Remains of the factory town with the village-in-the-city in the background.
In rapidly urbanizing South China, the factory town 【工厂城】 as well as the village-in-the-city 【城中村】 are some of the distinguishing constituents of the built environment specifically around the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong Province. These photos capture the brief mid-demolition period of a factory town in Shenzhen. The factory town itself is a product of a quickly changing man-altered urban-landscape, dismantled to make way for yet another redefining of that landscape.
Remains of the factory town with both new development and self-built housing blocks in the background.
During a simultaneous shift in the 1980s from an agrarian to a manufacturing focused economy,[1] the farmland surrounding existing villages was replaced with factory towns or other developments and the villages were progressively rebuilt with increased density.[2] The factory towns were industrial compounds designed to be efficient self-contained complexes not only serving the needs of industrial production but also accommodation for the employees. [1]
Shenzhen had less than half a million people when it became China’s first Special Economic Zone in 1980, and by 2016 it’s population had inflated to over 20 million people. [3] Since the majority of these new residents were migrant workers, providing accommodation for the employees was an essential design feature for factory towns. Not only are dormitories provided, but nearly everything needed for daily life was provided on-site such as cafeterias and facilities for exercise, recreation and other services. [1] A factory town may accommodate thousands to hundreds of thousands of workers. [2]
As an alternative to residing on the factory campus, workers sometimes lived in the neighboring villages-in-the-city to exchange an orderly and controlled living arrangement with a more vibrant and familiar one [4]
Busy street life in the Baishizhou village-in-the-city adjacent to the former factory.
Often adjacent to factory towns are urban villages, another urban typology commonly found around the Pearl River Delta. Urban villages are otherwise known as villages-in-the city which is a direct translation of 城中村.[2] While factory towns may provide for all the basic needs of the workers, the nearby urban villages are closely tied to the factory towns and provide more options for affordable housing and services. Urban villages are a phenomenon that defines the urban fabric and are produced directly from the unique mix of legal, political, and economic factors driving the hurried urbanization in Guangdong Province.[4]
Remains of the factory town with both new development and self-built housing blocks in the background.
Partially demolished building blocks after sunset.
Baishizhou【白石洲】is the conterminous urban village which transformed into its current form starting in the 1980s to accommodate the flow of migrant workers into the city. [2] Baishizhou houses many migrant workers and low income residents, but few of the original villagers. [5] The densely packed self-built houses that compose Baishizhou are illegal, with the oldest structures not meeting current building code and more recent apartments having been constructed illegally. [2] In 2012 a redevelopment plan for Baishizhou was disclosed by the city administration which involved the complete clearing of the village and replacement with a high rise development congruent with Shenzhen’s modern urban typology. [6]
Remains of the factory town with the village-in-the-city in the background.
In 2016 one of the first sections to be completely razed was a small factory town on Shahe East Road between the village area and a golf course. A geographical label 〖沙河工业区G5A栋〗 that remains as an artifact on Baidu Maps is one of the few clues to the previous land usage on this allotment. The factory town belonged to Shahe Enterprises, presumably assembling electronics.[8] Throughout 2021 and 2022 construction began on the former Shahe factory site, while demolition continued in other areas of Baishizhou. It remains to be seen when the redevelopment plan for the area will be completed.
- Al S, ed. Factory Towns of South China: an illustrated guidebook. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press; 2012.
- Bolchover J. Rural Urban Framework: Transforming the Chinese Countryside. Basel: Birkhäuser; 2014.
- O’Donnell MA, Wong WWY, Bach JPG, eds. Learning from Shenzhen: China’s Post-Mao Experiment from Special Zone to Model City. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press; 2017.
- Al S, ed. Villages in the City: A Guide to South China’s Informal Settlements. Hong Kong : Honolulu: Hong Kong University Press; University of Hawaii Press; 2014.
- Wang DWD. Urban Villages in the New China: Case of Shenzhen. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan; 2016.
- Zhang X, Su H. Transforming Urban Villages in Shenzhen - Urban Ecology Case Study. Published online January 27, 2021.
- 小谢. 南山白石洲旧改进度 一期打地基有指标. Sohu. Published online May 26, 2022.
- O’Donnell MA. Laying siege to the villages: neighbourhoods for the working poor. openDemocracy. Published online March 28, 2013.