Research On Urban Planning Law Of Shanghai In The Modern Time

Following opening its door to the world as a commercial port in 1843 and setting up foreign settlements in 1845, Shanghai became No.1 metropolitan in the far eastern during 1920s and 1930s with its position rising rapidly. Shanghai is not only the first city in China that entered into modernization, but also the city that achieved the highest level of modernization in China. Since city is a unified system developing continuously, parts of the objects of urban planning Shanghai is confronting today is the achievements of Shanghai s urban planning and constructions in the modern time. Various problems Shanghai is encountering now during the rapid urbanization process also happened in its development in the modern time. Based on this perspective, this dissertation studies the urban planning law of Shanghai in the modern time so as to explore the functions of urban planning and urban planning law in the urban development of Shanghai. Furthermore, the modernization of Chinese law system also started from Shanghai, in more particular from Shanghai s British settlements. Therefore, the research and study on the Shanghai s urban planning law is also one of the important perspectives of researching and studying the modernization of Chinese law system.Because of Shanghai s special three-party-four-settlements structure in the modern time and the long existence of three local authorities, ie. public settlements, French settlements and Chinese settlements, both of the urban planning and urban planning law are developed respectively in three separate spaces. This dissertation will discuss urban planning and urban planning law in foreign settlements and Chinese settlements. The discussion of the foreign settlements will be focused on public settlements. Therefore, in addition to introduction and conclusion sections, this dissertation is designed to have 3 sections (i.e. the 1st section regarding the urban planning legal system in the foreign public settlement of Shanghai in the modern time, the 2nd section regarding the urban planning law in the Chinese settlement of Shanghai in the modern time and the conclusion chapter regarding two issues with respect to the urban planning law of Shanghai in the modern time) and 11 chapters, the details of which are:Introduction mainly discusses certain basic terms and definitions used in this dissertation, such as urban, urbanization, urban planning and urban planning law. It also discusses the research scope, the current research status of this topic as well as the significance and logic of the research in this dissertation.The 1st section is about the urban planning legal system in the foreign public settlement of Shanghai in the modern time. This section mainly discusses the urban planning legal system in the foreign settlements which is concentrated in land regulations, including land administration system, road administration system and construction administration system. These legal systems are far from Chinese typical urban planning and administration systems, these legal systems, either in representation form and substantial contents. The design of political regime thereof is focused on the power separation and balance; the execution of legal system is focused on strict enforcement and all people are equal before the law; the road zoning and execution is however focused on procedure so as to ensure the fair participation by all citizens and the full opportunities to express opinions by different interest groups. Substantially different from our typical urban planning administration system supporting for Chinese hierarchy system, these legal systems are the origins of the modernization of Shanghai s legal system. Inevitably, these legal systems hurt people in Shanghai with colony feature despite its positive impact on the urban planning legal system of Shanghai s Chinese settlements. This section is divided into 5 chapters from 1 to 5:The 1st chapter is about the nature and function of land regulations in Shanghai s foreign settlements. This chapter starts from the history background of formulation of land regulations and discusses the 1845 land regulations, ie. the first urban planning document and modern urban planning law in Shanghai or even in China. It further states that this land regulations is based on the traditions of the land administration of Chinese and British parties as well as the then situation. The land regulations specified and territory scope of the foreign settlements, clarified and the objective, principles and contents of urban planning.The 2nd chapter is about the land administration system in foreign settlements. This chapter discusses the land administration system in public settlements from the perspectives of legalization of land administration and land market, points out the difference between land administration system in the public settlements and our typical land administration system as well as the impacts of the land administration system in foreign settlements on Chinese settlements.The 3rd chapter is about road administration system in Shanghai s public settlements. This chapter analyzes the proposal of the road plan, different claims by different interest groups and the relevant legal provisions in the four different phases (i.e. origin, initial establishment, establishment and perfection phases) of the road administration system in Shanghai s public settlements in the modern time.The 4th chapter is about the construction administration system in Shanghai s public settlements. This chapter analyzes the development and changes in the construction administration