W19 – The Sustainable City

Socio-economic Forces Behind Sprawl and

Compactness in Beijing

Qu Lei
q.lei@tudelft.nl
Socio-economic Forces Behind Sprawl and Compactness in Beijing

ENHR 2007 International Conference ‘Sustainable Urban Areas’

Socio-economic Forces Behind Sprawl and Compactness in Beijing

Qu Lei
Department of Urbanism, Faculty of Architecture
TU Delft, email.q.lei@tudelft.nl
Phone: +31-15-2784079/ Fax number: +31-15-2783411

Abstract:
For the city of Beijing, extensively losing farm land in the periphery and socio-spatial
segregation happening in central urban area are main environmental and social problems
being criticized as unsustainable and considered to great extent correlated to sprawl and
intensification. This paper will try to analyse the socio-economic forces behind these two
urban development processes, in order to understand the unique growth mechanism of this
city under the current globalisation background. Focusing on industrial and demographic
changes, the methodology of this research is comparing the geographic distribution and
morphology of various industries and residential communities, related to working
opportunities, housing market and housing policies. With such comprehensive analysis, the
problems of socio-spatial segregation happening in intensified central urban area and low
efficiency of land use pattern accompanying urban sprawl in periphery may both be led to the
root of urban spatial structure and housing policy, where comments may be given on planning
interventions.

Keywords:
Urban Sprawl; Compactness; Globalisation; Housing market

1. Introduction: background information of Beijing

As a big city with long existed problem of lacking land resource, Beijing was struggling to
accommodate the fast increasing population and urban functions since late 1990s. Within the
metropolitan area of Beijing (16410.54km² in total), 62% of the total area is mountains region
in the northwest part, higher than 100m above sea level, only 38% of the land is available for
urban use and agriculture (Figure 1), while the population grew rapidly from 13.67 million to
15.38 million during the "10th Five-Year Plan" period (2001-2005). Under the pressure of
rapid growth, the city on the one hand was forced to sprawl horizontally, transforming itself
into large agglomeration; on the other, intensification of the central urban area brought by real
estate development was happening simultaneously, improving the compactness and forming
new centralities. The urban compactness of Beijing could be indicated by population density
of three different levels (Table 1).

Table 1 population densities of three different levels in Beijing

Total area (km²) Population (million) Population density (persons/ km²)
Metropolitan area 16,410.54 15.38 937
Central city 1,368.32 9.532 6,966
Central urban area 748 8,614 11,500
Source: Beijing statistic bureau

It’s very difficult to find out the fringe of the central urban area, since Beijing is a large
agglomeration experiencing the process of conurbation, new centralities as various urban
functional nodes are growing and joining the central urban area. Urban functions are being
Workshop: The Sustainable City 1
Author: Qu Lei
Socio-economic Forces Behind Sprawl and Compactness in Beijing

redistributed throughout the urbanized areas, the dramatic difference between the “urban” and
“rural”, or the edge of the urban area, are blurred (Figure 1).

In order to understand better the local situation of Beijing, there are some concepts regarding
administrative divisions of Beijing metropolitan area, identifying urban and suburban areas.
Such as “central city”, “central urban area”, “urban districts”, “near suburban districts”, “outer
suburban districts”, which sometimes overlap each other (Figure 1). Beijing has four urban
districts (Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chongwen, Xuanwu), and the suburban area is officially
divided into four near suburban districts (Haidian, Chaoyang, Fengtai, Shijingshan), eight
outer suburban districts (Changping, Huairou, Shunyi, Pinggu, Tongzhou, Daxing, Fangshan,
Mentougou), and two outer counties (Miyun, Yanqing), in total there are 4003 villages in 143
towns. This administrative division was made in 1950s, and within that period, the urban area
of Beijing was the old city, and the four near suburban districts were around the old city
boundary. During the past 50 years, this administrative division was hardly modified, while
the urban area has already extended much more, that is to say, the four near suburban districts
are partly urban and partly rural today. Nowadays, the total urbanized areas are named as
central urban area, and the four urban districts plus the four near suburban districts are called
central city. These concepts will be used very often in this paper.

