Spatio-Temporal Evolution and Implications of Urban Residential Space Based on the New Commercial Housing in Xi’an, China, 2006–2022

Abstract

Since 1998, comprehensive housing marketization has led to a more complex urban residential space structure in China, as evidenced by the changes in new commercial housing. The current stage is critical for China in its pursuit of high-quality and sustainable urban development, with the spatial structure of housing being a key aspect in achieving this goal. In order to clarify the characteristics of the urban residential space in China and grasp the spatio-temporal changes of new commercial housing, this study takes the data of new commercial housing projects in Xi’an, northwest China, from 2006 to 2022 as the basis, and uses the GIS method to explore the characteristics of the spatio-temporal evolution of the urban residential space and to investigate the factors influencing it. The results reveal changes in the number, size, and spatial distribution of new commercial housing in Xi’an. The evolution of residential space is influenced by cultural and social changes, population, and economic factors, in addition to the main influence of national policies. The renewal of urban villages into commercial housing projects is a prominent feature of changes in urban residential space, which saves construction land and improves residents’ living conditions. Finally, the expansion of urban residential space parallels the urbanization process, showing a pattern of ‘external expansion accompanied by internal renewal’, and the evolution process and property rights management are different from those of other countries.

1. Introduction

In terms of the historical context, Chinese urban residents benefited from the national housing distribution system during the planned economy era, when commercial housing was nonexistent. However, in 1998, the Chinese government abolished the traditional welfare housing distribution system, leading to the gradual transformation of the real estate industry into a key economic indicator and basic industry. Following the reform of the housing market in the late 1980s, housing became commoditized, escalating the trend of housing segmentation [1]. Nevertheless, the Chinese government does not aim to establish a free-market system akin to that of developed Western countries. Instead, it has adopted a step-by-step strategy for setting goals and processes. That is, a step-by-step, hierarchical method of paid land use by separating land ownership and its use rights, introducing the relevant factors and products to the land capital market and real estate market with different trading rights and opening degrees [2,3], and then gradually enhancing the marketization level. Mainland cities have developed a real estate market model with Chinese characteristics. For instance, commercial housing reforms initiated by the Chinese government since the 1990s, such as the monetization of housing, have fueled the growth of the commercial housing market. The evolution of urban residential space with Chinese characteristics is also a subject of interest for many scholars and planners.

Urbanization has sparked scholars’ interest in researching urban residential space. Western scholars have studied the spatio-temporal pattern and evolutionary characteristics of dwellings, and have divided the dynamic structural development process of cities into four stages, namely, urbanization, suburbanization, de-urbanization, and re-urbanization, and have achieved rich research results [4,5,6]. Drawing from Western theories, China has comprehensively explored urban residential spaces sharing similar characteristics and developmental histories with other countries [7,8]. However, the spatio-temporal evolution of housing in China exhibits a more intricate and diverse pattern, primarily due to institutional adjustments and changes in housing policy during the process of housing marketization [9]. Foreign scholars have conducted extensive research on issues such as population suburbanization, gentrification, and residential spatial differentiation. Following the reform and opening up, Chinese cities often chose to regenerate older neighborhoods within the city rather than expanding outward. The stakeholders involved in this process of land-cover change, as well as the emotional considerations of the residents, are also topics that Chinese scholars have dedicated themselves to studying. In both Western countries and China, the amount of research on the physical living space remains relatively limited and focused.

This study focuses on the spatio-temporal changes of housing and its impacts, specifically examining the physical residential space. Based on the data of new commercial residential projects in Xi’an from 2006 to 2022, GIS methods are used to explore the characteristics of urban residential space evolution based on new commercial housing and its influencing factors. This study proves its indicative role in housing marketization and housing supply, deepens the study of the residential space, enriches and improves the relevant theories of geography, depicts the successful experience of housing marketization reform in China, and provides Chinese perspectives and practical significance for housing construction and urban planning in other countries or regions.

2. Literature Review

New commercial housing is a typical living space under the housing marketization, and most foreign studies on new commercial housing are reflected in the evolution of living space. Therefore, we have arranged the literature according to the following two aspects.

2.1. Research on Urban Residential Space

Urban residential space is an important expression of the city’s social space, physical space, and economic progress [10,11]. Thus, the study of the evolution of residential space can be divided into that of social and physical residential space.

