Governance-mediated processes: rethinking urban design practice in Shanghai’s public space transformation

Urban design is increasingly framed as a process involving participation and iteration, yet how such practices operate within structured governance systems remains unclear. This paper examines public space regeneration in Shanghai using qualitative case studies to analyse how processes are structured and governed. Findings show that process-oriented practices are incorporated but structured through institutional frameworks that organize participation, sequence decision-making, and stabilize outcomes. The paper conceptualizes this condition as governance-mediated urban design, in which processes are enabled yet bounded by administrative control and delivery imperatives.