Figure 1 geographic and administrative divisions of Beijing metropolitan area

2. Compactness: opportunities and constraints brought by globalisation

In the time of globalisation, on the one hand, the huge Chinese market became the strategic
target of developed countries, since investing in China and exploiting the Chinese market
were looked on as an important means for stimulating their own economies; on the other,
China is taking the opportunity to absorb foreign direct investment and high technologies for
its development as well. Therefore improving urban physical environment and constructing
economic-technological centres to attract FDI have been accepted as the main strategies of
stimulating urban development by many Chinese big cities. For instance, since 1990s, several
such kind of large urban projects have been carried out in Beijing: Zhongguancun Science and
Technology Park was planned in Haidian District where many universities and research
institutions located, as the basis for high-tech research and development; the Financial
Avenue in Xicheng District and CBD in Chaoyang District, are the two main financial centers
built or being consolidated, expected to play a pivotal role in Beijing’s international business
dealings; Yizhuang economic-technological park was planned as the generator of Yizhuang
new town, located to the Southeast of the central urban area of Beijing, which will contribute
to the process of rural urbanization. These large urban projects are mostly of high density,
transforming the urban structure with new centralities, generating further regenerations in
adjacent areas, and changing the cityscape of the central urban area from the homogeneous
flat image into areas of various densities. Moreover, due to the working opportunities
Workshop: The Sustainable City 2
Author: Qu Lei
Socio-economic Forces Behind Sprawl and Compactness in Beijing

generated within these new nodes, population density also increased within these areas, while
social structure of the local communities were changed by influx of talent people (Figure 2a).

Although economic development is Beijing's top priority, as well as the fact that it
encouraged the municipal government to look for opportunities emanating from globalisation
as such, it must be borne in mind that the latter also brings to Beijing unintended
consequences. For example, although FDI provides new momentum to China's ongoing
reform and openness, the gap between rich and poor, and between urban and rural areas, has
widened, and undoubtedly will pose severe challenges to China's inefficient economic sectors.
In the past decades, unemployment went up sharply due to the central government’s steering
the economic system with a view to adapting to the rules of globalisation. In the process
people with poor educational backgrounds were more negatively affected, very often losing
their jobs. These socio-economic changes have influenced socio-spatial condition of the city
(Figure 2).

Figure 2a the CBD area being consolidated in Chaoyang district

Figure 2b panorama in Dongcheng district (inside the second ring road)

Figure 2c Nanchizi street, an inner city neighbourhood

Figure 2 compactness and socio-spatial differentiation in Beijing central urban area

The booming of real estate development stimulated by housing market has become the main
force behind such socio-spatial differentiation. Nowadays, housing market is becoming more
and more dominant in housing distribution in Beijing, with the result that the price or standard
of housing, and correlative living cost are differentiated among social groups. In the year
2005, the sold volume of housing was 25.66 million m², however, currently there are still
around 300,000~400,000 households lack of housing, one of the most key reasons is that the
majority of the new housing developments are of higher standard and prices than the demand
of the majority of the potential buyers, and the affordable rented houses are not enough. It’s a
common phenomenon that once the housing price and living cost increased, many families
would lose the possibility of improving living conditions. For instance, due to the industrial
structural adjustments mentioned above, low-income people (factory workers, unemployed
people, and so on) mostly live in the inner city, where housing quality and living conditions
are deteriorating (Figure 3).

Workshop: The Sustainable City 3

Author: Qu Lei
Socio-economic Forces Behind Sprawl and Compactness in Beijing

Figure3 statistics on occupations of local residents in 5 inner city neighbourhoods

Figure 4a Figure 4b
Figure 4a proposed housing renewal projects within inner city area
Figure 4b distribution of economic affordable housing and commercial housing

Residential differentiation and inner city decay are twin problems that usually happen
simultaneously in the process of urban transformation. Historical inner city neighbourhoods
are no longer desirable living places as in the old time, since not only housing but also
services there are not as attractive as neighbourhoods outside the old city area. Although the
government was always trying to improve the infrastructure and living standard of these inner
city neighbourhoods, and many housing renewal projects have been implemented, however
could not finish in short period (Figure 4a). Nowadays in Beijing, it’s also a fact that
residential mobility could be considered as an indicator of social status, that the middle-high
income population may easily move to better communities by purchasing new houses in
housing market, however the most vulnerable groups are in the condition of no choices, like
mentioned above that many of the middle-low income population have to stay in deteriorated
inner city neighbourhoods, and those who can only afford economical affordable housing may
only live in near suburban areas, since the best locations are mostly occupied by commercial
housing projects (Figure 4b). Because of the existence of differentiated living communities
and differentiated residential mobility, the filter effect in these inner city neighbourhoods is
patent that the residents stayed here are socially homogenous.

