Xiong, J. orcid.org/0009-0003-3857-1554, Simpson, J. orcid.org/0000-0002-2854-2958, Thwaites, K. orcid.org/0000-0002-2597-4544 et al. (1 more author) (2025) The impact of street-edge scales on everyday activities in Wuhan’s urban village streets. Land, 14 (2). 252. ISSN 2073-445X
Abstract
Despite extensive research on what draws people to urban streets, most existing insights originate from Western contexts, offering limited perspectives from wider urban contexts. This study addresses this gap by examining everyday street activities in Chinese urban villages, focusing specifically on how two spatial scales, the entire street edge and territorial segments, influence necessary, optional, and social engagements. Drawing on video recordings and walk-by observations in two urban villages in Wuhan, China, the research systematically measured the type and duration of activities across 110 territorially defined segments. The findings reveal that territorial segments, i.e., smaller-scale personalised subdivisions at a micro-scale often shaped by bottom–up adaptations, exert a significantly stronger influence upon how people use and linger in street space rather than entire street edges at a macro-scale, which shows only limited impact. This underscores the importance of fine-grained socio-spatial design and local ownership in fostering vibrant people-centred streets. By demonstrating the decisive role of micro-scale features, which span storefront layouts, semi-public alcoves, and adaptive uses, these results carry important implications for urban practitioners seeking to balance top–down redevelopment with bottom–up initiatives. Ultimately, the study enriches the global discourse on street-edge understanding and design, emphasising that territorial segments can be powerful catalysts for promoting activity and community life in dense urban contexts.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Chinese urban villages; street edges; territorial segments; people’s activities; bottom–up adaptation |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > School of Architecture and Landscape |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number LEVERHULME TRUST (THE) F/00 118/BH Leverhulme Trust UNSPECIFIED Natural Environment Research Council 1940606 NATURAL ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH COUNCIL NE/N013565/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 11 Feb 2025 12:26 |
Last Modified: | 11 Feb 2025 12:26 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | MDPI AG |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.3390/land14020252 |
Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:223135 |