Authors: Peter G. Rowe & Har Ye Kan

Publisher: Birkhauser, 2014.

Combining the architectural and urban scales, this book demonstrates that it is a specific quality, urban intensity, which can determine the success of housing. It provides a typology of housing according to the ways in which diversity and density are created, drawing on comparisons with historical models while offering critical appraisals of the pitfalls and successes of contemporary housing projects. The international case studies that serve as central examples in each chapter are described and analyzed in detail, and are accompanied by newly created drawings ranging from floor plans and unit types to views of the projects within their urban contexts.

Authors: Peter G. Rowe, Ann Forsyth, Har Ye Kan

Publisher: Birkhauser, 2016.

Cities in China are both dynamic and under substantial pressure to grow, transform and adapt. But in which direction, on what bases, and why? China’s Urban Communities explores the intensive transformation processes of 25 communities that were developed and redeveloped in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Suzhou during the last 30 years. These range from inner-city neighborhoods to large-scale residential districts in peripheral areas, as well as from the homes of higher-income to lower-income households. Combining detailed examinations of architectural, urban design, planning and ambient environmental considerations, alongside of extensive interviews, the book examines the physical conformation of these communities and outcomes in resident satisfaction and well-being.

Kan, H.Y., Forsyth A., and Molinsky, J. (2020). Measuring the Built Environment for Aging in Place: A Review of Neighborhood Audit Tools. Journal of Planning Literature 35: 180-194.

Forsyth, A., Molinsky, J., and Kan, H.Y. (2019). Improving Housing and Neighborhoods for the Vulnerable: Older People, Small Households, Urban Design, and Planning. Urban Design International 24: 171-186.

Rowe, P.G. and Kan, H.Y. (2021). Objects in Territories Along Avenues: Spatial Planning in Beijing and Shanghai. Routledge Handbook of Chinese Architecture. London: Routledge.

Kan, H.Y., Forsyth, A., and Rowe, P.G. (2017). Redesigning China’s Superblock Neighborhoods: Policies, Opportunities, and Challenges. Journal of Urban Design 22: 257-277.

Kan, H.Y. (2021). Smart Strategies for Community Development. The West Coast Way Magazine.

Rowe, P.G. and Kan, H.Y. (2014). Fashion Streets: Contrasting Urban-Architectural Venues in Western and Eastern Markets. In Prestige Retail: Design and Development for High-end Market, edited by Bing Wang and Richard Peiser, 29-67. New York: International Council of Shopping Centers.