Author(s): Tao Dongyan, Tong Xin, Carlo Ferri
Pages: 8-14
Year: 2014 Issue:  5
Journal: Urban Planning International
Keyword:  Waste Village; Rural-Urban Fringe; Production of Space;
Abstract: Rural-urban fringe in metropolises is where informal employment assembles, which provides the entrance to cities for the migrant laborers from rural areas with low technical skills and capital. This paper provides tales of two waste villages in such marginal space in Beijing: Bajia and Dongxiaokou, with constant field studies. We summarize the patterns and rules of their spatial structure and socioeconomic structure. By illustrating various perspectives of different stakeholders in the whole system, including migrant rural recyclers and local administration agents, the multiple meaning of space in the perspective of production of space is explained. Further, we construct the mechanism of the social-spatial interaction. We conclude that the grey space of waste village is a special embodiment of the distorted Chinese urban development mode, acting on the landscape of rural-urban fringe. The future transition of the waste village calls for a higher-level transition of the overall urban development mode. We propose reexamining the public value of resource renewal and valuing the demands of the space users, in order to transform the capital logic of urban waste management and to reshape the urban space with social and environmental justice.