Associate Professor of Practice George Frantz contributes a book chapter in the new publication of Governing Cities, with co-author Daixin Dai, an associate professor in the College of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University in Shanghai.
Frantz and Dai waded into the ongoing policy debate in China over the question of city block sizes in Shanghai, arguing that the historic Chinese practice of organizing cities around very large city blocks, referred to as “superblocks,” have numerous benefits to residents, primarily in the form of dense “urban enclaves” that protects residents from the negative impacts of high volumes of urban traffic, while providing for very walkable, cycling, and pedestrian-friendly transportation infrastructure within the blocks.
“Developing future cities in China by adopting the American model of small city blocks fronting on heavily trafficked public thoroughfares, advocated in particular by American New Urbanists and the World Bank, ignores the major impacts on urban livability of the smaller city blocks,” Frantz shared.
The book chapter analyzes the Cao Yang New Village neighborhood, a pioneer Garden City development in post-liberation Shanghai based on the superblock. A recently completed revitalization plan for the historic neighborhood overseen by Min Bu (B.S. URS ’12, M.R.P./M.L.A. ’14) won the Jane Jacobs Award for Community and Regional Planning as well as the Special Award for Excellence in Advancing Social Equity from the American Planning Association’s International Division in 2019.
Governing Cities presents the latest research on challenges relating to Asian cities, including governance, livability, and sustainability.