Thirteenth International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

A distinct rise of global interest in the role of cultural and creative industries in post-industrial urban development calls for the transformation of industrial heritage into creative clusters. Despite many urban factories being removed in China’s market reform, some enterprises still preserve and reuse their former industrial lands. However, the inconclusive judgements on the performances of creative clusters call for an in-depth examination of the underlying mechanism of transforming dilapidated industrial spaces. In addition, few empirical studies have revealed the commonalities and differences between enterprises employing the top-down and bottom-up approaches during the redevelopment. In this study, a multi-level transformation and the consequent spatial performance in three former state enterprises in Beijing have been examined based on land use analysis, field observation and in-depth interviews. We reach four conclusions. First, several interrelated development processes lead to the gradual differentiation of post-industrial land in each cluster, reflecting the similarities and differences among enterprises in reversing the lack of urban vitality. Second, enterprises function as an intermediate joint between government, market and renters to realise urban renewal, suggesting the multiple participation of specific market entities in both bottom-up and top-down processes. Third, the industrial synergy among different creative culture clusters derives from the spontaneous activities of enterprises, which subsequently influences policy making. Lastly, the vitality analysis integrating dynamic population densities enables us to more comprehensively assess and compare the consequent performances of different industrial creative clusters, which in turn refreshes our knowledge about the impact of bottom-up/top-down oriented renewal on urban vitality.