1. Introduction
With the development of urbanization, immigrants become one of the special and important parts of metropolises. The issue of their integration into local society has become a new topic for many researchers. Especially in China, with the thirty years of reform and open relations, a huge number of domestic immigrants have migrated into the big urban areas. They are facing many obstacles in their struggle to make a position in a new environment. Is there anything that the urban planners and designers can do to help them blend into the society and give them a sense of belonging and identity? This research will make efforts to address this question and discuss the relation between immigrants and urban environments, particularly the public open spaces by a series of research methodologies. Some literatures will be reviewed and discussed to give a general understanding of the relation between urbanisation and immigrants and the effects of public open space. Then, in order to narrow the research scope, the investigation of immigrants’ social integration condition will be conducted in Guangzhou which is one of the most developed metropolises in China with large amounts of domestic immigrants. Moreover, the white-collar immigrants were chosen as the main research target group. In general, “white-collar” refers to a salaried professional or an educated worker who performs semi-professional office, administrative, and sales coordination tasks, as opposed to a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor (Mills 1951). In this research, the term “white-collar” mainly indicates people with a certain level of incomes and education background. They can also be generally considered as middle class in the society. They are the mainstream in most of Chinese metropolises, so it is representative to study their condition of local society integration and helpful to enlighten some issues of the other groups of immigrants.

