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Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Practice of culturally relevant communities

daily activities extends beyond their social status; it is
also profoundly affected by the cultural context in which
they live. Consequently, the thoughts and actions of a
group are determined by the culture within that group
(Mead, 1938). Culture serves not only as a symbol to
express historical memory but also as a spiritual bond that
maintains the pluralistic subjects within the community.
By placing culture at the center, we construct the
framework of community renewal based on the theory
of cultural regeneration. In Figure 2, the interaction
among residents, the community, and the space is
explained. Figure 2 delineates that the ways culture is
used for dynamic development and the associated values.
Building on this basis, we propose a community space
transformation strategy centered around the theme of
cultural regeneration. The ultimate goal is to realize the
community’s vision of “revitalization,” encompassing
cultural space construction, normative governance within
the community, and the reconstruction of social networks.
Figure 1. Cultural regeneration theory applying properties and
applications. Source: Drawing by the authors 2.2. Cultural regeneration theory for unitary
community renewal practice
scenes, and Xu & Li (2022) constructed a cultural image 2.2.1. Project overview
based on an examination of traditional village culture to
achieve cultural connotation regeneration. Located in the north-east part of Chaoyang District of
Beijing, Dongba is only 10 – 15 km from the Central
Building on the above understanding, this paper uses the Business District, the Capital International Airport, the
concept of “cultural regeneration” in community planning Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the embassy district. It is
to renew and revitalize old communities. Rather than expected to become a large-scale center for international
simply replicating a certain spatial landscape, the emphasis exchange, catering to leisure, office, communication, and
is on embodying the cultural values of the community residential activities, with a focus on the international
and re-creating cultural spaces. This approach emphasizes market. During the 1980s and 1990s, Dongba, like
cultural inheritance and innovation, meeting the residents’ other suburbs of Beijing, was regarded as one of the
needs at a spiritual level and effectively integrating culture “warehouses” of the city’s industrial system. Numerous
with the community. state-owned enterprises (SOEs), such as the Beijing

2.1.2. A theoretical framework for the application of Textile Factory and the Beijing First Machine Tool
cultural regeneration in the creation of community Factory, established factories in the area, leading to a
spaces significant influx of employees. To support work and
life, these enterprises created residential areas for their
In community regeneration, the designer not only needs to employees in the vicinity of the factories, thus forming
design a single community space but also has to address the a unit-based community system centered around units
complex and diverse subjects involved in the community. and unitary compounds. To date, most of the unit-
This requirement involves coordinating the interests of based communities in the Dongba area remain, mainly
various stakeholders in the community transformation. in old neighborhoods located in the south-west part
However, differences in individual interests often lead to of Dongba. These neighborhoods are inhibited mostly
conflicts among the actors involved in the regeneration by retired elderly individuals who worked in the
process. This conflict can result in a lack of motivation neighborhood during its industrial heyday. This ongoing
among residents to participate in public activities and a renovation project is located in the southern part of the
tendency toward an indifferent and negative atmosphere Dongba area (Figure 3), encompassing six blocks with 18
in the community. Therefore, there is an urgent need to use buildings, primarily brick-concrete multi-story residential
culture to create value for community participation. buildings constructed around the 1990s. Many of these
In cultural sociology, culture plays a significant role buildings (Table 1) do not meet today’s living standards.
in shaping human behavior. The influence on people’s Despite this, within the historical context of corporate

Volume 6 Issue 2 (2024) 3 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.0923