The Analysis of the Spatial Production Mechanism and the Coupling Coordination Degree of the Danwei Compound Based on the Spatial Ternary Dialectics

Abstract

With the gradual deepening of the development of high-quality urban transformation, the “Danwei Compound” urban space production method constitutes the basis of Chinese current urban spatial transformation. The transformation plan of the original danwei compound “stock” to promote the healthy development of urban society has become the focus of research. First, with the help of Lefebvre’s space production theory, combined with the spatial transformation characteristics of its own structural form experienced by the Chinese urban danwei compound, the space production is divided into three stages, namely, the diversity-orderly type average space of the danwei compound system period, dispersed type abstract space of the commercial enclosed community period, and the integrated differential space of a livable community undergoing regeneration and transformation. At each stage, the government, market, and residents have different influences on time-space production. Secondly, using Hefei’s typical danwei compound as the research carrier, according to the space ternary dialectics, a multi-level analysis of “representations of space-representational space-spatial practice” is carried out on the production mechanism, and the logic of different types of spaces in different periods are described. Among them, the representations of space of the change of the danwei compound are the interrelationship of multiple governance subjects in different periods, such as changes in the implementation degree of governance strategies, the degree of residents’ community governance participation, residents’ satisfaction with community governance, etc. The representational space is the residents’ community perception and interpersonal relationship at different transition stages, Interpersonal trust, and other social relations’ changes. Spatial practice is manifested in changes in the support of public service facilities, public space, per capita living area, building quality, architectural style, and illegal building area. Finally, the three-dimensional space dialectical coupling coordination degree model is used to analyze and compare the representations of space of typical settlements in the three stages and the coupling characteristics of the representational space and the practice of space. On this basis, we provide innovative ideas and put forward relevant measures and suggestions for the regeneration, transformation, and development of livable areas.

1. Introduction

The community is the basic unit of urban social life and an important carrier of urban development and change. In the process of social transformation in China, urban communities have undergone profound historical changes: From the danwei compound model that dominated during the planned economy period [1] to the large-scale development of commercialized communities in the market economy period, and then the rise of the construction of livable residential areas during the period of high-quality development has promoted the great tide of urban community construction. In terms of function, the danwei compound centers on the “work” function of the danwei, organizing the living facilities and various welfare facilities within the danwei. In terms of space, “walls” are used to realize the enclosure, closure, and integrity, which form a spatial model of the integration of work and residence. Among them, the danwei refers to the enterprises, government institutions, and public agencies that provide urban residents with various employment opportunities [2], such as factories, schools, hospitals, government agencies, etc. In the period of a socialist planned economy, the danwei compound was the most basic form of social management and organization in Chinese cities [3]. However, due to historical and practical reasons, the traditional danwei compound has not received enough attention and has gradually fallen into a stagnant and declining development dilemma, facing the risk of being demolished, marginalized, or lowered. This not only troubles the daily life of residents in the danwei compound, but also becomes a major problem for the government’s community governance. This type of community has attracted wide attention from multiple disciplines such as urban planning, sociology, and management. During the political, economic, and social evolution of community structure, how can multiple forces (governments, danwei, markets, and residents) representing different interests participate in influencing space production at different stages? How can we build a harmonious and livable differentiated space and realize space justice? Based on Lefebvre’s theory of space production, this article combines a typical case of a danwei compound that has undergone a series of spatial evolution processes, conducts a qualitative analysis of the space production mechanism, performs quantitative analysis of coupling and coordination of space production in the different development stages of the danwei compound, and proposes possible paths for the livable and sustainable reconstruction of the danwei compound in the new stage.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Research Perspective: The Production of Space

