Restructuring Urban Outskirts Industrial Areas from the Industrial Clustering Perspective: A Case Study in Shunde, China

Large numbers of industrial zones have emerged in the urban outskirts of developing countries. Generally, these zones become economically efficient and environmentally unfriendly due to a lack of regulation and poor planning. Therefore, a restructuring of underperforming industrial areas is urgently needed. However, most restructuring processes lead to economic and social issues, such as deindustrialization and unemployment. Therefore, this study proposed a restructuring framework specific to the industrial areas in the urban outskirts and tested it in a case study in Shunde, China. In the framework, securing the existing industrial cluster is given sufficient attention, and the retained firms are relocated to dedicated resettlement sites before the demolition begins. As a result, the industrial clusters were successfully maintained after the restructuring. Moreover, the introduction of vertical factories allows for additional land supply and improves the environment to a great extent. Consequently, one world-class high-tech firm was added to the restructured areas. The restructuring framework and the case study should shed light on other restructuring projects occurring in developing countries.