Lau2006 Article Socio-culturalFactorsInHousing

Socio-cultural factors in housing design:
Reconsidering the utilitarian and

social roles of kitchens due to lifestyle
changes in metropolitan Shanghai
Received (in revised form): 1st November, 2006
Stephen S. Y. Lau
is an associate professor of architecture at the University of Hong Kong and is a registered architect in both Hong
Kong and China and a member of RIBA. He specialises in the subjective as well as objective study of environmental
controls — acoustics, lighting and sustainable building design and evaluation. He is a coordinator of the
International Council on Research and Innovation of Building Construction CIB-Rotterdam Task Group 43: Mega-
cities, and a member of the International Initiatives on Sustainable Built Environment (iiSBE), Ottawa and Vice-
Chairman of the Hong Kong Professional Green Building Council (PGBC).
Li Fuk Ming
is a registered architect in Hong Kong, a PhD candidate at the University of Hong Kong, and a part-time teacher at the
architectural undergraduate courses of the Chu Hai College and the HKU SPACE Community College. His speciality
is in the environmental controls of the built environment. His research area is in the socio-cultural study of user
acceptance for daylight qualities for high-rise residential buildings. He is the Chairman of the Competition Committee
of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects for 2005–2006.
Baharuddin
is a senior lecturer at the Department of Architecture, Hasanuddin University, Indonesia. He is currently a PhD
candidate at the Department of Architecture, the University of Hong Kong. His research focus is on the use of
computer simulation techniques in studying the application of advanced day-lighting systems in high-rise residential
buildings that are located in high-dense urban environments.
Guo Fei
graduated from College of Urban Planning and Architecture, Shanghai Tongji University, in 2003 with a degree in
architecture. He is currently a PhD candidate at the Department of Architecture, Tongji University.
Song De Xuan
is Professor at the College of Urban Planning and Architecture, Tongji University, Shanghai and is a class one
registered architect in China. He specialises in research on passive energy and ventilation of buildings and is the
author of a book on passive environmental design for buildings. He sits on numerous national committees on
architectural physics and building sciences. He has already masterminded two research projects supported by the
National Science Foundation of China.
Correspondence: Stephen S.Y. Lau, Department of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong, 3/F Knowles Building, Pokfulam Road,
Hong Kong; Tel: (852) 28597950; Fax: (852) 25596484; E-mail: ssylau@gmail.com
Abstract
Targeting the family of the young working class in Shanghai, this paper provides
a critical review of how designers and building byelaws are ignorant of the need
to gauge changes in lifestyle and, as a result, changes in user requirement for
buildings. It is observed that very often designers and law-makers assume a
status quo scenario by simply following the building regulations and building
standards that are often quantitative in nature as the norm for designing
buildings. It is argued that user requirement of home evolves drastically in
an ultra-economic-based transformation of society. As shown in a survey
by the research team, the work-oriented lifestyle of the young working class
© 2006 PALGRAVE MACMILLAN LTD 1742–8262/06 $30.00 Journal of Building Appraisal VOL.2 NO.3 PP 223–239 223
www.palgrave-Journals.com/jba
Lau et al
demonstrated a change in attitude and expectation in the role of home and

