorists ocusing especially on Chinese coastalcities, as Shenzhen, and argues that studies instead o plans should be an outcome.Chinese coastal cities should in the rst place increase their knowledge on their citiesand universities and research institutions can play an important role herein. This isunderstandable, because o the current Chinese planning problems discussed earlier.The critiques on his approach though, are also in the Chinese context valid. Plans canbe a better communication tool than studies.

Working with small strategic projects in ShenzhenMy interpretation o how the small scale strategic projects can be used as an alternativeplanning strategy or actory areas in Shenzhen is a combination o the dierenttheories and their critiques. Sandercock argues that in an urban world changes can

Form partnerships

Start small projects Start big projects

Get people involved

i

Facilitate an eect

for emergence

come rom a thousand tiny empowerments rather thanrom revolutionary adventures (Sandercock, 1998: 129-159).As Friedmann interprets this: big changes oten come rom

an accumulation o many small ones (Friedmann, 2008:25). In gure 2 my position within the previous discussionis shown, and this position will be explained in this part othe paper.

In my opinion, Friedmann has a point with universities andresearch institutions playing a more important role in theplanning process in China. They can build up and spreadknowledge rom dierent urban processes. I agree withHamdi and Wu that planners have the role o ormulatingspecic projects which address specic problems and withHamdi and De Meulder et al. that these projects shouldbe ormed through partnerships. In general, I agree withHealey and Friedmann that debates and discussions can bykey elements in knowledge transer and in orming ideasand shaping cities.

3.1.4. ConclusionThe aim o this chapter was to look how and i small strategicprojects can be used as an alternative planning approachin China. It can be concluded that these projects can bean alternative approach, however they should not be seen

in opposite on approaches that work with master plansor processes that depend on mandates rom the decision-makers on a larger scale, as it is a partial approach that shouldwork along with other practices, and not necessarily replacethem [](Andersson, 2012: 107). As Nadin states, thereare no simple conclusions or planning () (Nadin, 2007:49) and that is also here the case. In my view, partnershipscould be ormed around a diversity o projects, that togetheracilitate an eect or emergence and together improve anarea at all scales.


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3.6 Owner o a small actory in Dalang

3.2. People - Empower!

When a actory leaves, it leaves behind buildings and ormer workers. What could be analternative strategy to deal with these people? How to empower them, so that they cancontinue to build up their lives? That question is tried to be answered in this section.

3.2.1. IntroductionWhen a actory leaves, some o the migrants have the choice to move with the actory,but most o them go home to their village (The Guardian, 2009, Worldbank, 2009) orstay in the city (Chan, 2010). When the migrants go back to their village, many o themdecide ater a year to return to the city (Pai, 2012, Want China Times, 2012) coming therewithout home or work. When the ormer workers decide to stay in the city ater theiractory let, some o them get a new job, but many o them stay unemployed (Yeunget al., 2009, Colquhoun, 2012). This makes unemployment rates especially increasingsince the nancial crisis o 2008 (Chan, 2010, Worldbank, 2009). On the other hand,Chinese cities increasing lack good skilled workers what will pose a serious threat toChinas aspiration to move quickly toward increasingly higher-value-added economicactivity (McKinsey Global Institute, 2009: 23).

The municipality has to react to these problems and does so in various ways. First,they encouraged jobless migrants to go back home. An example is the campaign backto the village to construct the new countryside as a reaction to the huge lay-os inAugust 2008 (Chan, 2010). Another reaction is to orce migrants to go back home. In2010 the Shenzhens vice mayor and police chie suggested that migrants, who arethree months or more unemployed, are orced to leave Shenzhen (Weinland, 2010).On their website thought, the municipality o Shenzhen states that they helped 49,000people to nd jobs by the end o 2010 (Shenzhen municipality, 2012). This eort o theChinese government and local authorities to re-educate laid-o workers on a very bigscale is conrmed by dierent scholars (Schucher, 2009, Solinger, 2006, Chan, 2010).

