Activity Spaces and Sociospatial Segregation in Beijing

The widespread development of gated communities has generated much concern over urban fragmentation and social segregation. The social division and segregation between residents inside and outside urban enclaves exist not only in their residential spaces, but also in their values, social relations, and daily lives. In this study, it is argued that sociospatial segregation research should pay more attention to individuals' actual usage of urban space in their daily lives. By examining the activity space of the residents from different types of neighborhoods, a spatiotemporal approach to studying sociospatial segregation in Beijing, China is described. Significant differences are found in the usage of time and space between residents inside and outside the so-called privileged enclaves. Their activity spaces are found to vary significantly in terms of extensity, intensity, and exclusivity. The study suggests that the fragmentation of urban space is the result not only of residential segregation, but also of how different social groups spend their time and use urban space.

[1]  C. Webster,et al.  The Global Spread of Gated Communities , 2002 .

[2]  P. Smets,et al.  Countering Urban Segregation: Theoretical and Policy Innovations from around the Globe , 2008 .

[3]  R. Atkinson,et al.  Fortress UK? Gated communities, the spatial revolt of the elites and time–space trajectories of segregation , 2004 .

[4]  Sako Musterd,et al.  Urban Segregation and the Welfare State : Inequality and Exclusion in Western Cities , 1998 .

[5]  F. Stuart Chapin,et al.  Activity Systems and Urban Structure: A Working Schema , 1968 .

[6]  Fulong Wu.  Rediscovering the ‘Gate’ Under Market Transition: From Work-unit Compounds to Commodity Housing Enclaves , 2005 .

[7]  R. Atkinson.  The flowing enclave and the misanthropy of networked affluence , 2008 .

[8]  E. Blakely,et al.  Fortress America: Gated Communities in the United States , 1997 .

[9]  Alan Murie,et al.  THE NEW DIVIDED CITY: CHANGING PATTERNS IN EUROPEAN CITIES , 2009 .

[10]  S. Graham,et al.  Networked infrastructures, technological mobilities, and the urban condition , 2001 .

[11]  P. J. Green,et al.  Density Estimation for Statistics and Data Analysis , 1987 .

[12]  Paul Fussell,et al.  Class: A Guide Through the American Status System (an excerpt) , 2019, Journal of Economic Sociology.

[13]  Teresa P. R. Caldeira.  Fortified Enclaves: The New Urban Segregation , 1996, Cities and Citizenship.

[14]  G. Rose,et al.  Feminism and Geography: The Limits of Geographical Knowledge , 1994 .

[15]  M. Marinelli.  Remaking Chinese Urban Form: Modernity, Scarcity and Space, 1949-2005 , 2008 .

[16]  Donggen Wang,et al.  Built environment diversities and activity–travel behaviour variations in Beijing, China , 2011 .

[17]  Fulong Wu,et al.  Restructuring of Beijing's Social Space , 2007 .

[18]  Fulong Wu.  Sociospatial Differentiation in Urban China: Evidence from Shanghai's Real Estate Markets , 2002 .

[19]  K. Chan,et al.  A China Paradox: Migrant Labor Shortage amidst Rural Labor Supply Abundance , 2010 .

[20]  Fulong Wu.  Changes in the Structure of Public Housing Provision in Urban China , 1996 .

[21]  M. Kwan.  Gender and Individual Access to Urban Opportunities: A Study Using Space–Time Measures , 1999 .

[22]  F. E. Horton,et al.  Effects of Urban Spatial Structure on Individual Behavior , 1971 .

[23]  Steven Cummins,et al.  Understanding and representing 'place' in health research: a relational approach. , 2007, Social science & medicine.

[24]  Donggen Wang,et al.  The jobs-housing relationship and commuting in Beijing, China: the legacy of Danwei , 2009 .

[25]  A. Murie,et al.  Social and Spatial Implications of Housing Reform in China , 2000 .

[26]  S. Musterd,et al.  SEGREGATION, POLARISATION AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION IN METROPOLITAN AREAS , 2013 .

[27]  Jianguo Wu,et al.  Spatial pattern of urban functions in the Beijing metropolitan region , 2010 .

[28]  Anne Buttimer.  BUTTIMER, ANNE, Social Space and the Planning of Residential Areas , 1972 .

[29]  M. Kwan.  Gender, the Home-Work Link, and Space-Time Patterns of Nonemployment Activities , 1999 .

[30]  George C. Hemmens.  Analysis and simulation of urban activity patterns , 1970 .

[31]  S. Low.  Behind the Gates: Life, Security, and the Pursuit of Happiness in Fortress America , 2003 .

[32]  Donggen Wang,et al.  Housing Preferences in a Transitional Housing System: The Case of Beijing, China , 2004 .

[33]  A. Buttimer.  Social Space in Interdisciplinary Perspective , 1969 .

[34]  Mei-Po Kwan,et al.  Interactive geovisualization of activity-travel patterns using three-dimensional geographical information systems: a methodological exploration with a large data set , 2000 .

[35]  Kevin Lynch,et al.  The Image of the City , 1960 .

[36]  Mei-Po Kwan,et al.  From oral histories to visual narratives: re-presenting the post-September 11 experiences of the Muslim women in the USA , 2008 .

[37]  Laurence J. C. Ma.  Social Space and Governance in Urban China: The Danwei System from Origins to Reform , 2006 .

[38]  J. Logan,et al.  Access to Housing in Urban China. , 2009, International journal of urban and regional research.

[39]  R. Atkinson.  Padding the Bunker: Strategies of Middle-class Disaffiliation and Colonisation in the City , 2006 .

[40]  Stephen Graham,et al.  CONSTRUCTING PREMIUM NETWORK SPACES: REFLECTIONS ON INFRASTRUCTURE NETWORKS AND CONTEMPORARY URBAN DEVELOPMENT. IN: MOVING PEOPLE, GOODS, AND INFORMATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY: THE CUTTING-EDGE INFRASTRUCTURES OF NETWORKED CITIES , 2000 .

[41]  Mei-Po Kwan,et al.  From place-based to people-based exposure measures. , 2009, Social science & medicine.

[42]  R. L. Goix.  Gated Communities: Sprawl and Social Segregation in Southern California , 2005 .

[43]  Jonathan V. Beaverstock,et al.  Splintering urbanism: Networked infrastructures, technological mobilities and the urban condition , 2002 .

[44]  D. Lu.  Remaking Chinese Urban Form: Modernity, Scarcity and Space, 1949-2005 , 2006 .

[45]  M. Douglass,et al.  Enclave Urbanism In China: Consequences and Interpretations , 2012 .