THE REGENERATION OF STREET CORNERS IN GUANGZHOU: DESIGN, MORPHOLOGY, AND EVERYDAY LIFE

Deng, Hao (2025) THE REGENERATION OF STREET CORNERS IN GUANGZHOU: DESIGN, MORPHOLOGY, AND EVERYDAY LIFE PhD thesis, University of Liverpool.

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Abstract

This thesis presents a study of street corners as a type of public space in China’s recent urban regeneration. Traditionally, street corners were accessible spaces for residents to conduct various urban activities. They become major targets of contemporary regeneration projects in China. An extensive body of urban design literature has examined public spaces, particularly urban streets. Yet, less attention was paid to street corners. We know little about how these spaces are being transformed and utlised in times of urban regeneration. Therefore, this research aims to investigate the transformation of street corners in China, focusing on the context of Culture-led Urban Regeneration (CUR) in the past decade. It asks: How did CUR affect public spaces, especially street corners, in Chinese cities? By integrating the theories of design governance, urban morphology, and everyday urbanism, the thesis develops a new analytical framework—Design Morphological Ethnography—to carry out a multi-dimensional analysis of public space in urban regeneration. At its core, the framework comprises three levels of analysis: content analysis of design plans, town-plan analysis of physical fabric, and ethnographic description of everyday practice. It intends to reveal the hidden contest between urban design and everyday life that underlies the physical transformation of public space observed so far. Empirical data for the analysis is collected through document review, interviews, participant observation, and visual documentation (i.e., photography and mapping). This multi-dimensional approach has been applied to the three cases of street corners in the Guangzhou Historical Urban Area, China. The research findings suggest that it is reductive to view the street corner as a transportation node or a marginal segment of urban streets. Street corners are a convergent kind of public space, the point at which various urban physical elements and people’s daily activities intersect. The research reveals that in Guangzhou, these spaces were significantly transformed by CUR, an intervention that primarily served to enhance the cultural image of the city but conflicted with the daily needs of some residents and immensely affected their livelihoods. Understanding the interaction among official design interventions, physical spaces, and human behaviours in this specific context is critical for design professionals and policymakers to reflect on CUR strategies and impacts. The research poses questions around socio-economic sustainability of the street corners in relation to transient business establishments, gaze-seeking tourists, and cultural branding. All of these necessitate a need to rethink public space regeneration from the perspective of everyday life, to better preserve locals’ everyday culture, and to co-create public space with them. The research contributes to existing urban design literature by offering a new methodological framework for the multi-dimensional analysis of public space regeneration, illuminating the historical evolution of street corners, critically examining the impact of CUR on street corners in China, and proposing design and policy recommendations for future regeneration of street corners in Chinese cities.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Culture-led Regeneration, Street Corners, Design Governance, Everyday Urbanism, Guangzhou
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > School of the Arts
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	14 Aug 2025 08:42
Last Modified:	22 Sep 2025 09:31
DOI:	10.17638/03193495
Supervisors:	Chen, Fei Piazzoni, Francesca
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3193495
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