system in Shanghai s public settlements in the modern time from the aspects of fire prevention, health sanitation and transportation. It discusses in details the content of the construction administration system in Shanghai s public settlements and points out the issues associated with such construction administration system.The 5th chapter is about the analysis of the urban planning legal system in Shanghai s public settlements. This chapter discusses the reason why there is no district separation system established in Shanghai s public settlements in the modern time, the special aspects of urban planning legal system in the public settlements and the difference with urban planning legal system in French settlements as well as the impacts of the urban planning system of public settlements on Chinese settlements.The 2nd section is about the urban planning legal system in the Chinese settlement of Shanghai. Due to the revolution and war, the local authority in Shanghai s Chinese settlement had undergone many changes. All the local authorities after 1927, whether being the Shanghai (special) Municipal Government during the Nanjing Chinese Nationalist Party Government, the Shanghai Special Municipal Government as the Puppet Government controlled by Japan or the Shanghai Municipal Government after the victory of war of resistance against Japan, made detailed and comprehensive urban planning plans and urban planning laws for the development of Shanghai. Thus, the discussion of the urban planning legal system in the Chinese settlement of Shanghai under this section is based on the various local authorities, ie. the urban planning status and relevant legal system of each local authority as well as their position in the development of the urban planning legal system in the Chinese settlement of Shanghai in the entire modern time. This section has 4 chapter, from 6 to 9.The 6th chapter is about the burgeoning of the urban planning legal system in the Chinese settlement of Shanghai under the background of the local autonomy. This chapter first introduces the road construction during the local autonomy time and the 2 plans for the opening of Wusong port. Then it states that either the urban planning or the urban planning legal system in this period is in an exploring stage and discusses in detail the content of the urban zoning legal system in this stage.The 7th chapter is about how the urban planning legal system in the Chinese settlement of Shanghai came into being before the war of resistance against Japan. This chapter first introduces the background and content of the (construction) plan of Shanghai and its content, then discusses the establishment of the urban planning making and enforcement legal systems in the Chinese settlement of Shanghai, especially the district system and legal systems in respect of land, road, construction and other aspects relating to urban space design.The 8th chapter is about the change of the urban planning legal system of the Puppet Government controlled by Japan. This chapter first introduces historic background, content and scope of urban construction plan made by Puppet Government and then states that such urban planning legal system has a very strong military, colonic and non-Shanghai features. It also discusses the contem of the urban planning legal system in this stage.The 9th chapter is about the development of the urban planning legal system after the victory of war of resistance against Japan. This chapter first introduces historic background, content and scope of urban construction plan of Shanghai and then discusses the urban planning law and its ancillary and implementation laws made by Nanjing National Government, their execution as well as the establishment, amendments and abolishment of Shanghai s urban planning legal system. It also discusses the content of the urban planning legal system in this stage.The conclusion section is about the 2 issues with Shanghai s urban planning legal system. This section mainly discusses the modernization of Shanghai s urban planning legal system in the modern time and law transplantation and localization. This section has 2 chapters, from 10 to 11.The 10th chapter is about the modernization of Shanghai s urban planning legal system. This chapter states that the progress and motives for the modernization vary due to the different development status of the political, economic, cultural aspects of the foreign and Chinese settlements. The foreign settlement achieved modernization nearly 50 years earlier than Chinese settlement. In addition to the combined influence of human modernization, economy and politics on the progress of the modernization of legal system, one of the most important motives for the modernization of urban planning legal system in the Chinese settlement is the pressure from foreign settlement. Such pressure is also one of the strong motives for the Chinese settlement to achieve modernization of its legal system.The 11th chapter is about the law transplantation and localization of Shanghai s urban planning legal system. This chapter mainly discusses the methods by which the urban planning legal system of Shanghai s foreign and Chinese settlements achieved modernization the issues of law transplantation and localization. It also states that the subjects and progress of localization of 1 law transplantation are not same.In the end, facing Shanghai in the 21st century, it proposes how to deal with the core element of urbanization the issues of population and demolishment and construction in the urbanization progress. It also points out that a great city should be such one where people can live and live better.