3. Sprawl: periphery in transition

Along with the intensification of central urban area, the city of Beijing is experiencing fast
and uncontrollable process of urban sprawl. Since the post-war reconstruction period in
1950s, Beijing as the capital city of China started to grow with a mono-centric urban
Workshop: The Sustainable City 4
Author: Qu Lei
Socio-economic Forces Behind Sprawl and Compactness in Beijing

structure, because the administrative centre of the city was located in the heart of the old city,
in order to hold the cultural and historical character. The process of urban sprawl was
accelerated, and the central urban area was enlarged from 109km2 in 1949 to 340km2 in 1978.
Since 1990s, the phenomenon of urban expansion in the periphery became even more distinct,
with the pattern that the central urban area grew rapidly along main arteries towards near
suburban areas. In the past 40 years, land occupied because of expansion of the central urban
area reached 520km2. Due to the extension of city proper, rural land was transformed into
urban land uses, e.g. industrial, commercial or residential functions.

Usually urban sprawl involves conversion of rural land into urban area, however there are
various types of sprawl under different socio-economic backgrounds, e.g. residential
expansion seeking for better living environment in US and urban development led by
economic expansion in Europe. Generally speaking, sprawl brings to urban residents the
attractiveness of the suburban pedestrian friendly neighbourhoods, economic vitality of the
periphery; nevertheless, it also downgrade natural environment, as well as to the agricultural
productivity. It’s essential to keep in mind that the momentum behind spatial transformations
of urban sprawl is always determined by local situations, which should be carefully analysed.
For the city of Beijing, such forces are mostly related to industrial dispersion, rural-urban
migration and fast real estate development, which will be explained in the following text.
3.1 Sprawl due to industrial dispersion
Beijing went through the process of sub-urbanization since 1990s that the population of the
central urban districts decreased as people moved to the nearby suburbs, which was propelled
by the process of de-industrialization, in which the spatial distribution of three industrial
sectors were affected differently. For instance, the primary industrial sector recorded a 60%
decrease in the central urban districts, as well as an extensive decrease in the suburban areas.
The secondary sector also decreased rapidly in the central urban area at a rate of about 30-
40%, while it increased in the suburban areas, pointing towards a relocation tendency.
Tertiary industries on the other hand grew slowly in the urban districts, but increased very
rapidly in the near suburban areas.

As mentioned above, urban sprawl in Beijing is of mono-centric pattern that the city grows
rapidly outwards the central urban area. Due to the fast growth and industrial dispersion, the
urban and rural network interweaved together in the periphery that there is no clear boundary
anymore between urban and rural area, on the contrary, the periphery became a kind of
dynamic transition zone linking the urban and rural socio-economic networks, various socio-
economic activities are happening simultaneously there (Figure 5). Such a vague
interrelationship between urban and rural area has caused inefficient land use pattern in the
periphery, reflected mostly by the coexistence of formal and informal settlements. For
instance, many rural villages were even enclosed inside the urban tissue, became temporary
urban villages where most of the floating population are accommodated. More over, as the
central area of Beijing expanded rapidly, it connected with the adjacent small towns or
counties, and became large agglomeration dominating the metropolitan area, even restrained
the development of the adjacent cities, which is an unsustainable spatial process.

Taking Peal River Delta (PRD) as example, the rapid industrialization in regional level
doesn’t always result in great concentration of population in large cities (George C.S. Lin,
2001). The PRD has a total area of 41,596 km², with total population of 20.65 million,
although it’s larger than the metropolitan area of Beijing, comparative study is still
meaningful from the point of view on spatial structure and rural development patterns. The
town system of the PRD region has been reorganized by population redistribution, which was
Workshop: The Sustainable City 5
Author: Qu Lei
Socio-economic Forces Behind Sprawl and Compactness in Beijing

forced by economic restructuring. The small towns have become the main destinations of
most immigrants, accommodating the largest share of the increasing non-agricultural
population, because of the expanded rural industrialization. Moreover, the small-scale labour-
intensive rural industry has absorbed the surplus rural labour of the first industry, and many
peasants became industrial workers without leaving their villages. On the contrary however,
the primary city Guangzhou was accommodating less percentage of the total population of the
PRD region. Such polycentric regional structure, instead of dominated by a main central city,
may be seen as the new spatial form reflecting the new urban-rural relationship, which could
be learned and transferred into the context of Beijing. (Figure 5.)