The study of social residential space is concerned with social class differentiation, such as gentrification, the suburbanization of populations, and residential segregation. With increased demand for urban residential and supportive national policies, gentrification has evolved from a piecemeal process to a major force for change [12,13,14]. This process is no longer limited to a specific number of inner-city neighborhoods, but permeates a wide range of areas well beyond the urban core [15]. The suburbanization of poverty in many urban zones has increased in recent years [16,17,18,19]. This is often the flip side of ever-expanding gentrification as affordable, centrally located neighborhoods disappear. Studies related to residential suburbanization in the West include the suburbanization of multiple suburban rings [20,21,22], metropolitan communities [23,24,25], and projections of suburbanization in the coming years [26,27,28]. The process of residential suburbanization in China, on the other hand, has shifted primarily from a government-led model to a market-led model, with land-based government tax policies ushering in a process of suburbanization dominated by private housing development as part of housing and land reform of China. The consequence of this suburbanization process is high-density and mixed land use development that leads to rapid spatial and social transformation [29,30,31]. Willem R. Boterman pointed out that in Europe, low- and middle-income groups were at risk of being forced to move to less attractive areas because of the difficulty of increasing the supply of housing in the short term to meet growing demand [32].

Physical residential space research focuses on changes in residential space, looking at shifts in land use patterns that in turn affect the spatial pattern of the city [33,34]. The related studies are residential suburbanization, residential urbanization, and the separation of occupation and housing. The study of the spatial distribution of urban housing by Western geographers is mainly contained in spatial structure studies. For example, the ecological school, based on the theory of human ecology, deals with the spatial characteristics of housing and spatial structure, focusing on the structure of residential space [35,36]. Residential urbanization and residential suburbanization occur simultaneously but in opposite roles, including the spread of residential space to the city’s periphery and dramatic landscape changes [37,38,39]. The process is often recognized as a multidimensional evolutionary whole, with the distribution of spatial elements leading to changes in economic growth, lifestyles, and value patterns, reshaping regional development and land use, and thus influencing and changing the social and natural environment [40,41,42]. Work-life separation refers to the phenomenon of individuals commuting between their residence and workplace that arises when residents choose to live in peri-urban areas due to high rents in the inner city, while their workplace is located in the inner city [43,44,45]. As there are differences in rental prices, basic resource allocation, and accessibility in different geographical locations, employed persons should take into consideration the maximization of utility when choosing a place to live and work [46,47].

2.2. Research on Commercial Housing

Commodity housing (Figure 1) refers to the housing developed by a qualified real estate development enterprise after obtaining the land use right by way of transfer under the condition of market economy (the general service life is 70 years) [48], which is different from the unit housing under the rationing system in the planned economy period. Commercial housing differs from business housing in that the former is used for residential purposes while the latter can be used for commercial purposes. It should be noted that each commodity housing project pointed out in this study is a community.

In the urbanization process in China, five main housing systems have been developed: commercial housing, new Danwei housing, affordable housing, demolition resettlement housing, and self-built housing. Commercial housing is a particularly important and influential part of the process.

Studies related to commercial housing mainly include spatio-temporal differentiation and commercial housing prices in the world, and Chinese scholars have made in-depth discussions on these two aspects. Since the implementation of the housing system reform in 1998, housing prices have risen rapidly and spatial differences between regions and cities have become increasingly pronounced [49,50]. Some scholars have used equations and functions to study the spatial autocorrelation of transaction prices of single-family homes in cities [51], studies that consider internal relative location variables, particularly the impact of walking distance to key locations on house prices [52], and studies of the impact of urban renewal on the price of neighboring housing [53].

The research on commercial housing price is more abundant, while most of the research on the spatio-temporal variation of commercial housing is not from the single perspective of commercial housing but takes the spatio-temporal evolution of neighborhoods as its research object. Wu takes the old corporate community as the research object, explores its spatial aggregation along the transportation arteries, and points out its great potential for renewal in terms of three-dimensional space [54]. By analyzing five housing systems in China, Yang, based on the institutional perspective, finds that the residential spatial structure is more stable, diversified, and mosaic-mixed, while these five housing types show a mosaic distribution spatially, which is a kind of urban residential space structure different from that of Western countries and cities in transition countries [24,55].

3. Materials and Methods

3.1. Study Area

Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi Province, is located in the middle of the Guanzhong Plain, with the Qinling Mountains to the south and the Weihe River to the north. As an important city in northwest China, Xi’an possesses unique advantages and development potential. First-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai are developing rapidly, and the evolution of residential space is regionally distinctive. Xi’an is lagging behind in terms of construction and development, but it is representative of the evolution of residential space in many more cities in China. Therefore, the spatio-temporal evolution of new commercial housing in Xi’an is more representative and typical [56,57,58].

Although Xi’an has 11 districts and 2 counties under its jurisdiction, due to the withdrawal of counties and the establishment of districts, there are problems such as statistical differences and time inconsistencies between the main city and other districts and counties. Therefore, the research object of this paper is the main urban zone including Xincheng, Beilin, Lianhu, Weiyang, Yanta, and Baqiao (Figure 2).

