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Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism The role of planning

decades. Notably, planning officials have minimal the mainstream focus by delving into the realm of industrial
discretionary power when it comes to individual planning land redevelopment and reuse projects in Shanghai, with
applications (Biggar & Siemiatycki, 2020; Talen et al., a specific emphasis on two categories: Comprehensive
2016). The inherent drawbacks of such a planning system redevelopment and incremental redevelopment. Through a
include its unresponsiveness to the needs and dynamics comparative analysis of these practices, the study explores
of individuals, communities, and market forces, leaving the emergence of alternative approaches to industrial
land investors without the capacity to optimize land use redevelopment and discerns the relationship between
(Carmona et al., 2003; Munneke, 2005). these practices in shaping inner-city spaces. It argues that,
The consistent planning reforms observed in the despite receiving support from local government officials,
international context over the past decades have presented institutional arrangements still maintain the subordinate
a spectrum of solutions. These solutions range from status of the additional redevelopment strategy compared
the introduction of long-term temporary uses and the to the dominant model of conventional planning-led
promotion of mixed land use to allow greater flexibility comprehensive redevelopment, characterized by large-
and shift the planning system toward a more discretionary scale demolition and subsequent reconstruction.
model. However, the past planning reforms in China, 2. Urban redevelopment: The perspective
specifically aimed toward establishing a unified National
Territorial Spatial Planning system, have not addressed the of urban planning
challenge of ineffective land uses resulting from zoning Urban planning, originally conceived to facilitate
constraints. Instead, the newly implemented territorial sustainable urban development (UN-Habitat, 2015), has
planning system consistently strengthens the roles of faced criticism for its ineffectiveness in managing urban
different sets of plans and reclarifies their relationships development (Choguill, 1994), particularly in rapidly
(Liu & Zhou, 2021). This restructuring has resulted in changing developing countries. The complex institutional
even less discretionary power for planning officials. As the and socioeconomic contexts in China have presented
subsequent sections of this article will unveil, the pursuit of significant challenges to the implementation of urban
improved urban land utilization necessitates mechanisms planning. Research indicates that projects in China often
beyond the confines of the planning system to address the struggle to adhere to planning intentions throughout
challenges posed by zoning-related inefficiencies. construction, resulting in unconformity between plans
In the examination of China’s national governance and actual implementation (Liu et al., 2014). A body of
structure, Zhou (2017) points out the persistent historical literature has explored the unconformity between plans and
tension between central and local authorities. The upper- actual implementations in China’s urban planning system,
tier government(s) traditionally lean toward centralization identifying two distinct types of unconformity. Firstly,
as a means of maintaining control, while local plans are directly violated through illegal or unpermitted
governments advocate for a substantial degree of flexibility land use and development projects (Long et al., 2020; Tian
to ensure effective local governance. Addressing this & Shen, 2011; Zhao et al., 2009). Second, plans undergo
tension in contemporary China involves an institutional frequent adjustments to incorporate new development
mechanism described as “centrally policy-making and concepts initiated by local government leaders who assume
local policy implementation.” This framework grants local direct responsibility for economic growth (Zhang, 2002;
governments the flexibility to determine the applicability Wang et al., 2017; Long et al., 2012). In both instances, the
and implementation of certain policy decisions in statutory nature of the initially adopted urban plans is not
their specific areas. Within the field of urban land (re) respected, and, in some cases, inappropriate adjustments of
development, the central-local tension manifests as a plans have resulted in adverse environmental, cultural, and
confrontation between the top-down formulated statutory social consequences (Yin et al., 2023; Bakir et al., 2018).
land use plans and the locally conceived, deemed more Despite these issues, both the direct and indirect violations
“appropriate” land use strategies. This conflict results in a are often deliberately ignored, driven by economic
significant disparity between the planned objectives and concerns. Moreover, over the past decades, a set of post
the actual implementation on the ground, a phenomenon facto planning manipulations has emerged to legitimize
widely noted in existing literature (Liu et al., 2020; Long such violations. In other words, planning serves as one
et al., 2012; Tian & Shen, 2011). of the instruments to empower legitimacy for growth-
oriented (re)development (Wu, 2015).
Contemporary research predominantly concentrates
on the implementation of urban planning measures aimed Urban redevelopment practices in China were historically
at curbing urban sprawl. However, this study diverges from dominated by a property-led approach characterized by

Volume 5 Issue 4 (2023) 2 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.0433