Rural Urban

Rural
Urban

Periphery Periphery

a) Beijing: urban sprawl under mono-centric urban structure

Rural Urban

Periphery

b) Pearl River Delta: polycentric structure based on rural industrialization

Environment Economy Society Tranffic flows Network

Figure 5. Comparison of the periphery and spatial structure between Beijing

metropolitan area and Pear River Delta

3.2 Migrant villages VS new residential quarters in the periphery

In the year of 2004, Beijing reached GDP of 428.3 billion Yuan (Euro 42.83 billion),
increased 13.2 percent over the previous year, which was the highest since 1995. Despite the

Workshop: The Sustainable City 6

Author: Qu Lei
Socio-economic Forces Behind Sprawl and Compactness in Beijing

impressive overall record of growth, income disparities between urban and rural areas remain
large (Table 1).

Table 2 Income and consumption gap between Beijing urban and rural area
Net Income (Per Capita) Increased Consumption (Per Capita) Increased
Urban 15637.8 Yuan 12.6% 12200.4 Yuan 9.7%
Rural 7172 Yuan 10.4% 4886 Yuan 5%
Source: Beijing Statistic Bureau, 2005

Labour mobility showed significant rise during the last two decades in China due to economic
transition, and most of the migrant flow takes place from rural to urban area, like rural labour
searching for working opportunities in big cities. The central urban area of Beijing is
experiencing faster economic development and construction tide, which made the city even
more attractive to floating population, reflected in dramatic increase of floating population in
the central city. Besides the knowledge migrants, the floating population is mostly made up of
people from rural area of Beijing, as well as other cities or provinces, working in labour
intensive manufacturing industries, construction sites or service sectors.

As floating population, these people are excluded from the urban housing provision system,
especially the public housing sector, the cheap farm houses in near suburban areas that were
enclosed into newly developed urban tissues became the most favourable places for these
rural migrants to live. It is estimated that 60% of the floating population live in such village
houses in outer urban fringe, where poor housing areas have appeared due to the spatial
concentrations of these migrants (C. Gu & J. Shen, 2003). As the floating population
increased, these migrant villages became overcrowded, and environmental pollution was
caused due to inadequate urban infrastructure, such as underground sewerage and drainage
system. It’s difficult for the government to improve living conditions or renewal these
villages, due to the complicated property right conditions and social structure.

Figure 6 a migrant village enclosed in newly developed urban area in the periphery

Besides such informal settlements, the main residential communities being rapidly developed
in the periphery are those gated residential quarters constructed by real estate developers.
Since there are few vacant areas suitable for building large scale residential quarters inside the
central urban area, and there are still great demand of commercial housing from the market,
moreover, new high-speed light rail system is being constructed to reach the near suburban
Workshop: The Sustainable City 7
Author: Qu Lei
Socio-economic Forces Behind Sprawl and Compactness in Beijing

areas, new housing developments went to the periphery. The scales of these housing projects
are usually very huge, comparing those of several hectares in the 1950s, many of which may
reach to more than 100 hectares today, e.g. neighborhoods built in the north near suburban
area like Anhuili, Huizhongli (Li Haiping, 2004). Therefore, it’s a very local situation in
Beijing’s periphery the coexistence of these formal and informal settlements, which seems
very contradictory (Figure 6). It also represented similar conditions in other Chinese big
cities.

4. Spatial restructuring: new strategies towards sustainable development

Based on the analysis of compactness and sprawl in Beijing, as well as the socio-economic
forces behind these spatial processes, it’s now necessary to introduce the latest planning
strategies that trying to restructure the metropolitan area of Beijing, and improve the socio-
environmental sustainability.
4.1 the new master plan for the period 2004-2020
The new version of the Beijing Master Plan (2004-2020) was proposed by the end of 2004,
with the main strategies of restructuring the city into “two urban axes, two development
corridors, and polycentric urban structure”. Within this plan, new concepts, theories and
methodologies of urban development under the current globalisation background may be
found, among which the most patent character is transforming emphasis of urban
development from central urban area to the periphery. This is a starting point to use a more
holistic approach of regional development, taking the urban and rural development as a
whole, for the purpose of breaking down the dual spatial structure of the urban and rural area,
and stopping the inefficient pattern of mono-centric urban expansion (Figure 7).