Each ring road is the traffic artery of each period of development. The difference is that the First Ring Road a is a circle around the city wall of the Ming Dynasty, connecting the inside and outside of the city wall. The Second Ring Road is a channel between the old and new urban zones in the 1990s. The Third Ring Road is an important transportation route for Xi’an to expand to the periphery. The three rings expand sequentially from the inside to the outside, and the area formed between the rings becomes a prominent study subregion for the study of commercial housing.

3.2. Data Acquisition and Processing

3.2.1. Data Acquisition

Data on new commercial housing comes from the website of the Xi’an Municipal Bureau of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. The opening information on new commercial housing projects posted on the website (https://zjj.xa.gov.cn/) was filtered to the “main urban zone”, i.e., the traditional main urban zone, and the data of 7026 projects from 2006 to 2022 were obtained and organized by year. The data contain the pre-sale license number, filed project name, project location, developer, saleable building, and issuance time. In addition, data on the population, area of new commercial housing sales, urbanization rate, and GDP for Xi’an were obtained from the Xi’an Municipal Bureau of Housing and Urban-Rural Development website (http://tjj.xa.gov.cn/), and data on the road network were extracted from the Open Street Map website (https://openmaptiles.org/languages/zh/#0.49/0/0 (accessed on 13 December 2023)) to extract the road network data of Xi’an.

Due to the limitation of the data, our research mainly focuses on the main urban zone and does not study from a larger data range. In the following work, we can expand the scope of research and deepen the research value.

3.2.2. Data Processing

The 7026 raw data obtained were processed in multiple steps, resulting in 1654 pieces of study data. The final data validation session is included. The detailed steps of the data processing (Table 1) and data validation (Figure 3) are shown below.

In the data validation session, we calibrated all the study data by selecting six sets of calibration points outside the range of the study data. After calibration, we randomly selected the data points to match the distances between the data points and the actual points on the map, and found that the data calibration was relatively satisfactory (Figure 3).

3.3. Research Methods

The research method used in this paper is the statistical analysis of the standard deviation ellipsoid space. Standard deviation ellipse is a spatial statistical method to quantitatively analyze the characteristics of the spatial distribution of geographic elements (centrality, spreading, directionality, spatial mentality, etc. of the spatial distribution of the elements) from the spatial and global perspectives, using the center, long axis, short axis, direction angle, and flatness as the parameters [59]. The migration of new commercial housing can be expressed by analyzing the directionality of its standard deviation ellipse, that is, using the center of gravity coordinates to reveal the spatial distribution characteristics of the elements in ArcGIS. The expressions for calculating the horizontal and vertical coordinates of the center of gravity are:

(1)$P_i={\displaystyle \frac{{\displaystyle {\sum }_{i=1}^n(w_i{p}_i)}}{{\displaystyle {\sum }_{i=1}^n{w}_i}}}$

(2)$Q_i={\displaystyle \frac{{\displaystyle {\sum }_{i=1}^n(w_i{q}_i)}}{{\displaystyle {\sum }_{i=1}^n{w}_i}}}$

where $P_i$ $Q_i$ = spatial coordinates of the center of gravity; $w_i$ = weight assigned to the $i$ data point.

The center of gravity shift distance equation is:

(3)$S=\sqrt{{(X1-X2)}^2+{(Y1-Y2)}^2}$

where S = distance moved by the center of gravity; X1, Y1 = spatial coordinates of the center of gravity at the end of the study period; X2, Y2 = spatial coordinates of the center of gravity at the beginning of the study period.

4. Results

4.1. Number and Size Characteristics of New Commercial Housing Projects

On the one hand, the total number of new commercial housing projects has been on a linear upward trend, but the number of new additions per year has been on a fluctuating downward trend throughout the study period. There were 210 new commercial housing projects in the main urban zone in 2006, and the total number of new projects reached a cumulative total of 1654 by 2022, with the total number of projects increasing linearly. This should be attributed to the increase in urbanization and the rigid demand of the resident population under the housing market reform, and the increase in the economic level and residents’ need to improve their living standards. However, the number of new commercial housing projects peaked between 2006 and 2008, after which it began to fluctuate downwards (Figure 4). Meanwhile, the increase in the number of new commercial housing projects within the First Ring Road is almost negligible; the number of new commercial housing projects between the First and Second Ring Roads is in line with the trend of overall commercial property changes; the largest share of new commercial housing is between the Second and Third Ring Roads; and the number of commercial housings outside the Third Ring Road showed a positive growth rate. As a result, the total number of new commercial housing projects continues to increase while expanding and developing towards the urban fringe.

