Urban densification and social capital: neighbourhood restructuring in Jinan, China

Urban densification and massive restructuring projects in China have dictated profound socioeconomic changes. This paper explores changes in social capital and residents’ daily practices (cooking, eating, cleaning, shopping and socialising) in Jinan, Shandong province, after their low-rise courtyard dwellings were demolished and replaced with high-rise apartments. At the neighbourhood scale, privatised practices have reduced the use of urban streets and communal facilities. At the building scale, a transition for longterm residents from a courtyard housing typology to high-rise has led to a radical change in their daily practices that has moved from outdoors to indoors. Such changes have increased privacy and reduced social relations and social capital in the neighbourhood. These residents continue to maintain very close relationships with each other, but this can exclude ‘newcomers’ who have moved to the neighbourhood after the restructuring—an outcome regarded as the ‘dark side’ of social capital. Residents in high-rise flats have developed a preference for privacy and increased use of indoor spaces for activities such as sleeping, cooking, eating and socialising. By showing how urban densification changes material arrangements and residents’ practices and social interactions, the study reveals the unintended consequences of policy-driven densification in China. Policy relevance This research reveals the unintended impacts of urban densification on neighbourhood social capital and the division between ‘stayers’ and ‘newcomers’, underlying the importance of social sustainability when planning urban restructuring projects in China. Three recommendations are made for policymakers. First, residents’ lived experiences and social impacts are vital for planning urban restructuring. The utility of urban spaces can generate social capital, which improves the social sustainability of the project. The courtyard house typology encourages more outdoor activities and social interaction than the high-rise typology. Decisions made at the neighbourhood level and about density will impact the local residents. Second, the categories of ‘stayers’ and ‘newcomers’ can be used to better understand the diversity of practices and neighbourhood social capital, instead of limiting to demographic indicators, e.g. income levels. Third, residents’ appreciation of the gated communities makes it more difficult to implement the current government policy of opening the gates.