space usage. Using kitchen space as a control subject of the study, the
authors proposed that there are two new trends in young working families: one
that favours open-plan kitchen and another that favours separate kitchens.
Discussion of the implications on design and space usage due to these opposite
preferences argues that there is a need for re-structuring the design paradigm of
the kitchen and its role (other than utilitarian) in a home. The analysis pinpoints
socio-cultural factor as a significant influence for designing buildings by the
example of kitchen, more so than those physical parameters such as daylight
provision for the kitchen.
Journal of Building Appraisal (2006) 2, 223–239. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jba.2950042
Keywords:
daylight, housing design, kitchens, Shanghai, socio-cultural factors
INTRODUCTION
In this study, Shanghai serves as an example to evaluate how user preferences affect the
use of architectural space as a result of the changing goals and expectations in urban
lifestyle accorded by economic development. For most Chinese cities, phenomenal
growth in economic development has brought about an urban and social transformation
that yields an unprecedented change in the city’s physical outlook, social hierarchy and
individual aspirations. In the social realm, the Chinese economic development brought
about a revival of the ‘white collar’ — the social class once ousted by the Cultural
Revolution of the 1960s. The great Deng Xiaoping, architect of the economic revolution,
however, once prophesised, ‘Let there be a minority group of the populace who became
rich people under the new economic and political order of the Chinese-Socialist-
Capitalistic reform’. As Deng predicted, contemporary China saw the emergence of
entrepreneurs and office workers comprising mostly intellectuals and technocrats —
university graduates, engineers and managers with MBA degrees have become an
economically better-off social class who begin to turn things around for Chinese societies
today and pave the way for the tomorrow city. The white collar or office workers exhibit a
desire for new urban lifestyle as more and more singles or couples move into the CBD
(urban centre) for jobs and living. They have a somewhat different attitude towards how
life, work and recreation is going to be, different from their parents or, more so, their
grandparents who came a long way from the 1945 revolution.
For young working couples, typically, their family comprises parents with one child as
a result of the birth-control policy imposed by the state. As it is, the control is much
tighter in the urban conglomerates than in the countryside because of pressure from the
over-concentration of population in the cities. On the other hand, it is not uncommon to
find a family comprising only the young couple with no children, subscribing to the
so-called family of the DINKS — ‘Double Income No Kid’.
The city of Shanghai has a geographical area of 6,340.5 km2 with an escalating
population of 13,523,900 as of late 2004. In planning terms, the city has attained the
status of being one of the world’s ‘mega-cities’, meaning that the city population has
reached a critical mass that exerts intense pressure on city managers in all respects. What
matters is that Shanghai’s central urban area of 100 km2 is home for a population of
3,670,000, which aggravates the demand and supply for housing and presents a severe
challenge for the urban development of Shanghai. Prior to the 1980s, the standard
224 © 2006 PALGRAVE MACMILLAN LTD 1742–8262/06 $30.00 Journal of Building Appraisal VOL.2 NO.3 PP 223–239
Socio-cultural factors in housing design
of living space per capita in Shanghai was relatively low and limited owing to the
enforcement of the Socialist Planned Economic Policy preceding that of the free market
economy. Under the old regime, homes or living quarters were provided free of charge or
at token rents by the government via state-owned enterprises; most were factories known
as ‘production units’. Investment in residential and community buildings always lagged
far behind the real growth of the population. In the pre-1980s era, Shanghai was well
known for its crowded and unhygienic living space and deficiency in infrastructural
development. Very often, several families sharing one cooking hearth or toilet was not a
rare phenomenon. It was common that due to lack of space, families used the public
circulation area as cooking space instead. The impact of sharing a kitchen led to severe
social conflicts within the neighbourhood, such as invasion of privacy, poor sanitation
conditions, inconvenience and conflict among families over usage for the preparation of
meals three times a day.
The implementation of economic reform due to the ‘open-door’ policy in China since
1978 has resulted in a seemingly ‘overnight’ reformation and restructuring of land use
and housing distribution in Chinese cities. As a result of economic reform, the living
conditions in most Chinese cities have improved as the ‘work unit’ system was eliminated
and replaced by a free market of housing that was dependent on supply and demand, and
operated by home buyers, real estate developers and banks. Among the cities, Shanghai
has been undergoing a similar improvement in living conditions from as late as the early
1990s, because of the belated relaxation for Shanghai’s reform by Central Government.
According to official statistics, the investment in Shanghai housing development
amounted to 240bn RMB during the period from 1991 to 2000 (approximately 8 RMB
equals one US$). Housing with a floor area of 120,000,000 m2 was constructed during this
time, and living area per capita has increased from 6.6 m2 in 1991 to 11.8 m2 by the
mid-2000s. In 2004, the total amount of investment in housing was 117.5bn RMB while
the newly built total floor area reached 30,761,900 m2. It is predicted that from 2005 to
2010, another 120,000,000 m2 of housing floor area will be constructed in Shanghai alone
(China Ministry of Construction, 2005).
In recent years, however, due to the unchecked supply of domestic homes in the city,
the municipality has had to take remedial measures to reverse the over-supply of homes
that threaten the price of housing stock and exert pressure on the city’s infrastructure. One
of the control remedies was the reduction of the permitted floor area ratio (FAR) for
Shanghai housing based on location. For instance, due to the limited land resources and
high property prices within the inner city areas such as the districts of Jing An, Xu Hui,
Huang Pu and Chang Ning, all of which are within the Inner Ring Road (the circular
elevated highway of Shanghai where high-rise and high-density residential blocks
constitute the majority of housing developments; Figure 1), the FAR in the Inner Ring
Area has been reduced from 8 to approximately 5. But for the area beyond the Outer
Ring, land values are lower because of the distance from the CBD (urban centre) and is
inhabited by a large proportion of people from the lower and poor income groups who
live in mid-rise and sub-standard social housing.
Historically, bedrooms and living rooms were given more ‘importance’ than kitchens as
the main functional rooms, but as economic conditions have improved, residents have
started to pay much more attention to the standard of their living space and quality of
their homes, including the design and role of the kitchen. Recent initiatives such as the
slogan of the forthcoming ‘World Exposition Shanghai 2010’,‘better city, better life’,
represent the focus of home buyers towards quality housing as well as their concerns for
larger apartments.
Lau et al
Figure 1: The three ring roads in Shanghai today
Most residential apartment buildings in Shanghai are in the form of a regular plan
shape designed as a slab block. The room spaces are designed in regular shape as far as
possible for efficiency in usage, which is also easier for the layout of furniture. A survey
by the authors showed that in general there are three prototypes of residential building in
Shanghai according to building height or stories: multi-storey apartments (4–6 stories),
medium high-rise apartments (7–9 stories) and high-rise apartments (more than 10
stories). Very often, all three prototypes share a similar layout despite the variation in
height or number of stories.
FACTORS AFFECTING KITCHEN DESIGN IN SHANGHAI
Statutory control of residential buildings

