Shenzhen is changing from the world’s largest factory to a World City, with a more differentiated economy, diverse population and attractive environment. This is no longer a governance policy, but a new reality coming into existence. In 2013, ten master students of the University of Amsterdam explored social-economic and spatial changes that can be seen as the germs of the ongoing transition. The Urban Geography and Spatial Planning students did research into very different subjects and places. Ranging from the background and ambitions of young migrants in Da Lang with respect to their leisure time to alternatives for the planning process of the redevelopment of Baishizhou urban village; from the activities in public space of young middle class families in high rise to the desires of a growing number of higher educated young migrant workers in an urban village like Baishizhou; and from the conditions for the development of creative environments and the transformation of desolate factories to the role of architecture as a producer of ‘identifiers’ in a fast growing and apparently non-descript new city as Shenzhen. These explorations clearly show that the transition Shenzhen is aiming for is already under way and in a pace much faster than academic research can master. Much of what is reported in academic journals is at the date of publishing outdated already. The discussion on migrant workers and the population of urban villages is one of those examples that need to be revised. This can be of importance to the implementation of alternative strategies for the redevelopment of both urban villages and desolate factory buildings and sites. The social ambitions of young middle class families and their aspirations in upbringing their child(ren) could have consequences for the concept and the design of public domain and collective space.

You can find their master thesis here:

– Marie Krop
Implementation from above. The Conditions for Cultivating the Creative Industry in Shenzhen, China

– Catherine Verbeelen
The Collaboration of Actors in Urban Village Redevelopment Projects in Shenzhen, China

– Lysanne ter Brugge
The outdoor activities of the Chinese middle class families in Shenzhen

– Sean Wang
Value Capture and Non-Financial Compensation in Urban Village Redevelopment in China: An Attempt for a more balanced Value Distribution in Redevelopment

– Floortje Opbroek
Middle-class identity formation and children’s use of public space in Shenzhen, China

– Maurice Veeken
Decisions of migrants in their choice of residence. A case study in Baishizhou village in Shenzhen

– Fabian Koning
The influence of bottom-up organized leisure activities on the social capital of young migrants

– Bas Hendrikse
The impact of work on leisure patterns of Chinese migrant workers

– Yara Jansen
From factory to nursery. Beyond industrialization in Shenzhen: opportunities for former factories

Tutors:

– Chingwen Yang, PhD candidate in Urban Planning, Department of Human Geography, Planning and International Development Studies, University of Amsterdam

– Arnold Reijndorp, Professor of Socio-Economic and Spatial Development of new urban areas at the Centre for Urban Studies, University of Amsterdam; Han Lammers Chair, University of Amsterdam