A REVIEW ON THE RESEARCHES OF THE QUALITY OF URBAN LIFE AND THE QUALITY OF LIVING SPACE AND PROSPECT

Urban social space became one of the most important research areas in urban geography studies in the 20th century. The social and cultural processes of western countries are mainly concentrated on the urban society and the corresponding space because of their transformation from industrialized societies into post-industrialized societies and the researchers are focused on how to connect the quality of urban life with the structure of the quality of urban living space. Before 1970s, the researches were conducted on the quality of material life space by empirical methods. Afterward, as a result of globalization, the concept of humanism emerged. So it is possible to probe into the quality of social (cultural) living space by humanistic approach, which results the introduction of many new concepts and systems to social development planning and urban planning. The research and application on this area in China is later than that in western countries, and it is developed from different fields and different subjects. In order to provide the theories on the urban development and planning better, the authors review both the domestic and international researches and make a comparison from the research origin, the significance of the study, research phase and the evaluation index system. They also analysis the research methods, theoretical framework and research trends, which are helpful for further researches and provide a theoretical foundation and scientific basis for social and urban development and planning. This research not only provides a theoretical comparison between the quality of urban (social) life and the space quality of urban (social) life but also enriches the study of urban social geography.