In recent years, the ocus o the Chinese government has been on attempts to createnew jobs, to develop labour-intensive industries and small and medium-sized firms,to promote the non-public (or private) sector, and to encourage the tertiary sector,plus oering occupational training (Solinger, 2006: 187). This is an eective approach,but is coping with diculties. In the rst place, the employees who benet rom thistreatment are mainly the once rom the big rms, because those are the once whosehigh expectations rom the state would have been most seriously damaged (Solinger,2006: 187). Second, there are serious signs o misappropriation o training undsby local ocials (Chan, 2010: 669). In other words, the municipality ignores theseproblems, or eels completely responsible and tries to solve them in a very top-down,high scale approach or ocuses on job creation, but none o these approaches have

been so ar truly eective (Chan, 2010).

The migrants in cities cause thus dierent problems in the eyes o the municipalityas unemployment and criminality, but, as many scholars and increasingly PR agenciesargue, they also provide many opportunities or a city as Shenzhen. They contributedin Guangdong province up to 25% GDP growth per annum (Flynn, 2009) and areimportant or the open identity o Shenzhen. Its people come rom all over Chinaand many parts o the world. Here, eastern and western cultures and ideas blend andinspire each other. It is now a melting point o creativity that has ormed a diverse andunique Shenzhen culture (NewlandPR, 2012).

A dierent reaction to the unemployment and the need or skilled workers is possible.The upgrading o the workorce might indeed be the better policy response (Bloom etal., 2012), but the approach o the Chinese government can be ocused on more issuesand in a less top-down way (Flynn, 2009). Next to that, the workorce in this case is thelaid-o migrant group. This is a very vulnerable group, coping with economic, social


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and political diculties as standard discrimination (Pun, 2005, Friedmann, 2005, Jacka,2005). This group is currently hardly benetting rom actions rom the government.The city oers [these migrants] the opportunity or little more than basic survival(Jacka, 2005: 143). This, while it is just shown that migrants can add a lot o value toShenzhen. The ocus o the government can thereore rather go to empowerment othis group.

3.2.2. What is empowerment?The term empowerment can be understood in very dierent ways, very oten linkedto the culture it is used in (Qu and Hasselaar, 2011). In this thesis empowerment isunderstood as a construct that links individual strengths and competencies, naturalhelping systems, and proactive behaviours to matters o social policy and social change.It is thought to be a process by which individuals gain mastery or control over theirown lives and democratic participation in the lie o their community (Zimmerman

and Rappaport, 1988: 726). It can allow people to think beyond daily survival and toexercise greater control over both their resources and lie choices (GSDRC, 2012). Thisexplanation can still be interpreted in many dierent ways. To be more specic, myinterpretation is explained below.

Strategies to promote empowerment can be broadly divided into structure (ocusedon laws, policies or institutions) and agency approaches (Tucker and Ludi, 2012). In thismaster thesis it is chosen to ocus on agency approaches because these are the oncewhich can be used most in a spatial way. Agency approaches ocus on enabling themarginalized to drive change or themselves. This includes enhancing their ability toparticipate in decision making, supporting them to access skills, resources and markets,acilitating collective action, building condence and raising awareness o rights(Tucker and Ludi, 2012: 7). In the ollowing section it will be tried to give a summary orpossible options or Chinese migrants in Shenzhen to be empowered.

Economic empowermentEconomic opportunities are at the heart o pro-poor growth and empowerment(Tucker and Ludi, 2012) and economic opportunities are mainly created through theimprovement o education, increasing the amount o skills and job creation. This willbe explained in this section.

Education - Education is the most important determinant o economic advancement

(Rawlings et al., 2007: 10). Wang and Wu argue in their research on migrant workers inShenzhen that the importance o educational attainment as a crucial determinant omigrant income points to human capital as the key to a successul career in a moderneconomy (Wang and Wu, 2010: 1466). Since less than 65% o the migrants in Shenzhendid not get higher education than junior high (Wang and Wu, 2010), this can be seenas a key point or empowering migrant workers. From another perspective, Bloom et al.(2012) argue that education can also be o major importance to drive the, current weak(Lim, 2012, Florida, 2012), creative sectors in China, and that the upgrading o displacedworkers can be a great opportunity.