On the other hand, the size of new commercial housing projects is dominated by medium- and small-scale projects. Assuming that the project is homogeneous buildings, the size of the project is measured by how many buildings there are, with ≤ 10 buildings as a reference for small scale and ≤30 buildings for medium scale. There were more small-scale projects (509) in the early years (2006–2011), accounting for 51.62% of the number of projects in this category (986), with a gradual decrease in the middle and late years. Medium-sized projects increased and then decreased, with more (216) in the medium term (2012–2017), accounting for 41.3% of the number of projects in this category (523). There were fewer large-scale projects overall (Figure 5).

Statistics on the proportion of different commercial housing sizes within the First Ring Road show (Table 2) that small-scale housing projects within the First Ring Road and between the First and Second Ring Roads account for 92.86% and 79.25%. The proportion of medium- and large-scale residential projects outside the Second Ring Road is gradually increasing, with medium-scale residential projects outside the Third Ring Road accounting for 49.04% of the total. This shows that inner urban zones are dominated by small-scale commercial housing neighborhoods. Outer urban zones and suburbs are mostly medium-scale, and the proportion of large-scale commercial housing neighborhoods is also increasing. This reflects the phenomenon of suburbanization of new commercial housing in Xi’an and the outward expansion of medium- and large-scale housing in the urban residential space.

Meanwhile, the spatial expansion of new commercial housing projects in Xi’an has shown a clear trend of outward expansion. Taking the Bell Tower as the center of the circle and every 5 km outward as a standard circle, the average construction time of new commercial housing in each circle is calculated, and it can be seen that the years from the center of the circle outward are 2011, 2013, 2016, and 2019, respectively (Figure 6). The closer the commercial housing is to the center, the earlier it is built, and the closer it is to the peri-urban areas, the later it is built, which is a direct indication of sprawl and the phenomenon of housing suburbanization.

4.2. New Commercial Housing Construction in Line with Population Urbanization and Urban Development

Firstly, new commercial housing in Xi’an is linked to population urbanization. It is interesting to compare the cumulative share of new commercial housing projects in Xi’an with the urbanization rate from 2006 to 2020 (Figure 7). As can be seen, the urbanization rate of Xi’an increased from 64.55% to 79.59% in 17 years, an overall increase of 15.04%. The urbanization rate is an important indicator of the urbanization level of the population, and the urbanization level of Xi’an is steadily increasing. The bending state of the cumulative percentage curve of new commercial housing can reflect the form of its quantity change. Putting the cumulative percentage together with the urbanization rate, it can be seen that the trend of the cumulative percentage change in the quantity of newly built commercial housing is roughly the same as that of the urbanization rate, both of which show an upward bulging trend. Therefore, there is a coupling effect between the two, in which a high growth in the urbanization rate of the population will lead to a high growth in the number of newly built commercial houses, and when the urbanization rate tends to flatten out, the same will happen to the newly built commercial houses.

Secondly, new commercial housing construction is in the same direction as the urban development. From the planned economy period relying on the east–west development of the Longhai Railway to the Southwest High-tech Industrial Development Zone, the Southeast National Cultural Industry Demonstration Zone Qujiang New Area, the northern suburbs of the Economic and Technological Development Zone, the city government relocated to the northern suburbs of the city in 2011, and other construction activities led by the development of development in the direction of the north and the south [54]. Over time, new commercial housing in the main urban zone of Xi’an has gradually migrated outward, in a northeasterly direction (Figure 8). The demand for housing and purchasing by the population constantly stimulates the development and construction of commercial housing in the periphery in the direction of unimpeded flow and spread of industry and population. As a result, the urban residential space, which is dominated by new commercial housing, shows a pattern of extension and expansion in the southwest–northeast direction. The construction of new commercial housing is isotropic to the direction of city development. This confirms that the proliferation of housing is an important manifestation of urban proximity advancement and urbanization [60], which has also led to the construction and proliferation of other functions of the city such as commercial services, primary and secondary schools, health care, and sports and recreational facilities, further contributing to the development and prosperity of the city.

Meanwhile, the construction of new commercial housing extends from 2006 to 2022 from within the walls of the city center to the new urban zones, and the overall trend of new commercial housing shows a tendency to expand from the inner city to the outer city. The migration distance between the center of gravity of new commercial housing in 2015–2017 and 2018–2020 is the largest, with a clear shift to the northeast (Figure 8c). This suggests that as Xi’an continued to grow over time, the southwest corner of the city developed earlier and continued to widen the area for new commercial housing construction to the Weiyang and Baqiao districts in order to meet the city’s expansion.

The gradual expansion of commercial housing and the northeastern shift in the center of gravity of construction give a signal to residents that the economic center of Xi’an is also gradually moving northeastward from the Bell Tower. The government aims to seek a large amount of fresh land in the Weiyang and Baqiao districts to spur economic development in the area. With this policy and market pull, the population of Xi’an will move northeast accordingly, easing the population pressure within the city and favoring the city’s sustainable development.

