Research on The Spatial Planning and Renovation Strategy of Urban Village Roads in Guangzhou from a Safety Perspective

Abstract

Urban villages are a persistent spatial phenomenon in rapidly urbanizing Chinese cities, playing a critical role in providing affordable housing for migrant populations while simultaneously facing severe environmental and safety challenges. In Guangzhou, many urban villages have developed through long-term informal construction, resulting in high-density built environments, fragmented road systems, and frequent safety accidents. Among these challenges, road space deficiencies have emerged as a major contributor to traffic accidents, fire hazards, and injuries caused by falling objects. However, large-scale redevelopment of urban villages is often constrained by complex property rights, high costs, and social resistance, underscoring the need for feasible, incremental, safety-oriented interventions. This study investigates the spatial characteristics and safety performance of road systems in urban villages in Guangzhou from a safety-oriented planning perspective. Five representative urban villages, Shangshe Village, Tangxia Village, Chebei Village, Huangcun Village, and Zhucun Village, were selected as case studies. A mixed-methods research design was employed, combining on-site field investigations, photographic documentation, accident case analyses, and resident surveys. A total of 1,944 valid questionnaires were collected to capture residents’ demographic characteristics, safety perceptions, accident experiences, and expectations regarding road space conditions. The results reveal that road spaces in the surveyed urban villages are characterized by narrow widths, mixed pedestrian–vehicle traffic, inadequate lighting and drainage, insufficient safety facilities, and unregulated parking behavior. Traffic accidents, fires associated with electric bicycle battery charging, and injuries caused by falling objects were identified as the most common safety incidents. Survey findings indicate widespread dissatisfaction among residents with both community safety and internal road planning. Residents consistently prioritized pedestrian–vehicle separation, road widening, improved parking management, enhanced lighting, and drainage upgrades. The study concludes that road space renovation represents a practical and high-impact entry point for improving safety in urban villages under existing constraints. Safety-oriented, incremental road-space interventions can significantly reduce accident risk and enhance residents’ quality of life, offering valuable insights for urban village renewal in Guangzhou and other high-density cities.