This book should be considered not as a closed document, but as part of an evolving framework for research, visualization, and design investigation on urban transitions and regenerative urbanism in contemporary China. Shanghai is approached throughout this book not only as a case study, but as an evolving urban laboratory through which to investigate the relationships between architecture, adaptive reuse, infrastructure, ecology, and urban transitions in contemporary China. The atlas and visual materials included in this publication are part of an ongoing research platform investigating urban regeneration and urban transitions in Shanghai through architectural and design-oriented perspectives. Mappings, diagrams, drawings, and comparative visualizations were developed through direct observation, fieldwork, archival research, photographic documentation, and knowledge visualization methodologies. The research framework remains intentionally open, implementable, and continuously updatable, acknowledging the evolving and dynamic nature of urban transformation processes.

Tiziano Cattaneo, PhD, Architect, is Professor of Architectural Design at the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Pavia. He has been working between Italy and China in research, education and practice for more than ten years.