Urbanizing villages: informal morphologies in Shenzhen’s urban periphery

ABSTRACT

The phenomenon of urban villages in China has received much scholarly attention in recent years, mostly about their socio-economic aspects and its role in accommodating rural migrants. While the link between the socio-economic functioning and the morphology of urban villages has been recognized, detailed spatial research, and morphological research in particular, is limited. Morphological research has generally focused on either rural villages or centrally located urban villages and much of the peri-urbanity that constitutes the majority of informal development in China remains under-researched. This paper explores the morphologies of urbanizing villages in Shenzhen’s urban periphery, with a particular focus on the distinctions between the old village core and newly built expansions. The paper opens up a series of questions about the morphology and morphogenetic processes of these villages and establishes a framework for future enquiry. How do we understand the informalized planning mechanisms in urban villages? How do we explain the morphological variation of urban villages? Are the processes that characterize urban villages restricted to the Chinese context or is there scope for regional comparison?

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges Henco Bekkering and Verena Balz for their comments during fieldwork and data analysis, and Kim Dovey for his comments on an earlier version of this paper. Furthermore, acknowledgement is due to The International Newtown Institute for their support during the fieldwork.