According to the 1999 building code for residential building design, the area of the
kitchen in a 2-bedroom unit should not be less than 4.5 m2, a 3-bedroom unit not less than
5 m2 and a 4- to 5-bedroom unit not less than 5.5 m2 (China Ministry of Construction,
2003). A kitchen should have natural day lighting and ventilation, and be located near the
main entrance of the unit. A washing trough (sink), a worktop, a cooking range and an
exhaust fan are necessary fittings in a kitchen and the length of the worktop should
not be less than 2.10 m. For a kitchen with a single-operating side, the net clearance
of the aisle should not be less than 1.50 m, and not less than 0.90 m for a kitchen
with a double-operating side (Shanghai Standardization of Project and Construction
Office, 2001).
Kitchen area
Normally, Shanghai kitchen areas range from 5 to 7 m2, which is in practice far bigger
than the minimum requirements as set out in the building codes. But the living standard
and living style for most Shanghaiese have changed significantly and at a much faster
pace owing to rapid economical transformation. Many more home appliances are now
found in the kitchen, including microwave ovens, intelligent refrigerators, automatic
dishwashers and even ultra-violet sterilisers for utensils. Besides the appliances, it is
common to find water supply and drain as well as gas pipes in the interior of the kitchen
to allow for easy maintenance access. According to the building codes, these pipes should
occupy only 0.15 m2 of the total kitchen area. Within each kitchen, there is also a vertical
shaft for connection with the air-exhaust from the cooking range. The building codes
suggest that a minimum area of 0.15–0.32 m2 be reserved for the vertical shaft that runs
from the floor level to the roof, which connects the kitchens on every floor.
Bedrooms and living rooms are always considered the main space for a domestic home.
For Chinese homes, these are usually provided with a south-facing orientation for
maximum access to sunshine and ventilation, which leaves the kitchen and bathroom with
an inferior orientation, usually north-facing. Very often, the kitchen is placed near the
entrance of an apartment to make travel distance as short as possible to avoid the
contamination of domestic spaces by uncooked or raw food. For the same reason, in
some deluxe living units, the kitchen has its own entrance.
Climatic and geographic characteristics of Shanghai, and their influence

