ZEMCH 2019 International Conference Proceedings April.2020 | Page 196
Figure 1. Location of Shipai, Tangxia, and Xiancun urban villages in Tianhe district, Guangzhou (Google Earth)
3.1 Shipai urban village
Shipai urban village, located in Tianhe district, is one of the largest urban villages located centrally
in Guangzhou. It is surrounded by modern developments, having been enveloped by modern
Guangzhou as the city extended around it (Figure 2). The remaining Shipai village, known as the Shipai
urban village, is located 1.5km from the Tianhe quarter (one of the new city centres), and 7km from the
old city centre in Yuexiu district. The rest of Shipai village has now transformed into modern
developments that include shopping malls, offices, community buildings, four leading universities,
and several IT markets[5](p. 24).
Figure 2. Ariel photo of Shipai urban village in 2019 (Google Earth)
The urbanisation process in Shipai can be traced back to 1925, when the Kuomingtang government
transformed part of Shipai village’s farmland into Zhongshan University, as well as a racecourse and a
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ZEMCH 2019 International Conference l Seoul, Korea