Community development in urban Guangzhou since 1980: a social sustainability perspective

Following the worldwide trend of housing privatization, housing marketization reform was conducted by the Chinese government to tackle the giant housing shortage. However, since then, community development based on the relatively homogeneous work-unit compound has experienced radical transformations. The residential space in urban China has become more complicated, fragmented and segregated, and gated communities become the dominant component. However, are the new types of housing estates that have emerged after the reform more socially sustainable than the former? What are the typical issues of these housing estates from the perspective of social sustainability? Theoretically, the impact of housing marketization reform in China on the community level has received relatively less attention. Moreover, little research on the social sustainability has been conducted for cities and communities in mainland China. This paper aims to explore evolving housing estates and their social sustainability in China, using a case of Guangzhou, which enriches the international debates on social sustainability at the community level. The paper concludes that it is challenging to identify which types of communities are more socially sustainable, owing to the comprehensive nature of social sustainability. However, one type of community may have advantage over others in some aspects. The living environment of gated communities is indeed better than work-unit neighborhoods, while the social relations within the work-unit compounds are more harmonious.