4.3. Scattered Distribution of the Renewal of Urban Villages into Commercial Housing Projects

Urban villages refer to the fact that in the process of urbanization, many rural villages have been spatially surrounded or annexed by ever-expanding cities, initially forming a unique rural landscape within the urban area [61]. In this study, there is a portion of commercial housing projects (6.2%) that have been converted from urban villages. This is an important aspect of the evolution of urban residential space patterns and residential urbanization in China, and is required for the intensive use of land space and the improvement of living conditions. Therefore, we organized and analyzed the spatial and temporal patterns of the renewal of urban villages into commercial housing.

Firstly, Table 3 shows the distribution of urban villages renewed into commercial housing projects in different rings in Xi’an, and it can be seen that there were no urban villages renewed into commercial housing projects in Xi’an from 2006 to 2008, and all the commercial housing was newly built. In 2010, the phenomenon of urban village redevelopment began to emerge. The period 2015–2017 was a hot period for urban renewal projects, with 39 renewal projects. The largest number of urban villages renewed into commercial housing projects occurred between the Second and Third Ring Roads in Xi’an, reaching a total of 60 during the study period. The share of urban villages converted into commercial housing projects outside the Second Ring Road is 84.16%, and the share between the Second and Third Ring Roads is also more than half, at 59.4%.

Secondly, urban villages renewed into commercial housing projects in Xi’an are characterized by fragmented distribution. The number of projects inside the Second Ring Road is less than the number outside the Second Ring Road, with an east–west and north–south distribution (Figure 9). In addition, the absence of urban villages renewed into commercial housing projects in the northwestern and southeastern corners of the main urban zone is influenced by the Han Chang’an City Site.

Finally, relying on the goals of urban renewal and high-quality development, the renewal of urban villages has become a key focus of urbanization of Xi’an. Xi’an introduced policies related to the renewal of urban villages and shantytowns in 2007 and 2014. This is why this paper shows the emergence of projects in 2010 and the surge in urban villages renewed into commercial housing projects in 2014, as well as reflecting the impact of national policies on the temporal and spatial patterns of commercial housing.

5. Discussion

5.1. Analysis of Factors Influencing the Evolution of Urban Residential Space Based on New Commercial Housing

The constraints of the commercial housing pattern can be considered in relation to both natural and human factors, and this is a complex system where factors interact with each other.

Regarding natural factors, topography, geographic location, and other factors will limit urban development and thus affect the construction of commercial housing, forming a specific geographic area to determine the pattern of urban residential space. Regarding human factors, housing policy and government regulation, historical and cultural foundations, demand for commercial housing by residents, the level of urbanization, and the level of industrial development combine to affect the housing market in different dimensions. Since Xi’an is located in the Guanzhong Plain, with a favorable geographic location, suitable climate, and fewer constraints from natural conditions, the urban residential space, which is dominated by new commercial houses, is mainly constrained by human factors.

Firstly, policy support is one of the important internal mechanisms for promoting the development of the Xi’an housing market. The impact of policy on new commercial housing is macro and lagged. After the implementation of the monetization of housing allocation in 1998, urban residents became the main body of housing investment and consumption, Xi’an took this as an opportunity to accelerate the pace of residential construction, and the main status of housing has been continuously strengthened. The State maintains a high level of policy intervention, despite the fact that new commercial housing has become the mainstay of new residential space in the market economy [48].

The boom in the commercial housing market after 1998 due to economic development made 2006 the highest peak in the number of commercial housing openings during the study period (see the yellow in Figure 10). In 2006, the State regulated the phenomenon of excessive growth in commercial housing and stabilized housing prices, and since then the growth of the commercial housing market has declined. The global financial crisis of 2008 affected the incomes of the population, and commercial housing was on a declining trend from 2009 to 2011 (see the pink in Figure 10). The “Ten National Rules” (Several Opinions of the State Council on the Reform and Development of the Insurance Industry, issued by the State Council in 2006.) introduced in the same year encouraged the consumption of commercial housing, which, together with the “Four National Rules” (The Four Articles of State refers to the four major initiatives proposed to promote the healthy development of the real estate market) and the “Ten National Rules” introduced in 2009 and 2010, turned back the commercial housing market and reversed the decline in the number of new commercial housing projects built in 2012 (see the purple in Figure 10). In 2013, in order to control the problem of multiple properties for one person and maintain the balance of the commercial housing market, the State introduced the “New National Five” (The New Article 5 refers to the five policy measures identified to strengthen the regulation and control of the real estate market.), which affected the decline in the number of commercial housing projects over the next four years (see the green in Figure 10). The 13th Five-Year Plan in 2016 proposed to optimize the structure of housing supply, the policy of “houses are for living, not for speculation” in 2018 balanced the commercial housing market in Xi’an, and the number of new commercial housing additions has remained stable after 2019. Moreover, the role of the Government in this should not be overlooked. Due to the growing demand for housing as a result of rapid urbanization and economic growth, local governments have been actively supplying more commercial housing through land acquisition and urban renewal in order to collect land rents and real estate taxes. As a result, local governments have a stronger incentive to convert more rural land and Danwei land into commercial land. Since the mid-to-late 1990s, this has led to an explosion of commercial housing and its land use throughout the city.