With the accelerating development of urbanization in the West, various urban problems have come along. Based on this, the conformity of urban problems’ productivity and production relations, the theory of spatial production focuses on what has triggered the “spatialization shift” of social problems since the 1970s and at the end of the 20th century ushered in the formation and culmination of the “space fever” thought [4]. Among them, Lefebvre’s theory of space production has played an irreplaceable role in leading and promoting the development of space research. He constructed the theory of space production by leading and promoting space ontology: (1) the history of social space. According to the “production of space in which history participates”, three types of space are divided into “absolute space”, “abstract space”, and “differential space”, used to describe the changes in space and corresponding social relations caused by the transformation in production methods [5]. (2) Typology of social space. Changes in the mode of production will cause spatial changes and corresponding changes in social relations. In the “absolute space” in the first historical stage, the space represents the space of ancient society and pre-capitalist society, which is different from an independent natural space and is produced by the interaction of common language, geography, and blood relationship. The “abstract space” in the second historical stage is that the space represents the capitalist society, which is a dominant tool of power and the object of Lefebvre’s criticism because this space emphasizes exchange value over use value. Through homogenization, separation and repetition invade daily life practice. The “differential space” in the third historical stage is a space representing socialism, aimed at realizing space justice and emphasizing the “use value” of space users [6]. The history of spatial changes in these three stages is a process of “dematerialization” and full of class conflicts and struggles. (3) Space ternary dialectics. In each of the above stages, space undergoes its own reproduction through specific logic: representation of spaces, that is, the discipline space of the ruling class for daily life, which aims to construct the order of the strong in space. Spaces of representation are complex, disciplined spaces, including the perception and experience of the disciplined class. Spatial practices are spaces for social action [7]. Representations of space and representational space are opposed to each other, and spatial practice is a transformation zone between the two.

Urbanization space is the main practical background for the empirical research of Lefebvre’s space production theory. Research on the macro and meso scales mainly focuses on the dynamic mechanism of urbanization from the aspects of capital flow, population flow, and institutional system construction. For example, Paris [8], Chicago [9], Baltimore [10], Los Angeles [11], and Shanghai [12] are used to illustrate the production mechanism of urbanized space. The research on the meso and micro scales mainly starts from the perspectives of sociology and behavior and adopts actor network or social network analysis to analyze how resistance groups or social collective actions shape space under the influence of power and how space affects the shaping of a sense of place and the formation of interest alliances. For example, micro-scale spaces with unique social structures such as “urban-rural fringe” [13], “urban village” [14], “village-transferred community” [15], “tourist community” [16], and “Taobao village” [17] have become popular research objects. The above-mentioned research items fully demonstrate that the theory of space production is effective and practical for explaining the nature of space phenomena and the process of space evolution on a global scale. However, the danwei compound with Chinese characteristics has experienced a major political, economic, and social transformation in China’s development at the macro level, and the physical space and social space have been reshaped at the micro level. Therefore, this theory will essentially explain the spatial production process and generation mechanism of the danwei compound.

2.2. Transformation of Danwei Compound and Spatial Production

The theory of space production is an important tool applied to the analysis of social space problems. Lefebvre’s analysis of the evolution of absolute space, abstract space, and difference space deduces the context of the socialist revolution, aims to resist the homogenization of social space and pursue space justice, and also interprets the changes in social relations in social space [18]. However, the changes in social relations are not limited to the great changes in human society. For example, the “danwei compound” in China is based on the socialist space but its development and changes also show “discipline” and “anti-discipline” and the conflict and opposition between “use value” and “exchange value” [19], which outline the evolution process of the dominant force in space production and the evolution of community social relations. In this process of space production, the transition of community residents from being disciplined to being active participants in space production is also a process of pursuing space justice. Therefore, if not limited to the specific type of space in the historical stage of social space, focusing the theoretical transformation on “use value, exchange value, and social relations” can provide an analytical framework for the study of space production in closed settlements. According to the development stage of the danwei compound and the change of the dominant space production force, it will be divided into three stages.

2.2.1. Homogeneous Absolute Space

The residential space during the danwei compound period was similar to the absolute space. In the planned economy period, housing was standardized by the danwei in accordance with the country’s “quota index system”, unified distribution, and unified management. In the danwei compound, the families are linked by the “danwei”, and the long-term, stable neighborhood structure has spawned an “acquaintance society” based on occupation, life, emotion, and social relationships [20]. Since urban land is owned by the state, the government prohibits the transfer of land use rights, denying the exchange value of space [3]. On the other hand, danwei takes over the government’s decentralized rights, which have maximized the value of land use, and the needs of danwei employees can basically be met through negotiation and discussion [21]. Although there is a certain degree of social gap and spatial isolation outside the danwei compound, within the compound, the identity, status, production work, daily life, and leisure entertainment of the people are in a homogeneous, single, and stable state. However, it is different from Lefebvre’s absolute space and the author defines it as “homogeneous absolute space”.

