Beyond the Greenways: A People-Centered Urban Planning and Design Approach for Shenzhen, the 'World Factory' in Transition

Greenway as landscaped, linear and multi-purpose component of urban planning has been increasingly used globally, especially in cities experiencing de-industrialization process. It has the potential to restructure city regions and improve connectivity of public spaces, making cities greener and friendlier to pedestrians and cyclists. There is no doubt that greenway could be seen as a tool of planning and design for creating green cities. However, without considering the specific demands of people who are the daily users of green spaces, this tool might not lead to truly green cities that people living in it appreciate. This paper is proposing a people-centered approach for planning and design of greenway systems, with the focus of transforming newly industrialized areas into liveable cities for local residents. The context of this paper is Shenzhen (China), known as the ‘world factory’, which is currently in the transitional period towards a ‘world city’. The authors will present an integrated greenway system proposal for Dalang, a peri-urban district of Shenzhen. It takes into account the daily lives of local residents (young migrant workers) and their demands on urban nature spaces. It is expected that with such a people-centered approach, bio-diversity, urban amenity and social interaction could be enhanced simultaneously