ChinaTalks: Building Inclusive Cities

Landscape Architecture Lectures and ChinaTalks are proud to present Professor Pengjun Zhao, School of Urban and Environmental Sciences at Peking University.

Title

Building Inclusive Cities: Informal Development, Social Equity and Urban Planning on the Urban Fringe in China

Abstract

This lecture introduces the recent studies on informal or illegal development on the urban fringe in China's large cities.  In particular, it investigates a new type of informal development, the gated informal community where thousands of middle-income urban residents are residing.  The institutional, social and economic factors influencing informal urban development will be assessed. The existing planning system barriers to the prevention of the informal development will also be discussed.

Short Bio

Professor Pengjun Zhao is a professor in Urban and Regional Planning in the School of Urban and Environmental Sciences at Peking University. He is also the director of Centre for Urban Planning and Transport Studies at Peking University. He obtained his PhD in planning at University of Groningen, the Netherlands. His research mostly focuses on integration of transport and land use, TOD, sustainable mobility, urban growth management, compact city and planning for social equality. He has published two books and more than 60 articles in international peer-reviewed journals, such as Urban Studies, Journal of Transport Geography, Environment and Planning A, Land Use Policy, etc.