Job training combined to job creation - In her research on relevant skills and knowledgeor inormal workers, Liimatainen argues that the development o relevant skills andknowledge a major instrument or improved productivity, better working conditions,and the promotion o decent work is in the inormal economy. () New skills andknowledge can open doors to more economically and socially rewarding jobs.Basic lie skills, such as numeracy and literacy, problem-solving and management,communication and negotiation skills, improve condence and capacity to explore

The city oers [these migrants] the opportunity or little more thanbasic survival (Jacka, 2005: 143).

Psychological empowerment may develop more readily rom activitiesaimed at inuencing political decision making, but involvement withothers, increased responsibility, and organisational problem solvingare also expected to contribute to ones sense o empowerment(Zimmerman and Rappaport, 1988: 726).

and try new income-earning opportunities (Liimatainen, 2002). These kind o trainingsthough, should always be combined with the creation or possibility o jobs (Tucker andLudi, 2012). Last, specic and local research has to be done to nd which skills and whatknowledge is needed to empower these migrant groups in Shenzhen (Liimatainen,2002).

Public services - Within economic empowerment, equal accessibility o public servicesis o a major importance because people may be unable to take advantage o newopportunities i they ace extreme poverty, physical insecurity or poor health, or lackbasic education. Equitable access to public services or excluded groups is thereorecritical or empowerment and poverty reduction(Tucker and Ludi, 2012: 8).

Social empowermentSocial empowerment is understood as a combination o sel-acceptance and sel-condence, social and political understanding, and the ability to develop a sense oautonomy (GSDRC, 2012, Zimmerman and Rappaport, 1988). Zimmerman and Rappaportshow how this sense o empowerment can be developed. One way () is to becomeinvolved in decisions that aect community lie () Psychological empowerment maydevelop more readily rom activities aimed at infuencing political decision making,

but involvement with others, increased responsibility, and organisational problemsolving are also expected to contribute to ones sense o empowerment. () citizenparticipation is broadly dened as involvement in any organized activity in which theindividual participates without pay in order to achieve a common goal (Zimmermanand Rappaport, 1988: 726). Social empowerment can thus be achieved in many ways,however, it is important that individual persons are actively involved and responsible ingroup processes. This may be a new experience or many migrant workers in Shenzhen,but also a great opportunity or them.

EquityEconomical and social empowerment need an equal environment to make thempossible. Tucker and Ludi explain this correlation very clear when they argue thatequity and empowerment are intimately linked. A ocus on equity also means a ocuson justice and power, because inequities both derive rom, and serve to maintain,underlying power imbalances. Elites that benet rom inequitable laws and practices

tend to use their greater power to deend the status quo, while poor and marginalizedpeople are relatively powerless to demand airer treatment or hold institutions toaccount. Approaches to tackling inequity must thereore involve eorts to promoteempowerment o the poor and marginalized so that they are better equipped to makesuch demands (Tucker and Ludi, 2012: 5). Hasselaar and Qu argue that participationis needed in a true democratic society, where it supports empowerment o people andstimulates active citizenship and steps taken rom providing inormation to acilitatingcommunication and nally cooperation and co-production (Qu and Hasselaar, 2011:13).

Equity is thus very important to support empowerment. However, in a society likeChina, where democracy, participation and equity are dierent understood, this is adicult point. One example o this diculty is the hukou system. As argued beore, thissystem causes great unair situations in Chinese cities. To make social and economicempowerment o migrants possible though, equal cities have to be the starting point(Flynn, 2009). With the Hukou system still active, empowerment is hardly possible.