on living habits/preference and building design practice
Shanghai is located on the south-east coast of China and is characterised by a climate of
warm spring, hot summer, cool autumn and cold winter. July and August are the hottest
months with an average maximum temperature of 27.4oC. During winter, January is the
coldest month with a temperature average of 3oC. The main wind direction is south-east
in the summer and north-west in the winter. The hot and humid ‘Plum Flower Rain’
season (season of frequently light rain) lasts from mid-June to early July, with an average
daily rainfall of 259 mm.
Historically, natural ventilation and sunlight are deemed important factors for
residences. It is generally assumed that for average-income families, the cost of air-
conditioning is high in terms of both installation and operation costs. A preferable home
is one that faces south and where the depth of the building is shallow enough to permit
cross ventilation. Sunlight accessibility for homes at the lowest floor is guaranteed by a
minimum clearance between buildings required by laws. Climatic responsiveness
produces predominantly linear-block housing.
Living culture
Facing south is not only the requirement for a better indoor environment but also a
demand for living culture. Living culture refers to the specific preference for living under
the sun or prevailing wind for natural ventilation, exhibited by local group behaviour
(Li, 2005). This south-orientation preference is a strong one irrespective of geographic
localities all across China. People in Shanghai pay much attention to sunlight. They prefer
to dry laundry under the sun and especially like to air their bed-quilts and bed-sheets
outdoors under the sun, even in the winter. When there is not enough space, residents
simply air their quilts and bed-sheets at the curb-side of adjacent pavements.
Lau et al
Facing south is deeply rooted in the local minds. Several years ago, some real estate
developers introduced the point block tower design imported from Southern China, such
as Hong Kong to Shanghai, to maximise land resources. But such designs were not
favoured by local home buyers, who disliked north-facing flats and therefore the point
block designs. The sale price of a north-facing unit is much lower than a south-facing
unit, and today in Shanghai there are hardly any point block towers in newly built
residential developments.
Eating habits
In Shanghai, households used to prepare meals by themselves. But the working
atmosphere nowadays for the middle class is stressful owing to long working hours. In
such a setting, more and more couples cannot afford the time and energy to prepare
meals. These working couples usually take prepared food like bread and milk or eat out
for breakfast and lunch in the vicinity of working areas. For dinner, this income group
relies on domestic helpers to prepare dinner at home or, alternatively, many choose to
dine out. In essence, the kitchen has become a servant space for new middle-class
families, and the time spent in the kitchen has become far less than before.
Changing family structure

The national birth control policy (one child per couple) imposed by the state was
implemented in the late 1970s. The first generation of birth since the implementation of
this policy are now themselves between 20 and 30 years old and have their own families.
Shanghai had turned into an ageing city from the year 2000, as the number of people
more than 60 years old is over 10 per cent of the entire population.
Investigations by social scientists show that the contemporary older generation seldom
shares an apartment with their children. Because the two generations have different
attitudes towards life, frictions are easily ignited over minor issues. It is, however, noted
that they would still want to live near their children so that they could be taken care of
when required. Old people are prone to feel lonely and they need regular visits from their
children to alleviate their loneliness. On the other hand, aged parents could look after
their grandchildren when young couples are at work. From the above generalised
analysis, one can see that the size of the Chinese family has declined compared with the
traditional Chinese family structure in previous centuries. More and more nuclear families
are being formed by working couples with only one child, while those who are commonly
called ‘empty nest’ families are composed of aged couples who live in isolation.
Based on the theory of shrinking family size, there is a suggestion that smaller families
will need smaller kitchens; hence the rationale for a bigger kitchen area under the new
building code is not for cooking and washing but perhaps to house more appliances as
mentioned above.
KITCHEN TYPE
Separate enclosed kitchen

A separate or enclosed kitchen is the most popular type of kitchen in Shanghai homes at
present and the Shanghai local building code stipulates that every apartment should have
an enclosed kitchen. This is due to an interpretation by the building control authority
which assumes that an enclosed kitchen is a solution to the problem of the excessive oil
and fumes from traditional Chinese cooking (which pollute the air and harm health) and
also reduces the risk of fire spread to other rooms.
Open kitchen
The prevailing market for homes in Shanghai is that most sales units are usually devoid
of decoration and even without any fittings in the kitchen or bathroom as home buyers
usually decorate the units themselves. Structurally changing the layout of a unit is not
uncommon and there is a tendency for some families, especially young couples, to open
up the kitchen by demolishing the partitioning walls. Oil and fumes are then handled by
the commercially available high-powered air purifiers and smoke exhausts. As described
previously for many middle-class families, especially young couples, meals are seldom
cooked at home; therefore, enclosed kitchens are a relative waste of space. Opening up
the kitchen/living space is also better for socialising and allows light to penetrate the inner
rooms, whether it is the kitchen or the living area.
CASE STUDY 1
Enclosed kitchen — the ‘Culture Garden’ development