Secondly, the spatio-temporal evolution of commercial housing in Xi’an is influenced by cultural and social change factors. (1) There are areas where development is restricted and prohibited, such as the Ming City Wall (within the First Ring Road), its inner historical neighborhoods, the ruins of Han Chang’an City, and the Daming Palace ruins (Figure 2). These places are witnesses to Xi’an’s long history, and the authorities have issued protection orders against development to preserve the historical and cultural sites. The protection order is permanent, meaning that the area remains within the protection zone regardless of how much Xi’an expands. (2) In the early days of urban development, which was primarily industrial and based on the “nearby employment and residence” pattern, the east–west Longhai Railway became a population-residence-industry agglomeration area after its construction. The east–west built-up area and residential zone along the railroad already existed in the early planning stages. Under this pattern, the city developed better in the east–west direction, extending to Xianyang and Lintong, while construction in the north–south direction lagged behind.

Thirdly, rapid industry-led economic growth is the most critical external factor driving the development of the housing market. Industrialization has increased the demand for labor, prompting large numbers of people to move into cities and towns, promoting the urbanization of the population and bringing about rigid demand and market construction for commercial housing. Since 2005, the economy has maintained growth in Xi’an, with GDP increasing from 22, 0.15 trillion yuan in 2006 to 1.15 trillion yuan in 2022 (Figure 11). Fast economic growth has led to a significant increase in people’s income and consumption, which has stimulated demand for new commercial housing.

Fourthly, population demand is a direct driver of housing growth. Data analysis shows a positive correlation between population and projects. As the population grows, the correlation is highest from 2006 to 2010, the growth rate slows down from 2011 to 2020, and a negative correlation occurs in 2021–2022 (Figure 12). Xi’an’s growth has attracted a large number of people from neighboring cities. The expansion of the city’s population has led to a significant increase in housing demand. Newly built commercial housing has become an important part of people’s lifestyles and consumer culture. The period 2021–2022 saw a decline in population but an increase in the number of commercial housings, which is a phenomenon arising from the development of the city to a certain scale. The lag of commercial housing causes it to delay making changes. There is no doubt about the contribution of population to housing in the study period.

Finally, urbanization drives the housing market. With the advancement of urbanization, the spatial scope of residential areas in the main urban zone of Xi’an has gradually expanded, and the rapid urbanization of Xi’an has also contributed to the development of the commercial housing market. Since 2006, the urban population of Xi’an has increased from 5.31 million to 10.34 million, and the urbanization rate increased to 79.59% in 2022 (Figure 7). Population urbanization has led to a significant increase in housing demand, especially for commercial housing, and the urbanization rate and the number of new commercial housings in Xi’an show a clear positive correlation, presenting a clear market-driven characteristic.

5.2. The Renewal of Urban Villages into Commercial Housing Projects Is a Prominent Characteristic in the Process of Residential Urbanization in China

The commercial housing projects converted from urban villages account for the proportion of 84.16% outside the Second Ring Road, and are equal to 59.4% between the Second and Third Ring Roads. In addition to the national housing policy, this spatial distribution pattern is also influenced by the following factors.

A series of development and construction activities in Xi’an have driven an increase in the number of urban village renovation projects outside the Second Ring Road. For example, the Xi’an High-Tech Industries Development Zone was established in 1991, the Xi’an Economic and Technological Development Zone was built in 1993, the Xi’an Qujiang New Zone was developed in 2003, and so on. All of these development zones are located outside the Second Ring Road of Xi’an, and they have been established and developed over time as they move closer to the Third Ring Road. The resulting large population as well as the demand for housing has directly or indirectly accelerated the construction of projects to renew urban villages in these areas into commercial housing. Subsequently, the Xi’an municipal government moved out from the city center area to between the Second and Third Ring Roads in 2011. This initiative has shifted the center of gravity of building in the city outward, and the city has begun to look for opportunities to build and develop more land outside the Second Ring Road. As a result, some villages that were originally retained in the city were renewed into commercial properties in a series of demolition and resettlement efforts by the government.