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Currently, hukou system restriction on labour mobility are gradually vanishing(Friedmann, 2005: 75) and dierent scholars argue the positive infuence on a migrantcity as Shenzhen when it would abolish the hukou system (Cox, 2012, Yeung et al., 2009,Leong and Pratap, 2011). In this thesis it is thereore recommended to repeal the hukousystem, i only in Shenzhen to make this zone again an experimental city. In the wordso Justin Li, the principal o the Institute o Chinese Economics, Shenzhen could be agreat place to start the rst Special Political Zone o China (Li, 2010a).

3.2.3. Empowerment as an alternative approach in ShenzhenWhen testing the possibility o empowerment as an alternative approach to dealwith vulnerable social groups, attention has to be paid to the local circumstancesin Shenzhen. It is already argued that the hukou system has to change to makeempowerment possible, making this approach dicult or current implementation inShenzhen. Next to that, attention has to be paid on how empowerment is going to start.Almost all scholars agree that empowerment is eective when also started at a locallevel. More local initiatives can be undertaken in the communities o these migrant

workers (Flynn, 2009: 3). By providing public services, migrants can be encouragedand empowered to establish more services themselves and develop by doing thatmigrants sel help organizations (Flynn, 2009). However, these bottom-up agency-based approaches in isolation seldom lead to real change in power relations or to moreequitable and accountable governance (Tucker and Ludi, 2012: 17). These approacheshave to be interlinked and linked to higher levels o governance to be truly eective.

3.2.4. ConclusionMy interpretation o how empowerment can work as an alternative approach orvulnerable groups in Shenzhen ocuses on how, in this case, migrants can drive changeor themselves. This can be done through economic and social empowerment thatmeans to improve the access to education, resources and improving skills and buildingup condence through public participation and collective action. This is not a changeo the political system, because this participation will happen on a small scale.

In this thesis it is thereore recommended to repeal the hukou system, ionly in Shenzhen to make this zone again an experimental city.

EDUCATION

Economic Empowerment

Equal environment

Social Empowerment

JOB TRAINING

JOB CREATION

HEALTH FACILITIES

SOCIAL STRUCTURESAND ORGANIZATIONS

3.7 Empowerment approach


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3. 8 Courtyard house

3.3. Place - Compounds in China

The goal o this chapter is to develop a better understanding o compounds in Chinaand Shenzhen. Compound structures have been very infuential throughout thecenturies in China and have been playing dierent roles. This chapter explains the ormo these compounds and how this orm aects the city. Next to that it tries to give moreunderstanding o the governance models that were involved with the creation andmanagement o these compound structures.

Five compounds are analysed through history. Two historical models: the traditionalChinese courtyard house and the danwei and three current models: the urban village,the Xiaoqu and the actory compounds. In end, these compounds are compared tobasic rules o urban development. Out o this comparison some conclusions can bedrawn.

3.3.1. Traditional Chinese cities and the courtyard house

The courtyard house has been centuries the basic unit o cities in China. Especiallyduring the Ming dynasty (1368 -1644) and the Qing dynasty (1644 1911) the courtyard

house was widely used, rom the emperor to the normal people, everybody lived in acourtyard house. The typical courtyard house was a group o open spaces, enclosedby one-story buildings (Xu, 1998). The courtyard is designed according dierent ideas,and ollows the principles o hierarchy, slow harmony, nature as identity and sees theamily as unity

Background inormation

Concept - Conucian moral order

Main idea -Each individual acts and lives within a strong social hierarchy

Spatial orm compound - The design o the courtyard house is deeply infuencedby eng-shui, both physically and socially. This system, developed throughthousands o years, was used or attracting good luck(Xu, 1998: 272). The majorgoal o eng-shui is to nd a way to live in harmony with the world around you.A very important element within the eng-shui system is Qi, which is the vital,positive energy that brings health, peace and luck (Xu, 1998: 272). Feng-shui hada deeply impact on the orm o Chinese cities (Miao, 1990).

According to this system, not only the design o the compound is important, butalso the site chosen or a city, settlement or compound. The typical courtyard

house was a group o open spaces

Slowing Down Shenzhen Speed

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