Situated to the south-western side of Huangxin Green in Yangpu District, the ‘Culture
Garden’ occupies an area of 10.47 hm2 (Figures 2 and 3). The total floor area amounts to
150,000 m2. It has 1,090 apartments and 545 parking spaces for private cars. The FAR is
1.43 and the green coverage ratio reaches 53 per cent.
The plan employs a pattern of ‘public, medium and private green’. A public garden
with greenbelt and water is set in the centre of the site, surrounded by relatively small
gardens (Figure 4). Much importance has been placed on the design of details. For
instance, utility manhole covers are finished with a compound material to reduce the noise
Figure 2: The location of the ‘Culture Garden’ in Shanghai
Lau et al
Figure 3: The master plan and typical apartment floor plan of the ‘Culture Garden’ (The Design Associa-
tion of Shanghai, 2004)
made by running cars, and the altitude intercept between access roads and the first
(ground) floor is made larger to reduce the disturbance of vehicular headlights at night.
The family
The family is composed of one couple in their late thirties who have one daughter aged 6.
The husband is a civil servant of the municipal government and the wife is a professor in
a local university. The working time of the husband is from 9am to 5pm from Monday
to Friday. The working hours of the wife are more flexible, although she is currently
studying for a doctoral degree in her spare time as well as taking care of a young daughter
who spends most of her time from 8am to 5pm at school on weekdays except holidays.
Apartment area
The building area of this apartment is 101 m2 with two bedrooms and one dining room
connected to the living room (Figure 5).
Figure 4: The ‘Culture Garden’ in perspective
Kitchen area
The kitchen is rectangular (2.9 m by 1.75 m); the net floor area is 5.1 m2 with a connecting
service balcony that is enclosed as an area for washing and airing of laundry (Figures 6, 7
and 8).
Dietary habits
As the apartment is located only 10 min walk from the university, it is very convenient for
the wife to go to work, but its takes the husband over 1 h each way by bus to get to his
office. In the morning, they usually have a simple breakfast at home, such as bread and
milk . The husband has lunch in his office, the wife has lunch in the university canteen or
at home depending on her schedule, and the daughter has lunch at school. They normally
have dinner together at home, which is prepared by a part-time domestic helper who
comes each day; therefore, they seldom cook for themselves, except when the domestic
helper is not there during the New Year celebration period.
Analysis of kitchen
1. Floor area: The kitchen is packed with features such as a sink, cooking range,
microwave oven, exhaust fan and hood. Storage areas are integrated with wall-hung
and under workbench cupboards. The length of the workbench is not long enough for
most kitchen appliances such as a steam pot, water kettle, etc; therefore so the owner
placed another narrow table on the other side of the workbench. As a result of the
workbench and the narrow table on the other side, it makes the net space in the kitchen
so tight that it is not enough for two persons to work together at one time.
2. Orientation: Typically, the kitchen has the worst orientation of the home. Facing north,
the kitchen has the disadvantages of being hot in summer and cold in winter.
Lau et al
Figure 5: Plan of the Culture Garden apartment
Figure 6: Internal layout of the kitchen
3. Daylight: The window (1.15 m wide by 1.4 m high) is located on the longer side of the
kitchen and faces north. Owing to the blockage of daylight from the window frame, it
is estimated that the efficiency of daylight access is 85 per cent and the net area for
daylight access equals 1.37 m2. In this case, the ratio of window area to usable floor
area is 27 per cent, far better than the stipulated 10 per cent ratio. While visual
assessment suggests that the sink, which is near the window, is a good location to
Figure 7: View into the kitchen
receive daylight, a person using the sink would block the cooking range from receiving
daylight.
4. Usage: It is clear from the survey that the family has very low usage of the kitchen
(only for dinner prepared by the part-time helper). It is also clear that changing
lifestyle and family structure have lowered priority for kitchen use and, as a result, the
preoccupation of designers and building code law-makers with daylight provision and
window dimension does seem somewhat irrelevant.
Day lighting design by computer simulation

