Abstract
Based on the investigation of inner-city villages in Guangzhou city, China, the study is aimed to clarify both the main policies associated with the formation of urban villages and the spatial evolution process of urbanizing villages. Conclusions can be given as follows: 1) Under the influence of industrial upgrading and immigration since 1990s, those villages have brought about the industrial transformation from the primary industry to the secondary and the tertiary, accompanied by a huge amount of housing construction within themselves; 2) Based on the location and the influence of policies, inner-city villages still have their own spatial characteristics in the old residential area. Environmental improvement in residential area should be undertaken on the context.
