This book concerns the mechanism behind those spontaneous urban transformations and is seeking for the effective way of conducting planning and institutional intervention. It embraces the complexity science by bridging the concept of self-organization and the understanding of urban changes which emerge in a bottom-up and spontaneous manner. Self- organization is regarded as an alternative and innovative perspective which is helpful to cope with new challenges resulted from increasing uncertainties that planners have encountered in recent years. The role of institutions and spatial planning is reflected with consideration of self-organizing processes.

About the author

Zhang Shuhai (1983) is an assistant professor at the Department of Land Management, School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China. He used to work as a PhD researcher at both Peking University, China and the Department of Spatial Planning & Environment, Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen, the Netherlands. He obtained his PhD degree from Peking University in 2013. His research interests include urban and regional planning, land use policy and governance, and self- organization and complexity science.