A Comparative Study of Domestic and Foreign Social Spaces Over the Last Two Decades

TIAN Haonan; LI Minzhi; LÜ Yating

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1000-0232.2025.01.004

Abstract：Research on urban social space in the West has spanned for almost a century,but it remains a relatively nascent field in China.As urbanization accelerates,many Chinese scholars have begun exploring social space theories in local contexts.Interest in this area has intensified in the 21st century driven by the need to improve living standards in increasingly dense urban areas.While China has devoted much attention to the study of material space,limited research has focused on the human factors that shape and govern social spaces.China faces many societal challenges as it undergoes significant social and economic transformation.However,the Chinese research landscape is skewed towards"economics over humanities",with explorations on the social dimensions of urban areas remaining weak. Relevant studies from 2000 to 2023 were searched and screened using the China Knowledge Network(CNKI),Peking University Core,CSSCI,Web of Science,and other databases with the keywords"society"and"space".First,the history of social space in Europe,the US,China,and former socialist countries was reviewed,and a comparative study was carried out.Results showed that Europe and the US have made significant progress in sustainable development,green space construction,and humane place-making.In contrast,China's efforts have focused primarily on the introduction of international theories and local analyses.China has yet to achieve significant progress in theoretical innovation and technological research and development. A horizontal comparison of highly cited literature from Europe,the US,China,Eastern Europe,and the former Soviet Union was carried out by combining domestic and international research and using the keyword"social space."Chinese research on social space has tended to take a more macroscopic perspective,with a focus on"historical space","community","urban space",and other broader fields,and little attention has been given to"green space"and"open space".There are many research results on economic and political dimensions,but few on social dimensions like social integration and social justice.Additionally,Chinese research has paid little attention to the integration of natural resources with public and social spaces. While domestic socio-spatial research lags behind international standards,some international theories have been adopted.For instance,understandings of underclass urbanism in the Global South and post-colonialism in Eastern Europe and Africa have been applied to local contexts to a limited extent.However,Chinese research has tended to rely more on social theories and morphological analyses.Although new methods like space syntax and social network analysis have been introduced in recent times,the comprehensive application of these methods is limited.Compared to international research on social spaces,which combines quantitative methods and new technologies,Chinese research methods are more often singular and unidimensional with few technologies applied.Thorough consideration should be given to each research area when selecting research methodologies and technologies to attain the most comprehensive and reliable results. To sum up,some suggestions are proposed in this study: 1.Drawing on leading international research on urban social spaces,China's unique resource advantages(e.g.,abundant green and cultural spaces)should be considered to promote the high-quality and sustainable development of urban areas. 2.A more detailed understanding of the development of urban social spaces in China should be attained by examining human-space interactions. 3.Building cultural confidence,cultural factors should be a priority in the development of new theories and practices that are unique to the Chinese context. 4.Specific frameworks and methods should be developed to solve social space problems in China. 5.China should have a more prominent role in international sustainable development and in promoting the integration of urban and social spaces.