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4. Funded Research Projects

cheap and accessible goods and services unavailable in the surrounding planned

environment. Urban villages, existing as havens for unplanned commercial
establishments, enable us to investigate unplanned commercial establishments in
great quantity and diversity.

This research will conduct surveys in Shenzhen’s widespread urban villages to
examine the spatiality of unplanned commercial establishments. Spatial
econometric analytics based on rich building and socioeconomic data will be

used to understand the configuration and distribution of unbridled commercial
development. The focus on unplanned establishments will offer new insight into

retail location studies. In practice, the findings will contribute to urban planning
and policy making, in coping with the current state and future development of

unregulated commercial activities, and in the effective allocation of commercial
facilities. In addition, the analytical methodology developed using highly diverse

data will be applicable to suitability analysis of urban development plans and
to retail location studies in various settings.

4.28 The Location Choice and Spatial Organisation Patterns

of Urban Informal Economies in Big Cities (on-going
project)

Principal Investigator: Dr. Hao Pu

Research Assistant Professor, Mobility and
Urbanisation Working Group of LEWI
Source of Funding: NSFC

Amount Awarded: RMB230,000

Brief Introduction:

Informal economic activities are those commercial or service businesses that are
not officially recorded in any national accounts for purposes of taxation or social

security contributions. These activities consist of not only informal businesses
located in fixed premises in rural-urban interface areas and specific urban

sections such as urban villages, but also unlicensed street vendors roaming in the
city core. These businesses are usually opposed by authorities because they often

lead to violations of urban planning and management regulations, tax evasion,
inferior products, and safety concerns. However, informal or unregulated

HONG KONG BAPTIST UNIVERSITY | David C. Lam Institute for East-West Studies 54