Figure 7 the latest Beijing Master Plan (2004-2020)

In the new urban strategies, urban transportation pattern and its infrastructure network were
considered as essential components shaping the spatial structure of urban areas, mostly the
development corridors. In the metropolitan level, such function of the transportation
infrastructure network will not work well if it’s only based on automobile, like what it was in
Beijing. Originally there were only two metro lines in Beijing around the inner city area,
which were built since 1950s, serving the central urban area only. In 1998, the plan of
rearranging transportation infrastructure networks was proposed, and the main idea of this
plan is to build 13 new light rail lines to form a high-speed public transportation network
(Figure 8). It was proposed to build 400km light rail lines within 50 years, which will reach
the near suburban areas and increase the accessibility of the periphery. In this sense, the time-
space distance between central urban area and the periphery may be dramatically reduced, and
the newly proposed light rail system would make it possible to develop housing in the
periphery for the middle-low income populations, so as to reduce the population density of the
central urban area, and rearrange the land use with more green space.

Workshop: The Sustainable City 8

Author: Qu Lei
Socio-economic Forces Behind Sprawl and Compactness in Beijing

It’s a long way to realize such a prospective scenario, and there are so many uncertainties to
be considered, such as housing condition of the urban population. Firstly uncontrollable
housing development under market economy may fundamentally influence the urban structure
and daily transportation commuting patterns. For instance, in order to release the burden of
the central urban area, around 12 periphery clusters were planned in the near suburban
districts in 1990s, for absorbing urban functions and population. However, some of the newly
constructed so-called periphery clusters finally became large-scale mono-functional
residential areas, due to the booming of real estate development. People live in these
periphery clusters but still work in the central urban area, which even consolidated the mono-
centric urban structure. These residential areas are usually very large, for instance, the
planned population of Wangjing area is 250,000~300,000 people, similarly, the planned
population of Huilongguan area is 300,000 people, which are actually the scale of a city, but
only of residential function. Such lesson was taken into account in the latest Beijing master
plan. For the 11 new towns proposed around the central city, strategies were made to mix the
land uses of industries and housing, so that these new towns could function and grow
independently, and the polycentric structure in the metropolitan level may form. (Figure 8)

Figure 8 the new proposals of light rail system and polycentric urban structure
4.2 New strategies of economic development for Beijing suburban areas
Breaking up the current dualistic structure between urban and rural areas is extremely
important for adjusting the relationship between the central urban area and the periphery,
considering development of the whole metropolitan area as a holistic issue. Only when
distinct discrepancy is harmonized, can the magnetic force of the central urban area be
balanced by the new centralities around it, and redistribution of urban functions could be
fulfilled, moreover, the regional cooperation could be effectively implemented. It’s also
essential to make efficient use of natural resources (land, water and energy) for further urban
development, which appeals planning principles based on ecological sustainability. Following
such ideas, for the suburban areas of Beijing, more effort should be made to develop the third
industry sector, which has the advantages of low energy consumption and doing less harm to
the natural environment.

Workshop: The Sustainable City 9

Author: Qu Lei
Socio-economic Forces Behind Sprawl and Compactness in Beijing

Accompanying the trend of worldwide industrial structure readjustment that modern

manufacture industries are moving to China, more and more multinationals are increasing
investments here, due to the comparative advantages of China’s market potentials and labour
resources. During the period 1994-2003, Beijing’s GDP increased from 108.4 billion Yuan
(Euro 10.8 billion) to 361.2 billion Yuan (Euro 36.1 billion). The GDP of the third industrial
sector increased from 50.9 billion yuan (Euro 5.1 billion) to 221.8 billion yuan (Euro 22.2
billion), the proportion of the total GDP occupied by the third industry sector increased from
47% to 61.4%. Among these city level data, the GDP of Beijing suburban area increased 1.5
times from 1996 to 2004, the secondary and tertiary industries composed mainly by rural
enterprises have become the main body of rural economy. Based on which, new strategies of
industrial adjustment on economic development for the Beijing suburban areas could be found
in the Tenth Five Year Plan of Beijing Government (2001~2005). These five years is the
essential period of the urban fringe, transforming from rural economy to urban economy.
Also, since the urban fringe is plying the function of extending and serving the urban area,
connecting and influencing the economy of the outer suburbs, most of these new strategies of
urban periphery will be correlated by restructuring the whole metropolitan area, including
readjustment of town system and redistribution of industrial sectors.