Day lighting is an important index for indoor environment quality. To ascertain the
required light intensity for cooking, the Shanghai building code has requirements for day
lighting of kitchen; however, the regulations are rather gross and only regulate the area
of the window opening. Computer simulation using LUMEN MICRO 2000 (Lighting
Technology, 1997) shows that the location has a major effect on daylight distribution and
quality. This software has been validated by Jongewaard (1993) and by the authors
dealing with its applications in Hong Kong (high-density, high-rise apartments). When the
location of the window (Figure 9) is changed, the day lighting effect differs accordingly,
and it can easily be seen that if the window was positioned off-centre, it would give
unsatisfactory levels of light. The method of window opening and window thermal quality
should also be considered to optimise natural ventilation and interior environment
qualities.
Lau et al
Figure 8: View into the service balcony
CASE STUDY 2
Open kitchen—the ‘Haishang Huating Garden’

The ‘Haishang Huating Garden’ is located in the south-west of Shanghai (Figure 10), and
was opened on 25th April, 2005. Four hundred and fifty apartments provide a total floor
area of 8,000 m2 with a FAR of 1.7.
The family
The family consists of a young couple in their early thirties with no children yet. They are
both living a 9–5 lifestyle and, according to their income and working style, they are the
typical ‘white collar’ workers in Shanghai.
Apartment area
It is a duplex apartment of 158 m2 with one living room, one bedroom, one study room
and one dining room on the lower floor, and one master bedroom on the upper floor
(Figure 11).
Kitchen area
The net area of the kitchen is 5.36 m2 and is 1.95 m in width and 2.75 m in length (Figure
12). Since the kitchen is in an open plan scenario, the dining area, which is 8.3 m2 in area,
is connected to the kitchen area (Figure 13). There is also a service balcony connected to
the dining area, which is used as a laundry space and which also houses the water heater.
Figure 9: Effect of different window locations on the quality of daylight in the Culture Garden apartment.
Diet habit
The couple usually have a simple breakfast at home and they lunch at work. Because they
live near their parents, they often visit and eat there or sometimes dine out. Only during
the weekend do they cook for themselves at home. As they use the oven to cook meat
instead of cooking by oil frying, they reduce oil and smoke and as such, together with
their other eating habits, this fits well with having an open kitchen design.
Lau et al
Figure 10: The location of the ‘Haishang Huating Garden’ in Shanghai
Analysis of kitchen
1. Floor area: The cooking area of the kitchen is rather small and the frequency of usage
is relatively low. To make the small area look spacious, they gave up wall-hung
cupboards. Utensils and appliances used in the kitchen are reduced to the minimum.
The microwave oven is placed on the top of the cabinet and the refrigerator is placed in
the dining hall. It is therefore not convenient to use, but this is the result of a
compromise between efficiency of use and aesthetics.
2. Orientation: The kitchen faces north; hence it is hot in summer and cold in winter. But
as observed in the preceding case study, the time spent in the kitchen is quite short.
3. Daylight: The window is located on the shorter side of the kitchen, which faces north,
and is 0.85 m wide by 1.4 m high. Assuming a daylight access efficiency of 85 per cent,
the net area for daylight is 1.01 m2 and therefore the window area to usable floor area
ratio is 18.7 per cent, again far better than the stipulated 10 per cent as in the previous
example. Throughout the study, the location of the window in the centre of the shorter
side is thought to be the most efficient way of daylight access. In this example, as the
kitchen is open, the window also brings indirect daylight to the dining area.
4. Usage: The usage of kitchen in the open-kitchen family is almost identical with the
enclosed-kitchen family in that the family has very low usage of the kitchen (only for
dinner prepared by the part-time helper). It is also clear that the shift in family structure
has lower priority for kitchen use as the residents go to their parents for meals and
Figure 11: Plan of the apartment
Figure 12: Internal layout of the kitchen
cook their own meals at home only over the weekends. As a result of the open kitchen,
the owners have improved the daylight distribution and the atmosphere of day lighting
in the kitchen-dining area.
Lau et al
Figure 13: View of the dining/open plan kitchen
Figure 14: Day lighting analysis of the kitchen and adjoining dining area (left: enclosed kitchen; right: open
kitchen)
Day lighting analysis by computer simulation