2. Literature review
2.1. Mutual Attraction and Conflicts ------the Relation between Urban and Immigrants
It is generally accepted that a great number of people migrating into city for more career opportunities (Morrison and Zabusky, 1993), proper social welfare (Klopp, 2002) and better living standard and environment. Rishbeth (2004) had obtained the observation that Chinese and Indian sub-continent newcomers were surprised at the greenery, quietness and fresh air when their arrived at UK. In most cases showed that most internal migrants in China have gone through the similar psychological experience. However, the first reason of most Chinese emigrations lays on self-value realization and money making. It seems that In the past 30 years, with the unequal development of economy, society and city construction in China, people who mostly are from towns, small cities and other underdeveloped cites were attracted by social resources, opportunities and environment of those metropolis such as Beijing and Shanghai (Lv 2005, Ren& Wu 2006, Zhao & Wang 2002). It is understandable that people who decide to leave their homeland and put themselves into a new environment are generally with high expectations on their new life and huge ambitions to realize their self values. On the other hand, most big cities of China warmly welcome those immigrants especially the elite groups, because they will increase the labor force and create a huge amount of values for the urban areas. However, when immigrants have fulfilled their material requirements and achieved their self-value, it is doubtful that whether or not do their mental need have been satisfied? Do they own the sense of belongings or social identity in the new place? There is an undeniable phenomenon that many local residents discriminate against immigrants, mainly to internal, despite the fact that immigrants have created a lot of values. It is quite certain that local people thought the new comers have threatened and occupied their social resources (Klopp, 2002). In addition, it had been studied that geographical bias (McKay and Whitelaw, 1978) or race bias (Painter, Gabriel and Myers, 2001) generally exists. In China, it is widely agreed that people who from Henan Province have been suffered from discrimination (Zhu, 2009). However, It is predicted that immigrant groups, white-collar immigrants are the most likely to integrate into the local community. They are the most representative group in immigrants who really fought for their positions in urban centres. Most of these immigrants were engaged in knowledge or technology fields such as teachers, doctors or accountants that have a comparatively good income and more respectable social position. Some writers said that immigrants were discriminated because of their own income, education and economy level, as Painter, Gabriel and Myers (2001) believed it is assumed that the situation will improve when newcomers’ economic level and social status reach a certain level. Stodolska (1998) also suggested that the economic success of immigrants is a key factor of their integration into the mainstream of local society: since economic success is often associated with a certain degree of confidence, highly economically assimilated individuals who feel better about themselves may find it easier to develop personal contacts with members of the mainstream. However, Klopp (2002) argued that even if the majority of immigrants had improved their housing condition and quality, the groups still feel discrimination and difficulties:' A majority has lived and worked in Germany for more than ten years, and foreigners have become fixtures in all cities ... Nevertheless, many still regard foreigners as" guests" who are not expected to burden" their German hosts" by becoming unemployed and drawing welfare benefits, a view that overlooks the fact that foreign workers are taxpayers too.’(P 58) Compared to others countries, immigrants including the white-collar groups in China are mainly internal migrants. Local residents in big cities usually have their own superiority and a sense of rejection of immigrants because of their fear that immigrants replace their jobs and occupy their social position. Therefore, despite the fact that white-collar immigrants in China might be easily to blend into society, discrimination still exists to some level. For the immigrants, as well as the pressure of being discriminated against, there are many other obstacles to blending into the society. Altman & Chemers were worried about the newcomers: ‘Language is often incomprehensible. Street noises are different, stores sell items with which one is unfamiliar, the stores themselves may be in unusual places or arranged in strange ways. Furthermore, living styles may be unfamiliar…for many newcomers to a city; these and other factors convey a feeling of diversity, complexity, and confusion.’ (P 256-257). In China, even two geographically close towns have different local linguistics. Most local people feel more intimacy and comfortable to communicate with people who speaks the same language, which conveys an identity of culture. It is also difficult to integrate all the local language by Mandarin because usually local people prefer to use the local dialect and it may cause damage on traditional culture. In addition, many scholars worried that a great number of immigrants will undermine the native culture. Carmona (2003) has showed their worries about negative aspects of globalization in their research: ‘With globalization has come' mass' culture, emerging from the processes of mass production, marketing and consumption, which homogenize and standardize cultures and places, transcending, crowding out, even destroying, local cultures.’ However, other researchers concluded that the physical environment of urban can be shared by different cultures and new alternative life-styles can be evolved by them (Altman & Chemers, 1984). Actually, every culture, language and ways of life is different and no variety is superior to another, and should at least be given enough respect. As Zhang and Han (2009) indicated that it is necessary to eliminate discrimination and bias in the society because they will cause negative impacts on building a fair and harmonious society. Urban managers should encourage the co-existing of different cultures and pay enough respects on immigrants. 2.2. Understanding and Merging ----- the Effects of Public Open Space
Public space, which is an essential part of our urban life , has a significant effect on people’s behavior and can promote communication between people (Woolley, 2004). It was considered as necessity for a democratic city form (Lynch 1980; Sennett 1982). Public space might be an efficient tool to guide people’s behavior, affect their psychology and promote communication. Therefore, it is possible that public space can help immigrants to integrate into society. Woolley (2004) believed that social problems such as discrimination will be reducing when public space is appropriately designed: ‘the better the design of the space in question, the better the quality of the social experience.’ She also agreed the public space can promote neighbourliness and help social inclusion. On a small scale, the space nearby our home can be a lovely garden to socialize with our neighbours; large scale, community parks and garden can create a real sense of neighbourhood when different background people visiting there. Carmona et al (2003) mentioned the relationship with space and society. They said urban designer should sufficiently think about the patterns of human activity and social life when they plan or design the place. But very little research has considered the diverse populations using the public spaces . However, Rishbeth (2007) found evidence that open space can be defined by cultural background. According to Loukaitou-Sideris (1995), different user groups have a variety of feelings and the use of pattern. For example, Hispanics use their neighborhood park alomost every day, but Caucasians rarely use it. Numerous studies (Gold, 1973; Feitelson, 1995; Chiesura, 2004; Maruani and Anit-Cohen, 2007) have already found that only diverse open spaces can adapt to people’s needs, especially people from different groups of population; they related this diversity of use to factors focused on users’ needs (accessibility, visibility and suitability to special needs). It appears that public space should be welcoming to all, regardless of ethnic group, age or gender . Parks should be designed to protect the peaceful coexistence of different users, instead of creating tension, as Olmsted’s essentially democratic perception that the park is a place shared by all population groups (Loukaitou-Sideris, 1995). Van Deusen (2002) indicated that designer should consider the rights of public during the transformation of public space: It is in the right to access, enjoy and participate in urban life, that we must measure how the work of urban designers either denies or provides the ability to exercise that right (P 150). He developed the four axes of changing aspects of public space: struggle, exclusion, representation and justice. However, many precedents showed the park as a battleground where different social groups fight for resources instead of being a melting pot (Loukaitou-Sideris, 1995). Therefore, Loukaitou-Sideris (1995) consented that public space designers should consider carefully the different popular needs, feelings and values and shape their design and management strategies accordingly. People’s emotions and feelings about landscape are based upon comparative experience and memory (Walker and Ryan, 2008). After understanding the potential use of green space, Finney and Rishbeth (2006) offered some suggestions and experiences in their paper. One of the most crucial things is to understand that the histories of participants’ using green space for leisure was closely linked with their homeland memories. Francis (1992) said space needs to offer variety to users:’ they need to be unique and different from one another- each rooted in their own particular historical, geographical, physical or cultural context.’(P 16) Rishbeth (2007) pointed out that architect, landscape architect or planner should rethink about different patterns of sociability, social injustice and issue of equality of provision. Parks should be designed to protect the peaceful coexistence of different users, instead of creating tension. For instance, decision-makers and designers should consider what type of park activities and programming which better suit the different user groups . To sum up, it is necessary to realize that different people have different needs for public landscapes. City planners should change the simple basis of public space design and consider immigrants’ need, so that immigrants can have their sense of belongings in the city. 3. Research Methodologies:
This project does not aim to do quantitative research and cover all aspects but to provide some specific information that will help immigrants to integrate into the metropolis, it will also, throw light on how better to respond the needs of immigrants by city planners and designers. Since most studies about immigrant topics are from Europe and America, there are fewer relevant documents from developing countries such as China. Therefore, a city of China—Guangzhou was selected as the main study city. In the beginning of reform and opening in China, the population of Guangzhou was about 3 million people (Statistics Bureau of Guangdong). By 2009, Guangzhou had become an international metropolis while its population has become more than 10 million people and approximately 20% of them were immigrants (Statistics Bureau of Guangdong). Indeed, these immigrants have played an important role in local socio-economic development and urban construction and my family is also one of them. When I was 5 years old, my parents and I moved to Guangzhou from Anhui. Because most of my childhood was spend in Guangzhou, I have made local friends, learned to speak Cantonese and was influenced by the local culture. It seems much easier for me to blend into the local society and adapt to the local life than my parents. As to them, after decades of struggling, my parents own a house and car in Guangzhou and both have a decent job with relatively comfortable income. They still rarely contact with local people with the language barrier and differences between life styles. It seems that they have realized their value, but they are still “outsiders” of the local society. Their embarrassing actual situation aroused my interests. My Parents only prefer to socialize with their fellow-townsmen since they moved to Guangzhou. They all have been through the similar experiences with my parents, which provided me more convenience and feasibility to do this research. Secondly, most of these immigrants are from places economically backward as suburbs, rural area and less developed cities such as Anhui, which is one of the poorest provinces in China. There is a traditional thought in Anhui that is a real man must broaden his vision in different places and achieve his dream so that he can gain a beautiful woman’s love. Therefore, Anhui people respect more on young people who can study well which is the only way in ancient China to have an opportunity to leave their poor hometown. It is also one of the reasons why Anhui immigrants spread all over Chinese land till today. In other words, most Anhui immigrants can gain a great sense of achievement when they get success depending on their own efforts in a strange land. They are already unable to adapt the poor and tough environment in their home town despite of their feeling of homesick.
Since this study has a limited time schedule, this research has selected a particular immigrant group as the main research focus and explores their interaction with one study area. The research will apply two methods in order to gather qualitative data. The methods, which are outlined below include site observations and mapping and family group interviews. 4.1 On-Site Survey Methods:
4.1.1. Location:
The selected site can be described as an urban public space while there are also many community public spaces such as community parks, school fields and residential gardens. The reason of the choice of an urban public space is that it can reflect the respect and solicitude of a city towards all the citizens and the justification in urban spaces, while a community public space focus more on its constant user group. Ersha is an island situated in the centre of Guangzhou, surrounded by Zhujiang River. It is well connected with the south side of the river (Haizhu district) and the north side (Yuexiu district) by two city main roads and underground railways. It is well known as an up-market residential district with many villas and low density residential quarters. Because of its unique river landscapes and corresponding decent public facilities, such as art galleries, a music hall and different kinds of restaurants etc., the riverside public spaces are very popular with not only the island residents but also other Guangzhou citizens. 4.1.2. Choice of site:
Like Place de la Concorde in Paris and London eye area in London, the riverside public space in Ersha Island is also a landmark and highly recognized by people in Guangzhou. Its central and well accessible location and pleasant landscape make the area very popular. Therefore, this area is less localized but open and favoured by every people in Guangzhou including the immigrants. In addition, all the selected immigrant families who would be interviewed after on-site survey have a relatively high reorganization on Ersha Island. It is easier for them to give their opinions and draw their usage maps. 4.1.3. On-Site Survey Area:
The on-site survey was mainly taken in the north shore of the island which is the most attractive place there. There is a riverside promenade together with some public plazas and buildings such as Xinhai Music Hall and Guangdong Museum of Art. Meanwhile there are many slap-up restaurants and high-quality entertainment places at the riverside, such as some massage parlors and a bowling alley. This area consists of different kinds of spaces and public facilities, which can give both local people and immigrants many choices. Since this area provides more choices, people can be much freer to feel at ease in the way they use these spaces. Consequently, it is easier for the researcher to find the differences and similarities between different groups of people. 4.1.4. Data collection:
The site was visited on the morning and night time on weekdays and the whole day on weekends. According to the general time schedule and life habit of Chinese people, two periods of time were selected for on-site survey. The morning time slot, 6:30AM to 8:30AM, was chosen because it is before most people’s working time and also many retired elderly people prefer to go outside in morning. The evening time slot, 7:30PM to 9:30PM, is a peak time of people’s using public space because it’s after dinner and has a more pleasant temperature. Most of the concerts and activities are also held during this time within a brightly-lit night view. In addition, a weekend day was chosen to conduct a survey in since Ersha island is a popular place for families to spend their leisure time. Choosing these periods of time when people’s usages are more intensive could help to record more information of different users’ behavior, which made the results more objective. A plan of the site was drawn at first and several copies were made. People’s behavior patterns were recorded on the map every 2 hours, showing individual people’s position and behavior. Photos that could show how people use different spaces were also taken during the map drawings as complementary data. people were also asked enquired whether they were local people or immigrants,which was especially paid attention to and marked on the map. 4.2 Interview Methods:
4.2.1. The Selection of Participants
Patton (1990) states that “the logic of purposeful sampling lies in selecting information rich cases for study indepth”. As this paper is committed to gain a more specific, qualitative and niche targeting results and considering the time and restriction resource, this research use a more targeted sampling method rather than a random sampling which require a larger number of participants for quantitative conclusions. Five families from Anhui province were chosen as study objects. Anhui immigrants account a considerable proportion in the whole immigrant population in Guangzhou. In addition, I myself am from an Anhui immigrant family who has lived in Guangzhou for more than 20 years. As Chinese people tend to have a more genial bond with their fellow-townsman, my family also know and make friends with many families from Anhui. I was able to identify participants through my family connections. This approach has the following advantages. It is easier for to arrange the interviews and communicate with the participants. Moreover, “family” was considered as the research unit instead of individual people for reasons as follows:
Firstly, the interview was held in the family setting so that the opinions from both the adults and children, female and male can be recorded together.
Secondly, according to Chinese people’s habits, the usage of public spaces usually happens with family members, such as strolling with the spouse and parents playing with child.
However, different opinions from different family members were also recorded and considered as one part of the family’s behaviour pattern. 4.2.2. Interview topics:
The interview questions were mainly divided into three parts while some more detailed questions would be asked depending on different situations:
Part 1--- Basic Background Questions: family structure, family members’ age, gender and position, home location.
Part 2 --- Immigration situation: When immigrate? Why immigrate? What was the First impression and what is the present impression of Guangzhou? Whether or not do you socialize with many local people? Where does the socialization happen usually? Do you feel being excluded as an outsider sometimes and if yes, when and where did that happen? Etc.
Part 3 --- Usage of public spaces: Which public spaces in Guangzhou that you prefer to use? How many times do you go there each week? Why do you prefer to be there? Do you communicate with local people there? Etc.
Part 4 --- Usage of the survey area. In this part of the study the family was interviewed with a map of the survey area together with a series of photos of the site that can help them visualize the map. Then they were asked to think about their usage of the site including: Which spaces do they often stay? What do they usually do in these different spaces? Do they communicate with local people there? And their opinions about different spaces etc. They were also asked to draw their favourite route on the map. 4.2.3. Data collection:
Each interview was held in the family home and lasted for approximalty hour and a half. Participants answered the questions verbally. The interviews were digitally recorded. The interviews were then transcribed. Their opinions were also recorded on the map by both writings and drawings. 4.2.4. Data analysis:
The maps collected from on-site survey were compared with the maps conducted in the interviews. Analysis was focused on the familiarities and differences between local people’s and immigrants’ habits of using the site. 4.2.5. Potential limitation
It is important to realize that there are some unavoidable limitations to this research methodology, which might lead to some deviations of the results:
1. It was difficult to recognize every local people when drawing the maps on-site even though I tried to mark them as accurately as I could.
2. The on-site research was launched in summer when Guangzhou had a very hot weather, so the weather condition might influence some people’s usage of the site.
3. Since it was difficult to arrange immigrant families to have interview on the site, the in-home interview might limit the families’ opinions about the site.
4. Limitations of the sample size and recruitment methods which relied on family connections. 4. Results:
5.1 On-site survey results
The 1st record:
Time: 6:30 AM, Tuesday
Weather condition: Sunshine
There are several old people and one middle-aged runner in the site. Three old people are standing and talking under a tree shade, some people are preparing to dance or do shadowboxing and some individuals have already begun to do some exercises. The runner is running along the riverside promenade.
The 2nd record:
Time: 8:30 AM, Tuesday
Weather condition: Sunshine
The number of people in the site is rising. There are about 5 people walking who seems on their way to work. Some old people are exercising, some are resting on the steps and seats and some are walking.
The 3rd record:
Time: 19:30 PM, Tuesday
Weather condition: Nice and cool
There are about 75 people in the site. 4 packmen are selling while some people are circus seeing. One is renting small electric car for children, one is renting bicycles, one is hosting a ring toss game and one is selling drinks. Three street performers are preparing their instruments. Some young men are riding bicycles along the river and some people are strolling. There are some people resting in the small gardens.
The 4th record:
Time: 21:30 PM, Tuesday
Weather condition: Nice and cool, a little windy
There are about 12 people watching the street band performance. 5 people are fishing and some people are watching. Many people in group of 2 to 5 are walking along the river and sometimes resting against the railing.
The 5th record:
Time: 6:30 AM, Saturday
Weather condition: Sunshine
Two people are running and one young man are riding bicycle. Some old people are preparing for exercising. Two old people are resting in the small garden.
The 6th record:
Time: 8:30 AM, Saturday
Weather condition: Sunshine
Three young men are walking across the art gallery square. Two people are walking into the music hall. About 5 old people are resting on the steps under a tree shade.
The 7th record:
Time: 19:30 PM, Saturday
Weather condition: Nice and cool.
There are about 10 people in the front of the door of the music hall and over 20 people in the music hall square. Most people are travelling at the riverside. They are doing different activities such fishing, playing and watching performance.
The 8th record:
Time: 21:30 PM, Saturday
Weather condition: Nice and cool.
It is the time that a musical ends. About hundreds of people are gushing out from the music hall. There also many people walking out of the restaurants.
After on-site recording, all the maps were overlaid together and came out Graph 5.1.9, which exhibited each people’s situation and moving direction. Some photos that can show people’s activities were also attached.
The people in the maps can be classified into staying people group and moving people group. Staying people group can be further classified into assembling people group which presents that different groups of people are gathering and there is some communications happened and independent people group which presents groups of about 1 to 5 people who are relatively isolated. As see Graph 5.1.10, it generalized all the people’s behaviour pattern in the map. Most of the assembling people groups are distributed at the riverside promenade near the music hall and the independent people groups are more disperse. The directions of some moving people are very stochastic but most of them are positively conducted by the riverside promenade.
5.2 Interview results: 5.2.2. Part 2: Immigration situation
Family A
Immigration time: 1994, 16 years.
Professor Xia and his wife moved to Guangzhou because of the “Talent schemes” of Guangzhou. He thought that Guangzhou’s reforming and opening started very earlier and he would have better personal development. However, both he and his wife’s first impression of Guangzhou was “disordered and noisy” and “a very high density of buildings”. They said that because of their work, they frequently deal with local people usually in their working places and restaurants. They don’t feel that they were excluded but they admitted that there are some estrangements because of the differences of culture and language. For example, they never understand why Guangzhou people love kicking shuttlecocks and they will never participate in. However, Xia Xin said she loved this sport in her high school. She can speak Cantonese (Guangzhou dialect) very well and has some close friends who are local. Family B
Immigration time: 1990, 20 years
Because of work needs, Mr. He was dispatched to Guangzhou and he brought his family. Their first impression of Guangzhou was “many high buildings, more than Anhui” and “very green city”. They usually deal with Guangzhou people in work and sometimes they will go out with their neighbors who are local people to places such as Ersha island, Baiyun mountain Park and their community park. They don’t feel being excluded and they even have a superiority feeling. They thought that they had already developed a sense of belonging to Guangzhou. Family C
Immigration time: 1992, 18 years
Moving to Guangzhou also because of the “Talent schemes” of Guangzhou, the Zhu’s thought that Guangzhou had rich resources of both mountains and rivers and was very suitable for living. They did sometimes communicate with local people, except from in the working places for work needs, mostly in the community garden. Mr. Zhu and his wife didn’t feel that they were excluded. However, Zhu Wenqi said he felt excluded in his childhood when he can’t speak Cantonese and didn’t know how to play the local games. “I remember that the other children won’t let me join their game and I can only play by myself in the park” he said, “but in the community park, I found some little friends who have the similar immigration background.” He felt more blended in now but he stated that all his closest friends are not local. Family D
Immigration time: 1989, 21 years
They moved to Guangzhou because of work needs. The first impression of Guangzhou was “dirty, construction plants everywhere” but “many tree shades”. Both Mr. Wang and his wife seldom communicate with local people. They said: “we feel more comfortable being with our fellow-townsmen and we will never learn how to live like a local Guangzhou people such as getting up very early for morning tea.” They were not sure about whether they were excluded or discriminated but they just thought that there are seldom opportunities for them to communicate with local people. Most of the study family didn’t feel being excluded, however, there are more or less some estrangements between them and the local people and local culture. Most of their communications with local people are in work places and sometimes in their community parks. Language differences seem to be the biggest barrier and some small differences between cultures may also cause estrangements. 5.2.3. Part 3: Usages of public spaces
Family A
Public spaces often used: Baiyun mountain park, Ersha island riverside, community park
Frequency of going to Ersha island: about once a week
Perception of Ersha island: “fresh air”, “with a very nice culture atmosphere”, “people there seem to be very tasteful”, “It seems a little crowded when there is a concert, but most of the time, it’s quiet and peaceful”
Communication with local people: “Very rare”, sometimes talk with the local people fishing there. Family B
Public spaces often used: Ersha island riverside, community park
Frequency of going to Ersha island: about twice a week
Perception of Ersha island: “very beautiful night view”, “it is unique, you can’t find any other places that can be compared with Ersha island”, “very convenient to access”, “people there seem “high quality”, which makes me feel comfortable”, “different kinds of activities make it very lively”, “ a good place to walk our dog”
Communication with local people: “Sometimes”, “sometimes we listened to the street music performances, sometimes we talked about kids with others, we also talked with other dog walkers about pets.” , “It depends, when I saw people doing something interesting, I would want to speak to them.” Family C
Public spaces often used: Luhu landscape park, Ersha island riverside, community park
Frequency of going to Ersha island: about once a week
Impression of Ersha island: “with a elegant cultural atmosphere”, “It is more beautiful and vibrant than our community park”, “people there seem to have the same level with ours”, “we can have dinner and listen to a concert there. There also many other activities that we can participate in”
Communication with local people: “Not very often, but sometimes when there was an event worthy to talk about, such as watching children skating, seeing a people fishing a big one etc.” Family D
Public spaces often used: Ersha island riverside, community park
Frequency of going to Ersha island: about once a week
Impression of Ersha island: “very tidy, well managed”, “there is no other places like Ersha which has a good landscape and elegant atmosphere”, “it is suitable for strolling and talking with families”, “it have many Guangzhou landmarks and characters of Guangzhou culture, sometimes we bring visiting friends here”
Communication with local people: “hardly”, “I feel embarrassing to talk with strangers, I mean, what if he speak Cantonese to me”. “maybe sometimes when I thought it would be awkward if I didn’t talk with others.” All the study families have a certain sense of approval towards Ersha island. They prefer the beautiful and green landscape and the elegant cultural atmosphere there. They also thought that the other people who prefer being there had the same taste with theirs, which makes them more comfortable and willing to communicate. Most of them have built a sense of belongings and proudness and they are willing to bring a friend to visit there. It seems that some activities that evoke their interest and curiosity will engender some conversations with local people, which is a good way for them to blend in and understand more about Guangzhou’s culture. 4.1.1. Part 4: Mapping of the survey area.
Each family was interviewed about some specific spaces with photos. Each space that the interviewers are especially interested in is labelled on the map and further opinions about these spaces were asked.
Family A:

Graph 5.2.4.1 Map from family A interview

Photograph 5.2.4.2 Photo of Spot B Photograph 5.2.4.3 Photo of Spot A

Photograph 5.2.4.4 Photo of Spot C Opinions about Spot A: “the view is very beautiful; I will stay here against the railing for a while.” “No, I won’t talk to other people when I’m enjoying the view.”, “It will be better if people can be more close to and even touch the water.”
Opinions about Spot B: “I like to sit here and have a rest”, “I can enjoy the view and it is also interesting to watch other people”, “may be a very short conversation with the people sitting next to me, but just occasionally.”
Opinions about Spot C: “I will sit in the green space instead of sit on the steps.”, “It is a quiet place, different from the other place”, “If it is in a day time, I will definitely sit here because of the shade.”

Family B:

Graph 5.2.4.5 Map from family B interview Photograph 5.2.4.6 Photo of Spot A Photograph 5.2.4.7 Photo of Spot B

Photograph 5.2.4.8 Photo of Spot C
Opinions about Spot A: “I once rented a bike with my friend and ride along the river. It was fun!”, “The promenade seems to be too monotones and boring. It will be more interesting to have some platforms close to water.”
Opinions about Spot B: “It is a vibrant place.”, “It is always interesting to watch performance.”, “yes, maybe I’ll discuss music with others.”
Opinions about Spot C: “I think Guangzhou people like fishing. I don’t know why but it is interesting to see people fishing here”, “I once saw a man fished out a very big fish and I asked him some techniques of fishing.” Family C:

Graph 5.2.4.9 Map from family C interview

Photograph 5.2.4.10 Photo of Spot A Photograph 5.2.4.11 Photo of Spot B

Photograph 5.2.4.12 Photo of Spot C Photograph 5.2.4.13 Photo of Spot D Opinions about Spot A: “Yes, I remembered that there is always a ringtoss game in this place. It is strange that people are still in to this game.”
Opinions about Spot B: “There are often many children playing here when parents looking at. It is a very vibrant place.”
Opinions about Spot C: “It is a very vibrant place.”, “I think people here feel comfortable and relax.”
Opinions about Spot D: “I like here, it is quieter than other places. I can running here.” Family D:

Graph 5.2.4.14 Map from family D interview

Photograph 5.2.4.15 Photo of Spot A Photograph 5.2.4.16 Photo of Spot B

Photograph 5.2.4.17 Photo of Spot C Photograph 5.2.4.18 Photo of Spot D Opinions about Spot A: “It is interesting to watching people fishing.”, “Every time when I saw people fishing here, I want to have a try myself.”
Opinions about Spot B: “The view here is very beautiful, no wonder why some visitors took photos here.”
Opinions about Spot C: “It is a very vibrant place.”, “People are singing Cantonese song there, I can’t understand but it is nice to hear.”
Opinions about Spot D: “There are less people here.”, “If I have the opportunity, I will want to talk with those street performers. I’m curious with their lives. But I guess it will be rude.”

5. Discussion:
Both the on-site survey and interview data were combined together to analyze and summarize the positive characters of Ersha Island landscape which can promote the social integration of immigrants and some negative characters that can be improved for the sake of immigrants. 6.1. Positive Characters of Ersha Island:
Viewed from a big picture of Ersha Island recreational spaces, this place has carried out a unique “brand effect”. Xinghai Concert Hall and Guangzhou Museum of Art have given Ersha a high-end cultural position, those fancy restaurants and services have endowed it a high-end recreational position and the fresh air, high landscaping ratio and unique river view have offered it a high-end landscape image. At the same time, those street vendors, street games and performances bring a very popular and robust atmosphere to this place, which makes an interesting contrast with the elegant feeling while also works compatibly together. This is what unique about this place and the reason that innumerable people come for different activities. One the one hand, people coming to Ersha can gain a kind of self-affirmation. Since the traffic here is not very convenient, most people come here by driving. In China, owning a car is a symbol of social status and economic strength. According to the interviews of the four study families, all of them would go to Ersha Island by their car and they seemed to be very confident when they mentioned that. In addition, some consumption here is relatively expensive. For example, a dinner meal in the restaurant or a concert ticket may cost half month income of an ordinary labourer. Therefore, being in Ersha actually satisfies people’s psychological need of showing their social status, which gives them a sense of pride. On the other hand, it forms a new life style in Ersha Island: drive here and have dinner at night, then watch a concert, stroll at the riverside after the concert and participate some popular activities. This life has corresponded the general psychology of middle class who are willing to accept the popular entertainments as well as the high-end enjoyments, which provides white-collar immigrants opportunities to understand local public culture at the same time when they accepting the more international and exquisite culture. What’s more important, Professor Xia, Mr. He and Principal Zhu all stated that one of the reasons that they like Ersha was for the other users here seem to have the similar taste with theirs, which made them feel more comfortable and safe. There is a famous ancient Chinese quotation from “Stratagems of the Warring States” which means people of a kind easily come together. Immigrants here tend to release their mentality guard when the other people prefer the same life style and have the similar social status and economic strength with them. Consequently, it will promote the chances of communication between immigrants and local people under the harmonious atmosphere and beautiful landscape. It is thus clear that cultural characters and compatible atmosphere created by an urban public space can encourage the harmony between people. Especially for immigrant group who desire for a sense of belongings and identity, they prefer environments that can relax both their body and mind, and facilitate them to participate in local activities and communicate with local people. Viewed from spatial aspect, according to the final site map Graph 6.1.1, the site can be divided into two kinds of spaces: moving space and staying space. There are some specific spaces that are worthy to be further analysed (Graph 6.1.2).
Graph 6.1.1

Graph 6.1.2

Space 1:

Photograph 6.1.3 Photograph 6.1.4
This space is close to Xinghai Concert Hall which attracts many people with its bright lights and an open square. There are two double steps platforms under a row of trees with big canopy and a small square between the two platforms. Different kinds of events and activities happen in this square such as children roller skating, people playing a ringtoss game and some street vendors selling. The steps provide people seating and shades. This is a space that can evoke communications between people. For example, in the on-site survey, there were some parents sitting at the steps and watching the children playing small electrombiles. They seemed didn’t know each other but they ended up talking about their kids. In the interview, both Mr. Wang and Mr. Zhu said that they thought it was a vibrant place and they sometimes would stay there for a rest. “It was interesting to watch different people playing. I remembered once I saw a very adorable little kid playing and I asked her parents how old she was and ended up talking about each other’s jobs.” Mr. Zhu said. The activities of kids and some interesting games can not only attract local people but also immigrants. “Children” is always the favourite topic between parents and being in a place where children playing and laughing can release the estrangement between people. In addition, interesting games and selling goods are also attractions for people. Those events in the space provide more opportunities of communication and participation in, which are positive for immigrants to integrate in the local life. Space 2:

