Spatial Recombination - The Geography of Architects’ Work and Workspaces in Guangzhou, China

A distinct architectural theory regarding the future landscape of workplaces is ‘spatial recombination’, which, in its main proponent William J Mitchell’s words, means that ‘the digital telecommunications revolution of the late twentieth century creates possibilities for decentralization and more equitable dispersion’. This theory has gained further momentum during and post covid pandemic, as flexible working becomes widely accepted. However, the theory has never been properly reconciled with the fundamental ideas of urban agglomeration theory. Existing data on flexible working does not provide a clear picture on how each line of professional work has evolved, and among which work stages and staff groups the changes in flexible working have become prominent. Typically existing surveys were carried out opportunistically, lumping together different professions, work stages and staff groups. This makes it hard to develop predictive models that can be used as a framework to measure, assess and monitor the evolution of flexible working. This dissertation puts the spatial recombination theory to a test through an empirical investigation of the work and workplaces of the architects’ own profession, from which the theory sprung up. The main hypothesis is that such a quantified investigation structured according to work stages, worker responsibilities, and firm characters of a single profession will reveal more clearly both the centripetal forces of agglomeration and the centrifugal forces of spatial dispersion, thus enabling an evidence-based assessment of the spatial recombination theory and its reconciliation with the urban agglomeration theory in a post-pandemic world. Our empirical case study is the Greater Guangzhou in southern China, a city region where the businesses are well known for their openness, pragmatism, adaptability and proportionate regulation regime. It provides a fairly wide relevance to market-oriented urban economies around the world. Having established a geographical database of 373 architectural design firms in the city, a project database for eight case firms, and an in-depth survey of 123 architects, we investigate a representative sample of Guangzhou’s architects, revealing working patterns at the firm-level and individual-level. At the firm level, the 373 architectural companies do display a spatially decentralizing trend, as predicted by the spatial recombination theory, with new firms tending to locate in some specific suburban areas. Among 183 firms that focus on late project stages work, 149 (81%) are now found in non-central areas – forty years ago, practically none were in the suburbs. The distribution of the design projects of the eight case study firms shows that the possibility of engaging in flexible working is limited by a firm’s growth trajectory, its design specialization and the specific work stages of the design projects. At an individual level, project stage, work type and staff seniority all affect one’s possibility and willingness to work flexibly. Early conceptual design stage requires intensive face-to-face interactions and largely defies remote collaboration, whereas late-stage work (e.g. construction documentation) that can be done rather independently is more conducive to flexible working. In addition, managers find it challenging to expand flexible working even post-pandemic. The sample patterns are projected to a population of around 38351 architects who work in the 373 firms. The results show that the 138 firms that handle work in all project stages have the largest proportion of flexible architectural professionals, while this proportion is the smallest among the 52 firms focusing on early-stage design. Building on this data, three future flexible working scenarios are considered, showing the potential direction and magnitude of flexible working among Guangzhou’s architects. Through a structured analysis, this dissertation is the first known investigation of the existing and potential flexible working patterns of architects. The methodology is cogent for other similar knowledge-based professions. The survey sample size is sufficient to identify the patterns but does not currently allow extensive statistical modelling. Nevertheless, the framework and findings serve to open a new door to the understanding of flexible working.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Cambridge

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Hu, Yu

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Jin, Ying

• China
• flexible working
• mixed methodology
• urban agglomeration
• workspace

Licence

• https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/e9a0d552-a7fb-49ec-a10b-39c9bd8fa71f/download
• https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/

Language dc:language

eng

DOI dc:identifier.doi

https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.110015

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/370660