In this case, the wall-hung cabinets were not included in the three-dimensional model.
The simulation did not take into account the presence of users in the kitchen. Figure 14
shows that when the wall between the kitchen and the dining area is removed, day
lighting distribution is significantly improved.
CONCLUSION
This paper presents an insight into the changes of the modern Chinese kitchen design
because of shifts in family structure and lifestyle, which is evident from the emerging
social class of office workers or middle classes in big cities such as Shanghai. Such
changes, according to the survey, have nullified the importance placed on spatial (area)
or environmental (daylight) standards, and for kitchen planning, because of a mismatch
between user preference and design reference.
This research pinpoints the significance and importance for designers and law-makers
to better understand user requirements. There is currently no formal user survey or post
occupancy evaluation that could be used to provide useful feedback to developers,
designers and law-makers.
From a theoretical point of view, this survey finding might be interpreted as a
preference for a performance-based design paradigm that takes into account the user
survey instead of the traditional design paradigm based on prescriptive requirements. As
shown, the design approach based on physical factors (minimum area for kitchen and for
kitchen windows, etc) is insufficient to cope with the demands of a changing society
when rapid economic developments bring profound changes in society.
This case study is a simplified field investigation of two emerging patterns of user
attitudes and behaviour to reveal the magnitude of societal changes and resultant impacts
on kitchen planning.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the support of the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong on
theoretical and simulation works done via the project entitled ‘Research on Building &
Window Design: an empirical study to enhance daylight qualities in high-rise residential
apartment buildings in Hong Kong’. (Project number: HKU7205/02 H). The work was
also supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, ‘Integration of Solar
Energy Using and Architecture Design for Ecological High-rise Housing in Shanghai’
(Project number 50478101). Special thanks go to Messrs Liu Chao for the case study, to
Yang Feng for background research for the paper, and to K.C. Leung for assistance in
computer simulation.
References
China Ministry of Construction (2003) Design Code for Residential Buildings, The Architectural Press of China, Beijing,
China.
China Ministry of Construction (2005), Push forward housing energy saving by persisting in Scientific Development
Concept, http://www.cin.gov.cn/zzcy/ml/040904.doc, accessed 22nd December, 2005.
Jongewaard, M. (1993) Daylight Calculations, Measurements and Visualization in Non-empty Rooms, Proceedings of
Lux Europa Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Li, Z. (2005) ‘A discussion on the sunlight rule for residential building in city centre’, Urban Planning Forum, 155,
79–82.
Lighting Technologies (1998) Lumen Micro 7 User’s Guide, Lighting Technologies Inc., Denver, Colorado.
Shanghai Standardization of Project and Construction Office (2001) The Code of Housing Design, The Architectural
Press of China, Beijing, China.
The Design Association of Shanghai (2004) The Excellent Housing Design in Shanghai, The Architectural Press of
China, Beijing, China.

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Socio-cultural factors in housing design:

Reconsidering the utilitarian and

demonstrated a change in attitude and expectation in the role of home and

Figure 1: The three ring roads in Shanghai today

FACTORS AFFECTING KITCHEN DESIGN IN SHANGHAI

Statutory control of residential buildings

Climatic and geographic characteristics of Shanghai, and their inﬂuence

Changing family structure

Separate enclosed kitchen

Enclosed kitchen — the ‘Culture Garden’ development

Figure 2: The location of the ‘Culture Garden’ in Shanghai

Figure 4: The ‘Culture Garden’ in perspective

Figure 5: Plan of the Culture Garden apartment

Figure 6: Internal layout of the kitchen

Figure 7: View into the kitchen

Day lighting design by computer simulation

Figure 8: View into the service balcony

Open kitchen—the ‘Haishang Huating Garden’

Figure 10: The location of the ‘Haishang Huating Garden’ in Shanghai

Figure 11: Plan of the apartment

Figure 12: Internal layout of the kitchen

Figure 13: View of the dining/open plan kitchen

Day lighting analysis by computer simulation

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