Learning from Anting New Town, Shanghai: Cultural and Spatial Appropriation and Transformation of the Planned Structure

In this paper we study planned and unplanned adjustment processes in master-planned communities and new towns by a first wave of residents, in which changes in lifestyles play a central role. How can unplanned transitions be stimulated and play a role in making a new town more attractive, sustainable, adjustable, and flexible in use? We apply this to the case of Anting New Town in Shanghai. We focus on both personal and collective adjustments and appropriation in housing, commercial, as well as public space. We explore methods of doing visual research by observation, in line with methods by Venturi and Boudon. By adding economic and socio-cultural drivers and institutional frameworks, which allow these alterations to happen, conclusions are made about the possible sustainability, adjustability, and flexibility of these planned structures. We analyze adjustments from different perspectives on the themes of urbanity and identity: ① architectural-morphological, ② functional-economical, and ③ socio-cultural. Following different approaches to studying the planned and unplanned city, we explain how the urbanity and identity of Anting have changed in various ways. Appropriation of building structures and urban spaces is a key element in this process of change. It is the outcome of a wider process of economic and socio-cultural change.