Photograph 6.1.5 Photograph 6.1.6
Space 2 is a part of the riverside promenade that is wider than that in Space 1 so that there are more activities at the riverside. It is between a green belt and the riverbank with a row of street lights. According to the on-site survey, it was as vibrant as Space 1 at night but there are more street performances in Space 2 since it is closer to the river and has a more romantic feeling. Those performances such as singing and playing magic have attracted many people. All of the interviewed families indicated that they loved to watch those performances even some of them are very local. For example, in one of the morning survey, an old man was singing Cantonese opera towards the river with some other people listening; and at night, there was a street band singing Cantonese songs. The interviewers said “Oh, yes, I loved those street performances, I would stay and enjoy for a while.” “It was always very nice to listen to some music in open spaces with a good view no matter we understood the lyrics or not.” “Well, I wouldn't talk to the performers but may be the audiences. If people were talking about the show, I might also make some comments.” Spaces that can encourage spontaneous performance are very common in many famous urban public spaces such as Photograph 5.1.1. It can make a place more vibrant and interesting as well as showing the cultural characters of the place. In the case of Ersha Island, the performances can arouse the interests of immigrants and encourage them to experience the local culture at some extend. Space 3:

Photograph 6.1.5 Photograph 6.1.6
Space 3 is composed by a series of small spaces enclosed by the green belts next to Space 2. It provides some woody seating between lines of well managed shrubs under tree shades. It is a more peaceful and quiet semi-private space different from Space 1 and Space 2. However, according to the on-site survey, it is a very popular space for people to rest and stay. Three maps of the study families showed that they would also stay here. Mr. He said that “I won’t talk with strangers here, it feels brusque.” Mr. Zhu said “It seems a very private place and I think people would rather have their own time here.” Mr Xia said “Seating here, watching the people moving and the river view and talking with my families is a kind of enjoyment, of course I don’t want some stranger to interrupt.” It can be concluded that this kind of semi-private or private spaces may be difficult to promote communication between strange people but still necessary in public spaces. People in this space feel safe and comfortable and are interested at watching other people. As to immigrants with more or less a feeling of being excluded, they also need such spaces to enjoy some time of their own. Space 4:

Photograph 6.1.7 Photograph 6.1.8
Space 4 is a specific area for fishing. For some reason, Guangzhou people like to fishing at Zhu River which is one of the few big city rivers in China that full of fish. There is a fishing spot in the riverside promenade where a group of people are fishing, which also makes there a conversation spot. People walking by would be curious about their achievement of fishing and kids were excited about seeing fish in their barrels. Once in the on-site survey, there was a Guangzhou man fished out a big tortoise that attracts many people circuseeing and talking about it. A child and his parents were talked about the tortoise with Mandarin while the Guangzhou man talked to them with non-fluent Mandarin: “be careful with the tortoise, it may bite you.” The parents said “haven’t seen such as a big tortoise! You must be very good at fishing.” And then this Guangzhou man started to have a short conversation with this family. Although this was just an occasional event, it showed how certain activities can arouse people’s curiosity and create more opportunities of communication. In conclusion, through on-site survey and interview analysis, there are some spaces with characters as luminous, open and with a good view, which can encourage different kinds of activities that attract different people. According to the interview and immigrants’ map, it indicated that immigrants tend to show interest and curiosity on these activities so that increase their willing to communicate with others. Moreover, these public activities bear more or less Guangzhou local culture. Immigrants’ watching, communication and even participation make them more familiar with the local life and culture. There are also some spaces with a certain privacy which decreases people’s willing of communications. However, immigrant families tend to feel very comfortable and relax in these spaces, which is also essential for them to enjoy their own life.

6.2. Negative Characters of Ersha Island:
In spite of the existing brand effect in Ersha Island, which can be labelled as the combination of international high-class culture and local public culture, immigrants are still lacking of a sense of belongings of the their own home town culture. It is not saying that the urban public space should scarify the local culture and be more comprehensive. However, it is not impossible to pay more attention and respects on immigrants’ culture, which actually have already deeply affected Guangzhou economically and socially, in urban public spaces. As Mr Wang said “although I have already built my own life in Guangzhou, I still missed some festival traditions in Anhui. However, it is not that we don’t want to remain them in Guangzhou. We just felt meaningless and humdrum when there is only our family has such tradition in the neighbourhood”, immigrants have the opportunities to learn and absorb the culture of Guangzhou but they rarely feel the acceptation of their own culture from the urban. Therefore, the urban environment should provide some stages for other territorial cultures when remaining the local culture. Some activities and performances can be held in Ersha Island by the form of community involvement so that immigrants can participate in and feel the caring to them from the urban. A good example can be found in Huaihai road area in Shanghai, where various country cultural week events are held termly. Since Shanghai is an international city and has a big number of international immigrants, the events are very popular and bring a vibrant scene to the area (Photograph 6.2.1& Photograph 6.2.2). As to domestic immigrants in Guangzhou, they also deserve the same appreciation.

Photograph 6.2.1 Available from: http://t.douban.com/lpic/e33714.jpg
Photograph 6.2.2 Available from : http://sh.eastday.com/qtmt/20080913/images/00103103.jpg In addition, there are also some improvements that can be made spatially in order to increase immigrants’ opportunities to communicate with local people. The front square of Xinghai Concert Hall is one of them (Graph 6.2.3). Graph 6.2.3
The square is very formal and well designed but it becomes dark and isolated at night. Mr Zhu mentioned in the interview that he thought it was a great open space and he wanted to rest there, but he was a little afraid. On the on-site map, it also shows very few users staying. However, as an extension of Space 1, this square has the potential to be more vibrant and become another popular space by some changes such as adding more lights and facilities. In the interview, all the immigrant families mentioned that “It lacks some waterfront platform at the riverside” “the design of the promenade seems monotone”. In the on-site survey, it was also found that except one area next to the concert hall is different; the other parts of the promenade are very similar. From some famous popular riverside landscape, it can be found that various spaces and facilities can create various activities and energetic atmosphere. Take Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project (Photograph 6.2.4 & 6.2.5) as an example, it creates three parts of different riverside landscape, which has respective theme: ‘natural and ecological’, ‘urban public’ and ‘history and culture’. The dynamic landscape and diverse space and facilities has attracted different people including local residents and visitors.

