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Where is it?

Beijing, China

What is it?

Urban village in city centre.

Who did it?

With the dramatic urbanization, local residents expanded their buildings for accomodating more people.

What purpose does it fulfil?

Living, storing and retailing

What rules does it break (if any)?

It didn't follow the regulation in this city and built in diverse ways

Can it/should it be integrated into the formal framework?

I think it should be integrated into the city, but not the formal framework. From my view, the city should be more flexible and diverse, containing both the informal and formal framework.

How can the city accommodate informal initiatives?

I think we can make some adjustment in order to deal with the insecurity and make the informal activities happened in specific area which could produce least influence on surrounding formal city.

Does it belong to any "family" of informalities?

It belongs to Informality on  structured materials.

Are there any examples of similar informal interventions in different contexts?

Yes, there are many urban villages in Shenzhen, China while Shenzhen's urban village is much more active, because people live in here is young and creative and making big fortune for Shenzhen. In other words, urban village in Shenzhen is a representation of vitality while urban village in Beijing is a representation of poverty.

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