The Suburbanization and Revitalization of Industrial Land in Shanghai, China

Abstract

Land use efficiency is one of the critical indicators of sustainable development. Increasing land use efficiency can help build a more compact urban form and reduce the urban footprint. Industrial development is often considered a major driving force of urban land use expansion and use change. Both industrial development and urban land use change are constrained and facilitated by urban planning and management, constantly shaping the spatial trajectory of urban transformation. Taking the suburbanization and revitalization of industrial land uses in Shanghai as a case study, this research uses thematical analysis and geospatial data change detection methods to investigate how the evolution of industrial spatial structure leads to urban land use growth, and how urban planning and governance reconfigure the industrial spatial structure of a city through revitalization. This study found that the unplanned suburbanization of industrial land use brought about significant residential and commercial land use expansion. The city was able to consolidate its industrial land uses by adopting the designated industrial blocks strategy to curb the sprawl of industrial land use and enhance land use efficiency. With the transformation of industry structure, the city achieved great success in transforming underutilized industrial land in the city’s central area and consolidating scattered industrial land into industrial blocks in the city’s suburban areas.