Photograph 6.2.4 Photograph 6.2.5
Available from: http://www.cabe.org.uk/case-studies/cheonggyecheon-restoration
-project?photos=true&viewing=8101

The riverside spaces of Ersha Island also have the potential to become more colorful and interesting for different people’s needs so that the chances of people’s staying and communicating can be increased. In addition, spaces with different levels of openness and privacy (Photograph 5.2.4) can also add interests on Ersha Island. The monotone riverside promenade can be changed into a few different forms. Instead of the current hard and straight riverbank, some more natural and dynamic constructions can add more vitality to the riverside. What’s more, green riverbank with a certain ecological effect should be considered to improve the environment. It is also proposed to enrich the spatial structure with enclosed and half-enclosed space in order to create a more affluent spatial experience. By doing this, the space along the river can become more diverse which can encourage people’s longer staying and fulfill different needs of activities and communication. Immigrants will have more options of using their preferred space and feel more satisfied with their urban life. In addition, it will also show the respects and solicitude for individual people from the urban.

6. Conclusions:
This project aims to provide some information for a better urban design that give consideration to the needs of white-collar immigrants and help them to better integrate with the local society. To conclude, according to this study, there are generally three aspects from which to address the immigrants’ integration. Firstly, urban public space should help the white-collar immigrants to enhance their self-affirmation as new citizens and a sense of belongings to the city. Phinney et al. (2001) discussed about the adaptation of immigrants in the United Stated that by combining both a strong sense of nationality identity and a strong sense of country identity, it can greatly encourage the adaptation of immigrants. Similarly, as to the domestic immigrants in China, especially those who have made a big contribution to the society in the past 30 years of Chinese reform and open, they are more easily to integrate into the local society when they own both their regional identity and sense of belongings as a new citizen. According to the interview and general situation of Chinese people, most of the immigrants have a strong sense of regional identity and feel related and proud of where they were born and grew up. However, it seems that they are lacking of a certain loyalty and identity to the place they emigrated in and contributed to. Therefore, the urban public space needs to satisfy their expectation, accept their culture and habits forwardly and pay them enough respect. For example, in the design and selection of plantings, it should sometimes consider the perception of immigrants by means of public involvement. Chinese people generally have a strong and deep nostalgia and they can find the memory of their home town by recognizing the familiar planting species. It is how a place can show a sense of belongings and intimacy that convey the acceptation and respects on the immigrants from the urban. In addition, people have a certain need of diverting themselves from loneliness and communication with others (Marcus and Francis, 1998), especially the immigrants group who were away from their relatives and friends. The sense of identity of immigrants includes the identity to the groups that they make contact with. Therefore, creating relatively open spatial composition and traversable sight communication (Marcus and Francis, 1998) can conduct people from one space to another space and discovering friends. The exchange of streams of people in the whole space provides more opportunities of meeting and communication. Moreover, proper facilities such as seating, tables and lightings are also necessary and their form, position and number can cause certain different social functions. For example, seating next to the square where children playing are for parents to make conversations. Unlike some local people or those street artists, who are more conformable to become a focus in a certain space, white-collar immigrants usually have a strong pride and insecurity that make them don’t want to be watched while they are more willing to watch others. Therefore, it is also appropriate to create some semi-private space that allow people to observe in a certain distance, which can also show the sensitively treating of the urban towards immigrants. Secondly, urban public space should encourage the immigrants to lose their vigilance and evoke their interests and curiosity. Every social man has the desire of communication, but a psychological self defense always keep people from strangers. Therefore, it is meaningful to study how can a public space lose people’s vigilance and promote communications. On one hand, the public space with a certain culture character or life style revealing, which brings a certain group of people, can release immigrants’ vigilance to some extent. As in the interview, all of the four families indicated that people using Ersha Island seem to have the same taste and social status with them. In addition, people were also easily to be affected by the atmosphere of a place. Within a compatible and vibrant atmosphere, people tend to feel more comfortable and relax and willing to talk with others. On the other hand, spaces with more restorative experiences can help people to relax. For example, the building of ecological green space and platforms close to water can fulfill people’s need to return nature. Being in a natural environment can release people’s pressure accumulated in urban life ((Marcus and Francis, 1998) and open their heart, especially for white-collar immigrants who don’t have relatively wide social circles with a language barrier. A beautiful plantings or an energetic waterscape can give immigrants a moment of peace so that they can release their self-guard. After release immigrants vigilance, it is still necessary to evoke their interests and curiosity which encourage their communication with others especially local people. Different activities and performances can provide these opportunities. When people are watching some interesting events, they have the topic and occasion to talk, which may easily end up with further conversation. Thirdly, urban public space also has the responsibility to educate immigrants about the local culture and life style as well as provide a stage for the immigrants’ own culture. For example, to provide some cultural walls and commemorative sculptures that tells the culture and history of the local area in some urban public space so that immigrants can learn more about the local culture. On the other hand, the managers of the urban should also hold some diverse cultural events in some public space such as different regional tradition performances, exhibition of regional unique products and food, which show the compatibility of a city and encourage the understanding between local people and immigrants. To sum up, as an urban public space, it has the social function that helps to promote a more impartial and compatible urban environment. The immigrants group should be paid enough attentions and respects and encouraged to communicate more with the local people. They should be fully confident to show their own culture to the urban while also have many opportunities to learn about the local culture. As a result, there will be no immigrants group but a new citizen group.