Case 7.
Gonghe Community, Guangzhou
Background
Gonghe community is located in Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, a city in southern China. It was built in the 1980s and used to be the dormitory for Guangzhou railway workers. This community was a typical dormitory area in China in the 1980s. With the rapid development of urban construction in China, It has become a low-end residential area in the central area of Guangzhou, rather than the enviable dormitory area in the past.
Site: 38,000 sqm
FAR: 2.2
Dwellings: 1,610
Residents: 4,000 - 5,000
Building coverage: 35%
Building height: 6 - 7 storeys
Community Impression
Poor Building Conditions
Most buildings in this area are over 40 years old. It can be seen that there is a lack of necessary maintenance during this period. The arbitrary addition of constructions by residents has also led to the destruction of the building quality.
Entrances & Pathways
There are no decent entrances and pathways to this residential area. All of them are narrow, untidy, and lack vitality. It gives people a feeling of low-end and insecurity.
Occupation of Public Spaces
The limited public spaces are occupated by irregular behaviors such as parking violations, drying clothes in public places. This exacerbates the insufficiency of public space.
Diverse Residents
There are many retired elderly living here because it used to be the dormitory of railway workers, and there are also many children and teenagers because there are four primary and middle schools nearby. At the same time, low rent and convenient transportation are also attractive for young employees.
Neighborhood Activities
Over 5000 residents generate a variety of needs and associated activities. This also leads to diversity in the use of indoor and outdoor public spaces. While these spaces are used creatively, they also lack a sound master plan.
Source: https://j.map.baidu.com/9e/U5Lc
Quality of Public Spaces
Solar Access and Shading
Most of the public outdoor spaces have only 1 hour of direct sunlight in midwinter, and more than 5 hours in midsummer, which means that these spaces get only 1 hour of direct shade. This leaves the outdoor spaces are overshadowing in winter, and overheating in summer. This does not meet any standards.
Hours of Direct Sunlight
Wind
In summer, most of the outdoor spaces have less natural wind, particularly the central open space that should have better thermal comfort. This is caused by the high density and the orientation of the buildings that block the southern wind in summer. In winter, the natural ventilation in this area is not significantly improved except for the central open space.
Wind Speed
Public Outdoor Spaces
Due to the high building coverage, the outdoor space is limited. Most of the outdoor spaces are used as paths or occupied by private additional constructions on the ground floor. There are only four spaces that can be the playground or public squares for the residents. However, the total area of 1,440 sqm does not meet the local standard of at least 1,750 sqm for 5,000 residents. It is also well below the NSW standard of 25% of the site area which is 9,500 sqm.
Occupancy of Outdoor Space
Public Indoor Spaces
Technically, there are only two public indoor spaces in this area, the elderly activity center and a public reading room. The spaces on the ground floor were originally designed as living spaces, but many of them have changed to commercial use, such as shops, restaurants, and after-class tutorial rooms. There are no spare rooms to add to many public indoor spaces listed in NSW and local standards, such as multi-purpose rooms, gyms, shared studies or workspaces, dedicated spaces for children and teenagers, and even accessible toilet facilities.
Occupancy of Ground Floor
Quality of Private Spaces
Apartments
As it was built in the 1980s, the building design of this area was based on the standards of that year. Although the internal areas of apartments still can meet the minimum requirements of current local standards, they are smaller than the requirement in NSW standards, and the residential area per capita in Guangzhou of 34.6 sqm in 2020 and in China of 39.8 sqm in 2019.
Although the private spaces for residents are not big enough, the good side is that the original apartment design had considered natural ventilation as well as possible. Natural cross-ventilation can be provided for all habitable rooms though the building separation is small.
Typical Plan
Comparison of Internal Area
Balconies
In addition to the cramped internal areas, the balconies of the apartments are also small and narrow. Most of them are only 3 sqm with 1m deep. This insufficiency of private spaces leads to arbitrarily extension of the apartment spaces. The most preferred method is for residents themselves to add additional construction to their balconies. These irregular structures are disorderly and dangerous, and also occupy public open spaces that are already insufficient. In addition, because of the humid weather in Guangzhou and the low efficiency of natural ventilation in this dense area, these additional structures were mainly built on the southern facades to gain more southward spaces with direct sunlight. This makes the north and south facades of buildings look very different.
Additional Balconies
Direct Sunlight
Australia and China have specific requirements for the hours of direct sunlight of habitable spaces, and the Chinese standard is stricter than Australia's. With regard to the apartments in this area, there are 76% of them have 3 hours direct sunlight or greater in midwinter. The substandard apartments are mainly located on the lower floors. Almost 70% of the apartments on the ground floor and first floor do not have enough direct sunlight. Actually, most of them have only 1 hour of sunshine.
Sun Path and Sunlight
Summary of Issues
The issues of the Gonghe community are typical. This kind of old residential area may not be suitable for living due to the upgrade of demands and current standards. Even when there is an insufficiency of both public and private spaces, they still compete with each other to gain more space. The extension of outdoor spaces will be very difficult due to the high density and high building coverage. This will affects the comfort and privacy of residents in their own apartments also. Therefore, to renew and reuse this kind of old residential area, we need to solve how to satisfy these two contradictory demands, and upgrade the public space and private space at the same time.
Relevant Toolkits
This case is relevant with the following toolkits.
Relevant Standard 3. Draft Apartment Design Guide: Creating great apartments Draft for discussion 2021.
Relevant Standard 4. Draft Urban Design Guide: For urban design developments in NSW Draft for discussion 2021.
Relevant Standard 6. National standard of the people's Republic of China GB50180-2018: Standard for urban residential area planning and design.
Relevant Standard 7. National standard of the people's Republic of China GB50096-2011: Design code for residential buildings.
Relevant Standard 10. Technical standards and guidelines for urban planning and management in Guangzhou: Construction project planning and management.