ABSTRACT
In 2005 China overtook the United Kingdom and became the fourth largest economy in the world. Economic growth has been accelerating following the gradual introduction of market forces into the Chinese economy since 1978. China now being one of the key global market players, the inflow of overseas capital for investment and joint-ventures and a strong export trade have contributed to urban growth, especially in large cities and coastal areas (Pannell 2002; Yeh 2000). The consequence of globalization and rapid economic growth have triggered the wider process of sociospatial restructuring in urban areas, especially in large cities such as Beijing, Nanjing, and Shanghai. The restructuring of the economic sector has concomitantly altered the urban landscape of these big cities. As Ma (2002) observes, the economic reforms are symbolized by the high-rise iconic office buildings, large shopping malls, and more varied housing styles. It is the changing sociospatial distribution patterns of large-scale housing redevelopment that this chapter aims to explore further. There is widespread concern among researchers (e.g. Ma 2002;Wang 2002;Wu
2002, 2004a; Zhang 2000) that the interaction of market forces and large-scale property redevelopment has led to spatial stratification and inequitable development patterns in postsocialist China. Following the process of commodification of the socialist tenancy rights, in large-scale urban redevelopment local residents were dispersed from central areas and replaced by the wealthy (Lu 1997; Wu 2003). Freedom in choosing where to live by purchasing commercial housing has also led to high residential mobility in the city (Li 2004; Wang and Li 2004; Wu 2004b). Meanwhile, urban environments have become more and more dominated by gated communities with enclosed living spaces and amenities (Miao 2003). All these studies demonstrate that commodification of housing provision has changed the traditional social structure of Chinese cities. The economic status of different social groups, with differential market bidding power, has increasingly acted as the determining agent of housing property allocation. This trend of housing differentiation implies the threat of social segregation in the urban communities. However, while market-led urban redevelopment is generally regarded as themain
driving forces of these changes, there is little knowledge about the actual process that leads to residential stratification. The main purpose of this chapter is, therefore, to identify the key factors
that underpin the dynamic process of large-scale housing redevelopment and to highlight the emerging sociospatial development trends from this process. The analysis particularly focuses on the production of upper-market residential properties and examines how such large-scale urban redevelopment projects impact on the sociospatial distribution of housing properties, and shape the overall urban landscape. These issues are explored via the case study of two housing redevelopment schemes in central Shanghai between 1998 and 2004. It was during this critical time period that the propertymarket boom started and the government gradually shifted its attitude to urban redevelopment initiatives, introducing a whole array of urban reform policies.
