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Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism The role of planning

of creative parks has existed for nearly 20 years, with no and cities like Shenzhen and Guangzhou established an
sign indicating plans for redevelopment in the near future. Urban Regeneration Bureau (Chen et al., 2020) under the
For instance, by 2023, Bridge Eight Creative Industry Park local urban planning authority to address issues related
will be in existence for 19 years in the center of Shanghai to urban regeneration. In short, local governments in
in Luwan District, an area with high land value, and will Guangdong expanded the scope of planning control to
continue to function as a creative park. It may not be fully legitimize different urban regeneration approaches at
necessary for the district government to undertake formal an early stage of their emergence.
land conversion, as the district is rich enough and does The institutional rearrangements in Guangdong
not prioritize the economic output of such a small piece demonstrate that it is possible to place emerging urban
of land. Instead, it values its political, cultural, and social redevelopment approaches under the control of the
impact (Interview with a government officer in 2020).
Meanwhile, more and more business parks are emerging planning system, thereby fully addressing the legitimacy
in Shanghai. One of the newest well-known projects is issue. However, the local government in Shanghai has
Shangsheng Xinsuo, which opened in 2022, representing opted to slightly withdraw the role of planning in exchange
the first industrial redevelopment project in Shanghai by for greater discretionary power of government officials.
Vanke Real Estate Company, a real estate giant in China. This decision comes at the cost of developers and tenants
bearing higher policy risks.
5.4. The role of planning and the legitimacy issue of
incremental industrial redevelopment 6. Conclusion
In short, the local government in Shanghai has provided This study argues for the coexistence of comprehensive
a solution to partially and temporarily legitimize existing redevelopment and incremental redevelopment strategies
informal industrial land reuse practices by reclarifying for industrial land reuse/redevelopment in Shanghai.
and redefining what should be considered as the The former is implemented through a planning-led
“implementation of land use plans” and what may not. approach, with legitimacy rooted in the national planning
This approach limits the scope of urban planning control system, and often follows property development routines,
and creates institutional spaces for the local government including large-scale demolition and relocations. The
(including government agencies other than the planning latter is implemented through an informal and practice-
authority) and developers to explore alternative approaches led approach, encouraged by the “three unchanges” policy.
to industrial land reuse and redevelopment. It serves as a complementary and temporary approach to
However, there is a possibility that land reuse projects pursue a better use of existing industrial land/buildings
may eventually be replaced by conventional planning-led when the proposed/planned real estate redevelopment is
redevelopment projects. This introduces high policy risks suspended.
for developers and tenants of the investigated creative The intricated relations between urban planning and
parks. Without full legitimization, such semi-informal urban regeneration in the given context reflect a mismatch
redevelopment approaches are unlikely to capture the between shifting urban redevelopment strategies (from
optimal land uses of the sites. pro-economic growth to pro-economic restructuring)
In contrast, the local governments in Guangdong and the conformist planning system. As a result, the
province chose to restructure the planning system to conventional planning-led approach to land redevelopment
adapt to the emerging needs of urban regeneration. They is being challenged, necessitating alternative approaches.
introduced prefecture-level urban regeneration laws to Instead of reforming the planning system to adapt to the
7
legitimize the institutional rearrangements for various shifting land market, the government of Shanghai chooses
types of regeneration approaches. In addition, specific to restrain planning control power by re-delineating what
plans were introduced for urban regeneration schemes , constitutes “planning implementation” and what does
8
not. This has given rise to the practice-led approach of
incremental industrial redevelopment, characterized by an
7 For example, the 2021 Shenzhen Economic Special Zone ambiguous legitimate status as a consequence of collusion
Urban Regeneration Act (深圳经济特区城市更新条 between the local government and market demands. It
例), available at http://www.sz.gov.cn/szcsgxtdz/gkmlpt/
content/8/8614/post_8614017.html#19169 enables local government officials, especially local political
8 As has been stated in 2012 Shenzhen Urban Regeneration leaders, to directly intervene in the decision-making
Scheme Implementation Details (深圳城市更新办 regarding underused industrial land, regardless of what is
法实施细则), available at http://www.gd.gov.cn/ stated in the master plan. At the same time, the capability
attachment/0/369/369378/2532051.pdf of planning control is sustained whenever a planning-led

Volume 5 Issue 4 (2023) 12 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.0433