Beginning in the 1950s, numerous housing estates are being built in Beijing, taking up the ideas of modern urban planning. They are usually part of a work-unit (='Danwei') and thus assigned to specific workplaces like scientific institutions or production entities. Originally, the residents of a Danweis are made up of employees and their relatives.

In the meantime, the inhabitants have changed and rebuilt parts of their settlements. The changes aim for increasing the living space or allowing commercial uses such as shops, restaurants or micro-enterprises. The conversions range from simple additions and conversions to independent supplementary buildings on the adjacent areas. There are a number of effects associated with the transformations: Instead of private distance and ornamental areas, streetscapes and plazas have developed. Along the quarter ́s edges busy public ́strips ́of urban streetscapes and plazas appeared. They are characterized by a complex spatial morphology, by a superposition of different uses and by a special liveliness.

PUBLISHER DOROTHEA ROHN
PURCHASE AMAZON

ISBN 978-3-946319-15-3