For peripheral area of Beijing, high and new technologies will be actively promoted through
structural adjustment of the second industrial sector, new industries like electronic
communication, new materials, ecological engineering, new medication and so on will be
fostered. The third industrial sector of suburban areas will be developed, with emphasis on
fostering new types of services, considering the advantages of abundant cultural heritages and
natural sights located in suburban areas. Besides that, landscape, production process and
village culture of the rural area are becoming sight seeing elements, and tourism will be given
priority, integrated with restaurants, hotels, recreation and shopping as a industrial system.

It’s time to redefine the model of urban-rural development, considering the potentials of rural
industrialization on restructuring the metropolitan area of Beijing. Urbanization of
countryside independently from the central urban area will be considered as an alternative
way of urban growth. Moreover, new towns are the future economic centralities to be
promoted, to partake urban functions like science and technology, education, culture, logistics
and so on, and at the same time, release population from the overcrowded central urban area
(Figure 9).

Figure 9 new developments in periphery. (Yizhuang, Beijing Economic-Technological

Development Area)

Workshop: The Sustainable City 10

Author: Qu Lei
Socio-economic Forces Behind Sprawl and Compactness in Beijing

4.3 Increasing residential mobility as part of the strategies

Housing development is an essential issue not only for fulfilling the function of residence for
the city, but also forming sustainable urban structure. Housing, correlated to the basic
questions of “whom” (residents), “where” (locations), “what” (typologies), and more
comprehensive questions of “why” (policy, market, price, working opportunities, land use,
transportation, physical environment, social networks, culture), determines not only the
residential morphology of parts of the city, but also how the city grows and runs. From the
supply side, where and for whom to build or renovate houses determine the quantity and type
of housing resources in the market; while from the demand side, residential mobility reflects
people’s ability of choosing residential locations based on their own needs. Behaviours from
both of the two sides will influence the socio-spatial distribution of the urban population, and
indirectly determine the way urban functions organized, including daily flow of commuting.
These individual choices on housing manifest patent diversities upon socio-cultural groups,
which were stratified dramatically in the era of globalisation, when the urban rich and poor
get segregated. To find out a top-down approach to intervene such problematic process is
meaningful for urban governance, seeking for sustainable urban development models.

Since 1990s, residential mobility in the city of Beijing has been increased dramatically, with
the tendency of floating from urban to near suburban areas. In the year 2000, the population
of the four urban districts is 2.115 million in total, 0.471million less comparing with the year
1995, and the population density is 24,072 persons/km²; the population of the four near
suburban districts is 6.388 million in total, 1.557 million more than 1995, and the population
density is 4,958 persons/km². According to China's Population Census made in 2000, only
34.6% of the permanent population lived in the same district since they were born. 2/3 of the
permanent population in Beijing is internal migrant population, and according to the statistics
on migration time in the past 5 years, internal migration increased annually. Although the
average level of residential mobility shows the tendency of increase, however, as mentioned
in former chapters, the middle-low income population still have very low capacity of
changing their residential locations, e.g. those stayed in the historical inner city
neighbourhoods. The only possibility of moving to other places is buying or renting new
houses with the compensation from urban renewal projects. For instance in Dongcheng
district, which is one of the four inner city districts, 14,872 persons (4434 households) moved
out of this district in the year 1993, that reached the highest amount in the history; while in the
year 1995, because of the low tide of real estate housing development, this figure showed
dramatic decrease in the same district (Wei, K. 1998).

Residential mobility is usually influenced by economic and socio-cultural factors, especially

the distribution of suitable houses for middle-low income population (Ana Sugranyes, 2001)
The increase of residential mobility is mostly initiated by changing working opportunities of
urban residents (labour mobility), which could be supported by vacant housing stock near
working places. However, the passive increase of residential mobility caused by urban
renewal projects should be carefully considered, since it’s the case of “have to move”, or
“wait to move”, but not “choose to move”. If the residential mobility of the urban population
is not increased to a certain extent, the newly proposed polycentric urban structure or new
strategies on periphery development will not work well, and the problem of socio-spatial
segregation in the central urban area will not be solved successfully. Public intervention
should really be focused on this issue, which involves new housing policies and social
housing schemes.