2.2.2. Atomic Abstract Space

In the context of the transformation of the economic system, the danwei compound is facing disintegration. With the privatization of housing property rights, the original danwei’s funds and management support for the community are withdrawn. Under the combined effect of the government and the market, it has gradually evolved into ordinary commercial communities. In this stage, space planning takes the exchange value as the core and ignores the use value of space, just like the colonization of absolute space by the bourgeoisie in abstract space [22]. At this time, the danwei compound has become a low-level gathering area in terms of income, consumption, social status, taste, etc. due to the departure of people with market consumption power and the influx and settlement of low-level urban residents [23]. At the same time, the mutual understanding and close communication relationship of the former danwei compound have been diluted by the market economy, and the sense of community and place has gradually disappeared [24]. Due to the mobility of residents enhancing greatly, along with the struggle between usage valve of living space and the exchange value of physical space, the social relations of settlements are discrete, so it is defined as an abstract discrete space.

2.2.3. Integrated Differential Space

In the context of the transformation of the value orientation of urban development with a high-quality development, as the people’s livelihood project, “reconstruction of old communities and construction of livable residential area” is carried out. In the new round of production of space in residential areas, the “government–market” interest alliance has transformed into a “government–market–public” multi-participation and co-dominant model, showing the characteristics of social space from contradictions and conflicts to inclusive and co-governance [25]. The social spatial relationship has shifted from the confrontational “conquer-be-conquered” to the co-governance “governance-be-governed”. Spatial conflicts are gradually dissolving, and spatial integration is gradually realized through multi-party negotiation. Residents unite in order to strive for common spatial interests, so that a new social network of community is gradually established, forming a sense of community belonging. The government–resident relationship has gradually shifted to mutual respect, consultation, and co-governance, and space use value has become the core of community space production. Therefore, it is defined as an “integrated differential space”.

From atomic abstract space to integrated differential space, as Lefebvre said, space was an anti-discipline tool and had the ability to resist abstract homogeneity [26]. Lefebvre found that class struggle was a means to change homogeneity, and in the evolution of closed settlements, the game of different interest groups also showed a path to resist homogeneity hegemony and produced differential anti-discipline [27]. At the same time, the three space types divided in the historical sequence of space production carry out self-production in accordance with the ternary dialectics of space.

2.3. Analysis of Coordination Degree of Three-Dimensional Space Coupling in the Evolution of Danwei Compound

2.3.1. Index Selection

Based on the previous theoretical framework and case evolution analysis, the evaluation system of representations of space, representational space, and spatial practice in the theory of ternary space dialectics is established. Among them, representations of space is a place where space rulers who have the ability to control and create space produce discipline and order [28]. Therefore, the number of subjects in the governance of the compound space at different stages, the degree of participation of residents in community governance, and the degree of residents’ satisfaction with community management and services are used to quantify and evaluate the dominance and control situation of the social space of the compound by the dominant power order in the compound in different periods. Among them, the participation of multiple entities in the space governance of the compound is quantified based on the entities participating in governance in different governance models such as danwei–family committee–building owner, danwei–market, danwei–property–ownership–residents, etc. The degree of participation of the resident community is mainly quantified and calculated by the annual average number of residents’ substantial participation, symbolic participation, and non-participatory participation. The questionnaire survey is used to evaluate the residents’ satisfaction with community management and services to reflect the acceptance of space production controlled by the dominant power order by space users (

Table 1. Ternary space evaluation system.

