Work-unit urbanism:work-unit compound housing and urban development in pre-resurgence Shanghai 1950-1992

【摘要】：正From the 1950s until 1978,Shanghai had been developed towards a modern city and remarkably expanded into the peripheral rural areas.The development was essentially based on the construction of work-unit(单位) compounds,more commonly called the"new villages of workers"(工人新村) in Shanghai,self-contained and walled compounds comprising productive enterprises,residence and social life.This process continued into the reform era until early 1990s when welfare-oriented housing was surpassed by commodity housing and substantially shaped the urban built environment of Shanghai.This article looks into the work-unit compound housing and urbanization of Shanghai before her conspicuous resurgence in early 1990s,and argues that Shanghai had undergone an urbanization process that was substantially based on the construction of work-unit compound housing during this period.Three aspects of urbanization—growth of urban population,social relationships and most importantly urban built environment are examined to demonstrate the central position where work-unit compound housing as an established model was located under socialist central planning.Finally,it concludes that the work-unit compound housing was not simply a rigid housing pattern resulting in self-similar urban built environment,but an efficient development model both shaping and in response to the socialist urbanism in Shanghai.