At the same time, after the central government changed its fiscal system in the late 1990s, the liberalization of local governments and regional competition intensified their need for revenue, and land sales became the main source of government-obtained revenue [62,63]. In the last two decades, the city of Xi’an has become very mature in terms of construction within the Second Ring Road, and the undeveloped raw land outside the Second Ring Road is gradually decreasing. Therefore, after the collective land in the urban villages outside the Second Ring Road is taken over by the government, the government can sell the land use rights to developers at a relatively high price, thus increasing the government’s financial revenue and stimulating the local real estate market [64]. This is one of the factors affecting the renewal of urban villages into commercial housing.

In a word, the renewal of urban villages into commercial housing projects is not only a special feature of the city of Xi’an, but also a common characteristic of new commercial housing in major cities of China. In the process of continuous development and growth of the city, it is the result of intensive land use within the city, as well as the consequences of natural, historical, and location factors.

5.3. The Urban Residential Development Path with Chinese Characteristics

The urban residential development path with Chinese characteristics is presented according to the three aspects, including the real estate market, residential space pattern, and the relationship with market need. They are introduced as follows, respectively.

Since 1978, the Chinese government’s market-oriented reforms have actually contributed to the development and rapid expansion of the property market. However, the real estate market of China is not intended to establish the free-market system of developed Western countries, but rather to achieve paid land use in a hierarchical manner by separating land ownership and use rights, and by introducing relevant factors and products into the real estate market, and then gradually increasing the level of the property market. These indicate that mainland cities have formed a housing market model with Chinese characteristics.

The urban residential space pattern and development process in China are unique. In the process of expanding the urban residential space based on commercial housing, the urban villages within the city are also being renewed at the same time, forming a spatial structure pattern of “external expansion accompanied by internal renewal”. The model demonstrates that the urbanization process in China is distinctly different from the “suburbanization” and “re-urbanization” phases in Western countries, but is in line with the goal of sustainable development, resulting in more vibrant cities.

In addition, commercial housing projects are closely linked to urbanization and market demand. As the growth rate of urbanization has leveled off, the cumulative increase in the total number of new commercial housing units has declined, and the number of new commercial housing projects each year has fluctuated in line with the demand in the housing market. This is due to the fact that urbanization in China is becoming more mature and stable, the demand for housing has shrunk, and the spatial and temporal evolution of urban residential space has also gradually stabilized. Therefore, this paper explores a model that effectively utilizes land intensively and expands and reconstructs the external and internal space of the city under the government-led and market-regulated roles [65].

6. Conclusions

Since the reform and opening up, China’s urban spatial organization has shifted from a planned economy to a market economy model with Chinese characteristics. During this process, the spatial and temporal evolution of urban residential space is also unique. In particular, we focus on the important role commercial housing has played. Over the study period, we observed that the total number of new commercial housing projects in Xi’an has increased, but the annual number of new projects added has continued to decrease. Meanwhile, the area is divided by the Second Ring Road. The commercial housing neighborhoods inside are predominantly small-scale, while those outside are medium- to large-scale, presenting the typical suburbanization characteristic. Spatially, new commercial housing projects continue to spread to the suburbs, with the center of gravity moving from the southwest to the northeast, in line with the city’s development direction.

The pattern of temporal and spatial changes in Chinese residential space differs significantly from other countries. Firstly, the evolution of urban residential space in new commercial housing projects is primarily influenced by national housing policies, whereas historical and cultural foundations, population housing needs, and industry-led economic development are the most critical external factors. Second, not all new commercial housing data used in this study come from the construction of raw land, with some being built following the demolition of urban villages (6.2 percent). Among these, a whopping 84.16 per cent are “The renewal of urban villages into commercial housing projects” outside of the Second Ring Road, which is related to the influence of government activities, industrial development zones, and government finances. This is a distinctive feature of urban residential space aiming to achieve intensive land use, improve residents’ living environment, and promote high-quality urban development. Lastly, unlike the processes of suburbanization and re-urbanization in Western countries, China’s urban residential space shows a pattern of “external expansion accompanied by internal renewal”.

Under the new economic normal, income growth has slowed for the government, real estate, residents and other parties, and the cost of new commercial housing has continued to rise. Therefore, in commercial housing development planning, attention should be paid to status quo research and long-term planning, clarifying the laws concerning the development of urban residential space and exploring the spatial and temporal mechanisms of urbanization, which will help to ensure that the spatial layout is in line with governmental expectations and the laws of the market. In Xi’an, the dynamics of spatial evolution in new commercial housing can directly serve as an indicator for the real estate sector in city planning and construction. As a major city in northwestern China, Xi’an’s influence extends over a number of western provinces. The evolution of urban residential space in Xi’an serves as both a reference and a target for all western provinces. Xianyang, located to the northwest of Xi’an and adjacent to its central area, is directly impacted by the development of commercial housing in Xi’an, influencing Xianyang’s city development plan. Similarly, Chengdu has a comparable ring-shaped urban structure and economic power to Xi’an, making it possible for the development and planning of urban residential space in both cities to be mutually integrated and exchanged.

