Exploring the strategies for upgrading public facilities in urban villages: A case study of Wuhan, China

Public facilities are essential components of urban villages in large cities in China, playing a key role in the quality of life for residents. However, our understanding of these public facilities is limited. There is an urgent need to upgrade them in the context of a new wave of urban redevelopment in China. To address this gap, we first identify Wuhan’s urban villages by correlating the proportion of construction land with the percentage of migrants. Next, we employ kernel density estimation and fishnet analysis methods to examine the characteristics of public facilities in urban villages. We then develop a new research framework, characterized by “upgrade sequence – upgrade mode”, for strategically arranging the upgrading of these facilities. Our findings indicate that: (1) the upgrade of public facilities in Wuhan’s urban villages should focus on the suburban districts; (2) it is essential to balance supply and demand when addressing issues related to public facilities, avoiding indiscriminate large-scale demolition and reconstruction, as in-situ upgrades may become the new trend; and (3) different upgrade approaches should be adopted based on the specific features of each urban village. Overall, this study fills a gap in the systematic examination of public facilities in urban villages and proposes a new strategy for in-situ upgrades. We contribute to a nuanced understanding of the dynamics of urban villages in China and the broader context of planetary urban redevelopment.