Urban Transitions in Shanghai: Architecture, Adaptive Reuse, and the Regenerative City.

Urban Transitions in Shanghai: Architecture, Adaptive Reuse, and the Regenerative City investigates the transformation of Shanghai from a rapidly expanding metropolis into a laboratory of urban regeneration, adaptive reuse, and regenerative urbanism. Drawing on nearly a decade of fieldwork, academic collaboration between the University of Pavia and Tongji University, direct observation, archival research, and design-based inquiry, the book examines how architecture contributes to the reconfiguration of contemporary urban environments in China. The study introduces the concept of urban transitions as a critical interpretative framework for understanding the continuous spatial, social, and environmental transformations of cities. Rather than viewing regeneration solely as a technical or economic process, the book approaches it as a design-oriented and cultural phenomenon in which architecture mediates between heritage conservation, sustainability, public space, and contemporary urban life. Complementing this perspective, knowledge visualization is proposed as a methodological tool capable of representing and communicating complex urban processes through maps, diagrams, comparative drawings, and visual narratives. Shanghai serves as the primary case study because of its unique position at the intersection of globalization, modernization, and heritage preservation. The book traces the evolution of the city’s planning paradigm from growth-oriented urban expansion toward a regeneration-based model, highlighting the strategic significance of the Shanghai 2035 Master Plan and its emphasis on adaptive reuse, land-use optimization, ecological restoration, and “zero-growth” urban development. A central contribution of the research is the development of an Atlas of Urban Regeneration in Shanghai, composed of thirty case studies documenting architectural, industrial, waterfront, cultural, and public-space transformations across the city. Through a systematic framework of visual analysis, the atlas identifies recurring regeneration strategies, typological patterns, and relationships between architecture, infrastructure, landscape, and urban ecology. The selected projects demonstrate how adaptive reuse can generate new social, cultural, and environmental value while preserving historical continuity within rapidly changing metropolitan contexts. The book further engages with contemporary Chinese urban discourse, examining the role of urban renewal policies, industrial heritage transformation, historic preservation, and public-space regeneration in shaping Shanghai’s future. Particular attention is devoted to the relationship between architectural intervention and broader urban systems, emphasizing how regeneration operates across multiple scales—from individual buildings to entire districts and territorial infrastructures. By combining theoretical reflection, empirical research, and visual methodologies, this publication argues that the future of urban development increasingly depends on the intelligent transformation of existing urban fabrics rather than continued territorial expansion. Shanghai is therefore presented not only as a case study but also as a global urban laboratory whose experiences offer valuable lessons for sustainable and regenerative urban futures. The book contributes to international debates on architecture and urban transformation by proposing a design-driven framework in which adaptive reuse, ecological integration, and knowledge visualization become key instruments for understanding and shaping resilient cities in the twenty-first century.