Evaluating the impact of urban redevelopment projects in China : a case study of Liede Village in Guangzhou

Abstract

Around the world, urban redevelopment is a universal process of exploiting city areas. In Western countries, the development of modern cities is at an advanced stage, and these countries have produced a significant amount of research on urban redevelopment theories, patterns and evaluation. Research on urban redevelopment, particularly evaluating the impact, has attracted less attention in China. Moreover, the spatial order and development path of Chinese cities are dramatically different from those of Western cities. This thesis, therefore, explored the evaluation framework of urban redevelopment taking into account the characteristics of Chinese urban development and property rights issues. The case study strategy was used for this exploratory research. The case of the Liede redevelopment project in Guangzhou City was analyzed through in-depth interviews. Three groups of project actors, namely governments, developers and urban villagers, were interviewed to form a comprehensive understanding of the whole redevelopment mechanism and processes, as well as to evaluate the impacts of the redevelopment. Other data sources including academic literature, local archives and official documents were also used to analyze the Chinese situation. Before starting the case study process, the ideological and theoretical discussion on neoliberalism and gentrification were reviewed and the rent gap theory was applied to explain the motivation behind urban village redevelopment in China, specifically Guangzhou. To build the evaluation framework for the case, this thesis also referred to the evaluation system developed upon the urban regeneration of western cities. An effective partnership of urban redevelopment was found to lead to the efficient completion of the Liede redevelopment project. The role of the government was supportive and no longer sought for profits, while negotiation was made between the developers and urban villagers to maximize each actor’s benefits. Some positive redevelopment outcomes were evident. For instance, the physical environment as well as infrastructure is greatly improved and the family income of Liede villagers increases. Other long-term impacts were expected to be achieved in the future. It could be concluded that the pattern and experience of Liede redevelopment project are valuable for coming redevelopment projects. To widen the use of the findings, the evaluation framework established in this research could be tested on redevelopment projects across different cities. A general framework with some flexible adjustment to specific contexts could then be very useful for the evaluation of urban redevelopment.