Sustainable urban village in wuhan

Abstract

To understand the performance of urban villages in terms of justice and inclusivity, an investigation from bottom-up was launched in current study. Through semantic differential (SD) method, subjective feelings of residents, workers and tourists were collected and evaluated; overall feeling was positive. Study indicated that urban villages in China, like in East Lake Village, with diverse life styles at all levels of society and registering positive overall evaluation, are sustainable. It concluded that development of adjacent formal space of the city, autonomous formalization of villagers and low rent of informal housing are essential conditions for a sustainable urban village. Suggested strategies for sustainable upgrading and reconstruction of urban villages should recognize and respect various types of groups, incorporating different demands and usage of space to protect diverse life styles. These strategies may entail cleaning, lighting and coloring which are effective ways to improve environmental quality.