In the future, Xi’an can adopt the following strategies to optimize urban residential space: (1) Strengthen urban renewal efforts and make efficient use of land within the city; (2) Slow the rate of land expansion and increase the rate of home purchases; (3) Improve the competitiveness of commercial housing outside the Second Ring Road and enhance surrounding supporting facilities, and promote population flow within the Second Ring Road to ease pressure on the inner city; and (4) In commercial housing construction, focus on Chang’an District, Huyi District, and Xixian New District outside the main urban area. These areas are closely linked to the main urban zone and are supported by numerous national policies.

Future studies should include more in-depth interviews and surveys to improve data accuracy and understanding of the causes behind the spatial and temporal evolution of residential space.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization X.B. and W.W.; formal analysis, X.B., L.L. and W.S.; writing—original draft preparation, all authors; writing—review and editing, X.B., W.W. and H.D.; supervision, X.B. and W.W. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the editors and anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful and constructive comments.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Footnotes

Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

Figures and Tables

Figure 1. Commercial housing in China.

Figure 2. Main urban zone of Xi’an, China.

Figure 3. Data calibration and validation.

Figure 4. Changes in the number of new commercial housing projects and the distribution of ring roads in Xi’an.

Figure 5. Statistics on the scale of new commercial housing in Xi’an.

Figure 6. Average construction time for new commercial housing in a 5-km circle centered on the Bell Tower.

Figure 7. Cumulative percentage of new commercial housing projects and urbanization rate in Xi’an.

Figure 8. Changes in the direction of new commercial housing and the migration of its center of gravity in Xi’an.

Figure 9. Spatial distribution of urban villages and shantytown renovation projects.

Figure 10. Analysis of housing-related policies and the number of commercial housing projects in Xi’an.

Figure 11. Cumulative percentage of new commercial housing projects and GDP in Xi’an.

Figure 12. Cumulative percentage of new commercial housing projects and population in Xi’an.

Table 1

Data processing steps.

Step	Operation	Instruction
1	Delete the item with the same name and keep the earliest time of the item.	The operation was done in Excel. There were multiple construction times for the same housing project at the time of data acquisition, and we retained one by merging and deleting it.
2	Delete a housing project whose attribute is Office Building.	The subject of the study needs to be a residential neighborhood. A total of 1857 items of data were obtained.
3	Delete housing projects that are not within the study area.	Each piece of housing data obtained has detailed address information. Checking this information eliminates invalid data. A total of 1780 items of data were obtained.
4	Add latitude and longitude information to each item in the Latitude and Longitude Lookup and Location website (http://jingweidu.757dy.com).	The name of the project was searched for and the correct latitude and longitude were determined by checking the full address in multiple results.
5	Import the new commercial property data into ArcGIS 10.4 and set the coordinate system to GCS_WGS_1984.	The tool “Add X\Y coordinates” was used to import.
6	Longitude and latitude spatial corrections for commercial housing projects.	Due to the encryption of the acquired latitude and longitude coordinates, there was a deviation between the added coordinates and the real coordinates, which was fixed. Therefore, we opened the ArcGIS network map, then evenly selected the project points and the actual points of a total of six groups, through the “spatial correction tool” for alignment.
7	Recheck the corrected commercial housing project data and exclude 127 projects outside the study area.	The corrected commercial housing project data was rechecked and 127 projects outside the study area were excluded.
8	Data validation.	The corrected points were selected according to the ratio of 10% to 20% and checked with the actual location to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the data on new commercial properties. A total of 1654 new commercial housing project data were obtained.

Table 2

Statistics on the size of new commercial housing projects in different rings (%).

Project Scale	≤10 Buildings	11–30 Buildings	>30 Buildings
Inner Ring Road	92.86	7.14	0
Between the First and Second Ring Roads	79.25	17.58	3.17
Between the Second and Third Ring Roads	58.24	32.11	9.65
Outside the Third Ring Road	37.50	49.04	13.46

Table 3

Distribution of urban villages and shantytown renovation projects in Xi’an.

Year	Inner Ring Road	Between the First and Second Ring Roads	Between the Second and Third Ring Roads	Outside the Third Ring Road
2006–2008	0	0	0	0
2009–2011	0	0	2	0
2012–2014	0	4	9	1
2015–2017	0	3	24	12
2018–2020	1	4	19	10
2021–2022	0	4	6	2
Total	1	15	60	25

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