Sustainable Exploration of “Plug-In Design” in Public Space of the Old City in Guangzhou: Case Study on Xudi-Gaodijie
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
General assessment
The paper mobilizes a set of ideas concerning urban regeneration methodology to improve the public space in the old city of Guangzhou, China. Presents as major valence to exploit the facts critically, and through a very good empirical demonstration, presenting the relationships established between different concepts in urban theory. The paper will thus meet the need for deepening of knowledge on one aspect that has been forgotten recently by many scholars in urban studies: The goal og plug in design to provide a centralized configuration runtime to promote modularity and scalability in processes of urban regeneration.
As it is written and structured, even with some theoretical and empirical deficiencies, we recommend the article for publication, but only after minor changes introduced by the author. Suggested changes, some deeper, some shallower follow in next evaluation more specific.
Specific assessment
1. The abstract should be restructured in order not just to present the author's thesis (the paper's main argument, that is already quite well), but also with a brief methodological note of how he obtained the results and what main findings he produced.
2. We suggest replacing the keyword "old city regeneration" with "urban regeneration", which should also appear in the title.
3. The introduction is relevant as to the intentions and objectives of the paper, with adequate size. The introduction is an overview of the content of the paper without going into too much detail. The author briefly describes the importance of the study area in a few paragraphs. It also specifies the relevance of the publication of the paper, ie, explains how their work contributes to the knowledge in this line of research of the urban studies.
4. The following sentences lack bibliographical references and sources that prove the facts stated, ie, in pages 2,3,4...
5. P.4, Are the lost spaces that the authors talk about urban voids, devoid of social and economic function? Can the authors briefly explain how these spaces came to be?
6. Are the figures and tables that appear on pages 12, 13, 14 created by the authors or do they have another source? In any case, it must be identified in the source. In the case of authorship, it must appear in the font "authors elaboration".
7. In point 3.3 the authors don´t mention negative consequences of the application mode of plug-in design. Can they suggest some negative impacts that be produced and how to avoid or mitigate them?
8. p.16, line 285: For those less knowledgeable in the matter and for a less informed reader, a brief explanation of what a BIM Technology Environment is all about is needed.
9. P.17: rethink in the social network analysis the connections between local shops, tourists and local residents.
10. In the conclusion section, it is necessary to add a paragraph with the concrete benefits that the planned intervention in plug in design methodology will allow and impact on local communities, in terms of public space, functional and commercial dynamics, free space gained for use and appropriation by the population and new users, among others.
Minor editing of English language required.
Author Response
- Most references are to Chinese authors, and the rest of the world is ignored.
On the one hand, this paper is based on the research of many old city problems in China, therefore, it tends to use domestic experience and methods for comparison and summary. On the other hand, the theoretical basis of this paper is based on the Plug-in City concept of the Archigram Group in the UK, and all methodological attempts are extended from Peter Cook's ideas. At the same time, our concept is influenced by the ideas urban catalysts theory, Jane Jacobs, and Colin Rowe, including some important case studies from abroad. Of course, perhaps due to only focusing on Plug-in Design and neglecting the in-depth exploration of other foreign concepts, now we have added the content of several reference books you mentioned as references in our paper.
- The topic is tied in with the design pattern approach, and the paper needs to identify several patterns that are relevant. See the 2 books by Alexander et al., and Mehaffy et al. to find the patterns -- there are lists online.
After reading the above two books, I believe that the values of our paper are in line with the ideas of the two scholars. We have studied and combined Plug-in Design with the concept of organic urban regeneration to avoid going back to the path of large-scale demolition and reconstruction to build a city. Therefore, I think we have identified our design methodology by creating a matching list - striving to achieve minimal impact on the city through micro regeneration.
- Insufficient attention is drawn on why the historic dimensions and connections are far superior for human life than what replaced them in other parts of the city. This is even more important than the actual project. For this, see the book Classic Planning by Nir Buras.。
Nir Buras' book“The Art of Classic Planning” provides a wealth of examples to illustrate in great detail the importance of well-considered urban design. Faced with the triple threat of rapid urbanization, climate change, and natural resource depletion, we urgently need to relearn the art of Building Beautiful and Enduring Communities as elaborated in “The Art of Classic Planning”. In our article, we also clarify that in the current context of rapid urban development in China, How to help cities achieve organic renewal and build beautiful and sustainable communities through subtle methods, I think our methodology and Buras share similar values.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
I really enjoyed reading this article, and academic articles are not always enjoyable. it was further enhanced by good-quality drawings and images, to complement the argument, and demonstrate very practically what plug-in methodology would entail in particular areas.
The fusion of plug-in methodology with the concept of urban repair and micro-generation was well presented. I thought more could have been elaborated on how 'urban repair' is aligned to Chinese value systems. It was said in passing, without saying more about what Chinese value systems are or how urban repair is aligned to that. Also, of course, one should hesitate to speak of value systems in singular form as nowadays in most contexts there are contesting or diversified value systems. Nevertheless, I was curious to know more about this, but it could perhaps be an article on its own - especially the idea of 'urban repair', also as it was defined. I find the possible 'spirituality' or 'ethos' of urban repair compelling.
One possible improvement or strengthening of the article could be to add something about the institutional arrangements. Who is responsible for the plug-in designs? Local government, local business, local citizens, heritage agencies? A combination? Whereas the imaginary is quite clear and very concrete, I was wondering, in this particular urban context, who would initiate or drive the process, what some of the obstacles or concerns would be, and how to navigate / negotiate it. Again, this might be a follow-up article, but here perhaps a short reference to this could assist, or strengthen the work even more.
Then, does the plug-in method only apply to public spaces, as the title seems to suggest, or can it apply to all kinds of urban spaces in a particular neighbourhood?
I found it a compelling piece of work, not only for the city in which the authors locate the work, but more generically for urban spaces everywhere.
Minor English editing might be needed just to make sure legibility or phrasing are always accurate. This is not to say I was unable to follow well, as it is a very well-written article. Here and there small improvements might just make it 100%.
Author Response
Thank you very much for your valuable comments. We have made a revision work in the manuscript.
