Review of Chinese megablock urbanism: Case study of rapid urbanization in the greater bay area

In the past century, cities have undergone revolutionary changes from planning paradigms to urban forms. As the fastest urbanizing country in the world, China’s urbanization process has also been accompanied by dramatic changes in urban planning models and has emerged substantial real estate driven compounds in the form of megablock. In December 2018, The Ministry f Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD) promulgated a new version of the "Standards for the Planning and Design of Urban Residential Areas" (GB50180-2018) and made a series of adjustments to the residential planning policies. It is worth noting that the supporting facilities of housing community will be improved, and the urban blocks will be more compact.
Under this background, reviewing relevant residential projects in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) during the rapid urbanization period, what are their spatial characteristics? With the latest policies and requirements of the residential area planning, what urban morphological changes will take place in the future housing planning of the Greater Bay Area? This paper reviews essential context that has facilitated the Chinese Megablock Urbanism (CMU), and further takes a closer look at megablock cases in the GBA. The research methods include critical literature review of Chinese housing model, and case study expanded by configurative analysis with GIS. The outcomes of this research are expected to discuss the urban configurations, spatial distributions and other urban conditions of megablocks. It willconclude on the possible revisions of residential area planning parameters, and fully comprehend the implications of new policies to assess Chinese urban form within a more sustainable path.