The booming of real estate development since late 1990s has resulted in the fast increasing of
housing price, currently, the government is initiating revolutionary proposals on housing
Workshop: The Sustainable City 11
Author: Qu Lei
Socio-economic Forces Behind Sprawl and Compactness in Beijing

provision for middle-low income population, in order to reduce the severe influences of
housing market on the vulnerable groups. It’s proposed that for increasing residential mobility
of the middle-low income population, low rent housing will be the main instrument, and non-
profit organizations will be introduced into housing provision system. Since this proposal is
just being developed, the comprehensive strategies related to urban restructuring still need to
be carefully studied. Nevertheless, residential mobility has been considered as part of the
urban strategies towards sustainable development, which is meaningful for the city of Beijing,
as well as other fast developing Chinese big cities.

5. Conclusions
In the past fifteen years, Beijing, as the capital city of China, has become more and more
important as the regional node in global economy. Capital, in the form of foreign direct
investment, was continuously flowing into the city, bringing new opportunities. The city
experienced fast transformations on urban form and society, and the urbanization level
increased dramatically, which forced the city to grow extensively in a short period to
accommodate the total amount of population.

The carrying capacity of the environment should be seriously considered when planning for
urban development, e.g. the scale of the city and urban structure. How to coordinate the
relationship among economic growth, population increase, energy consumption, and
environmental preservation is crucial for sustainable urban development. However, the impact
of spatial pattern on socio-environmental sustainability should be considered as a long-term
perspective, which is full of complexities and uncertainties, influenced by societal,
technological and policy developments in the long term, like housing policy, transport
technology and so on. (Jochem F.M. van der Waals, 2000) Therefore the spatial definitions of
the city are not the most influential factors, instead, the new strategies based on local socio-
economic forces.

From the point of view of the public sector, the strategies of sustainable urban development
should be focused on spatial structure as well as social factors, such as residential mobility.
It’s possible to combine these two kinds of interventions, using public housing system as an
instrument, try to intervene housing market with powerful housing policies. The success in
increasing residential mobility will finally contribute to the success of spatial restructuring of
the metropolitan area.

References:
Books:
David Rusk, (1995). Cities without suburbs, USA, Woodrow Wilson Centre Special Studies
Journal and Conference Articles:
Priemus, H.,& Hall, P. (2004). Multifunctional urban planning of Mega-City-Regions. Built
environment, 30 (4), 338-349.
Barter, P.A. (2000) Urban Transport in Asia: Problems and Prospects for High-Density Cities.
Asia-Pacific Development Monitor, 2(1), 33-66.

Workshop: The Sustainable City 12

Author: Qu Lei
Socio-economic Forces Behind Sprawl and Compactness in Beijing

George C.S. Lin (2001) Metropolitan Development in a Transitional Socialist Economy:

Spatial Restructuring in the Pearl River Delta, China. Urban Studies, 38(3), 383-406
Wei, K. (1998) People · Hutong · Courtyard Houses · Renewal: Urban renewal in Beijing
Dongcheng District. Beijing Planning Review, No. 6, P47
Wu, W. (2004) Sources of migrant housing disadvantage in urban China. Environment and
Planning A, Vol. 36, 1285-1304
Jochem F.M van der Waals (2000) The Compact City and the Environment: a review.
Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 91( 2), 111-121
Camagni, R.; Gibelli, M.C. & Rigamonti, P. (2000) Urban mobility and urban form: the social
and environmental costs of different patterns of urban expansion, Paper presented at the 40th
Congress of the European Regional Science Association, Barcelona
Sugranyes, A. (2001) Mobility in the Low-cost Housing Stock: New Housing Supply for the
Poorest Sectors in Santiago, Chile. Globalization, Urban Form & Governance, Fifth
International Conference Alfa-Ibis Proceedings
Brueckner, J. (2000) Urban Sprawl: Diagnosis and Remedies, International Regional Schience
Review 23(2), 160-171
Gu, C. & Shen, J. (2003) Transformation of urban socio-spatial structure in socialist market
economies: the case of Beijing, Habitat International, 27, 107–122

Workshop: The Sustainable City 13

Author: Qu Lei