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Urban Resilience by Morphology? Reflections on Lockdown Urbanism in China

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Resilience vs Pandemics

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Abstract

The initial containment of the COVID-19 pandemic in China has been attributed by media and experts to the strict implementation of a generalised lockdown in Chinese cities, according to a system of policies and practices that, with some changes and updates, have been enforced until the present. This chapter addresses the problem of urban resilience in a pandemic context from the perspectives of architecture and urban morphology, focusing on the most diffused typology of urban blocks in contemporary China. After a detailed overview of significant settlement types, the chapter explores how the specific typo-morphology of large-scale gated communities, frequently encompassing a whole urban superblock, has proven its resilience during the ongoing pandemic. By mixing a typo-morphological reading with empirical observations, the article highlights how selected features of Chinese gated communities have helped residents deal with intermittent lockdowns. They include the combined factors of access restrictions and movement control, essential features of a gated community; the presence of generous outdoor space, also possible considering the large dimension of such settlements; the availability of commercial activities and other basic services within the compound.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Communities are professionally managed by a private management company [44], which for example is in charge of implementing and coordinating the pandemic-prevention guidelines emanated by Jiedaos and District Governments during the lockdown.

  2. 2.

    Nonetheless, since then, other trends have taken place in the USA, not last a general return to downtown areas by affluent and highly educated social groups [36].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Ningbo, China

    Giaime Botti & Eugenio Mangi

  2. School of Architecture, Qingdao City University, Qingdao, China

    Ali Cheshmehzangi

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  1. Giaime Botti
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Qingdao City University, Qingdao, Shandong, China

    Ali Cheshmehzangi

  2. Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia

    Maycon Sedrez

  3. University of Nottingham, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China

    Hang Zhao

  4. University of Nottingham, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China

    Tian Li

  5. University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Tim Heath

  6. Greenwich University, London, UK

    Ayotunde Dawodu

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Botti, G., Cheshmehzangi, A., Mangi, E. (2023). Urban Resilience by Morphology? Reflections on Lockdown Urbanism in China. In: Cheshmehzangi, A., Sedrez, M., Zhao, H., Li, T., Heath, T., Dawodu, A. (eds) Resilience vs Pandemics. Urban Sustainability. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7996-7_7

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