Spatial justice in urban planning: redevelopment of urban villages and housing for migrant workers inGuangzhou, China

Abstract

A just city is what urban planning should be fighting for. In Chinese cities, however, spatial justice has been seriously overlooked in many aspects of urban development. Using the theoretical framework devised with spatial justice theories, urban power structure, and the theories and practices of urban renewal and housing for migrants in developed countries, this dissertation has evaluated the impacts of urban planning and urban policies on the housing for migrant workers. A case study of the redevelopment project of Liede Village in Guangzhou has been conducted to illustrate the scenario.

Findings show that the policies and planning have brought together the government, the market, and the village, making them the core of the growth coalition, and marginalizing the migrant workers in the situation of the redevelopment of urban villages in Guangzhou. This alliance, aiming for growth, has helped commoditize the space reproduced during the process. The commoditization of land and housing is driving up the value of the properties. Migrant workers with limited income and rural Hukou status can only move to other villages. While Guangzhou is planning to redevelop nearly all the urban villages within the city core, migrant workers have to migrate to places where is far from the city center to seek for affordable housing, completing a migration pattern from the city center to the edge.

It is concluded that the spatial injustice in the problem of the urban villages in Guangzhou has not been solved with the redevelopment. In contrast, it is exacerbated by urban planning and urban policies. A more inclusive, peopleoriented planning approach as well as other institutional changes is required for promoting spatial justice in Chinese cities.