First Level Indicator	Second Level Indicators	Third Level Indicators	Index Number
Representations of space	Diversified governance of space governance	Number of main interest groups of space governance	x1
	Resident community governance participation	Annual average number of substantive participations	x2
		Annual average number of symbolic participations	x3
		Annual average number of non-participation participation	x4
	Residents’ satisfaction with community management and services	Residents’ satisfaction with community management	x5
		Residents’ satisfaction with community services	x6
Representational space	Community social network	The number of neighbors you know in the compound	y1
		The number of neighbors in the compound who will greet each other when meeting	y2
		The number of community residents who are familiar with each other and can visit	y3
	Community social support	Do you often seek advice from neighbors? 1 (almost never)–5 (often)	y4
		Can you borrow the needed Dong from the neighbor’s house smoothly? 1 (not possible), 3 (sometimes possible), 5 (yes)	y5
		In the past three months, how often did you receive help from community residents? 1 (almost never)–5 (often)	y6
	Community cohesion	Most people in the compound are willing to help each other 1 (disagree)–5 (strongly agree)	y7
		Most of the residents of the compound have a high spirit of participation 1 (disagree)–5 (strongly agree)	y8
		In general, the relationship between the residents of the community is harmonious 1 (disagree)–5 (strongly agree)	y9
	The sense of belonging in the community	Have a sense of belonging in the compound 1 (disagree)–5 (strongly agree)	y10
		Like our compound 1 (disagree)–5 (strongly agree)	y11
		Tell others that I am very satisfied with my housing 1 (disagree)–5 (strongly agree)	y12
Spatial practice	Basic living conditions	Number of households	z1
		Percentage of non-supply and marketing cooperatives and their family members	z2
		Percentage of residence and separation from household registration in the compound	z3
	Living conditions	Construction quality 1 (poor)–5 (good)	z4
		Architectural style 1 (poor)–5 (good)	z5
		Infrastructure configuration 1 (poor)–5 (good)	z6
		Number of parking spaces for non-motor vehicles	z7
		Number of life service facilities	z8
	Living Environment	Percentage of green space	z9
		Proportion of public activity space	z10
		Number of public activities and leisure facilities	z11
		Proportion of illegal construction area	z12

).

The representational space is the space of the “dweller” and the space of the “user”, presenting a living and empirical part of the social space. However, because its spatial status is completely opposite to the “representation of space”, it is dominated and can only be passively experienced by us [29]. Therefore, community social networks, community social support, community cohesion, and community sense of belonging are used to quantify and evaluate the passive shaping of the representational space. Among them, the “number of neighbors you know in the compound”, “the number of neighbors who will greet each other in the compound”, “the number of community residents who have a good relationship to visit”, and other indicators are used to quantitatively evaluate the community social network construction situation in different periods. “Do you often seek advice from your neighbors?”, “Can you borrow what you need from your neighbor’s house smoothly?”, “Did the residents of the community ever provide you with help in the past three months?” are the quantitative evaluation indicators of community social support. “Most people in the compound are willing to help each other”, “Most of the residents of the compound have a high spirit of participation”, and “Generally speaking, the relationship between the residents of the community is harmonious” are in the quantitative evaluation index of community cohesion. “I feel at home in the compound”, “Like my residential area”, and “Tell others where I am proud to live” are the quantitative evaluation indicators of the community’s sense of belonging.

Lefebvre emphasized: Every social lifestyle produces its own space [6]. Spatial practice includes specific locations in a space, as well as spatial settlements unique to each social form. Therefore, the basic living conditions, living conditions and human settlement environment, and other physical space shaping conditions reflect the production of space under different lifestyles in different periods. Among them, “number of households”, “proportion of non-supply and marketing cooperatives and their family members”, “proportion of household separation in the compound” are the quantitative evaluation indicators for the basic living conditions of the compound. Take “building quality score”, “building style score”, “infrastructure allocation score”, “number of parking spaces for non-motor vehicles”, and “number of compound life service facilities” as quantitative evaluation indicators of the compound’s living conditions. The “greening rate”, “proportion of public activity space area”, “number of public activities and leisure facilities”, and “proportion of non-illegal construction area” are the quantitative evaluation indicators of the compound’s living environment.

2.3.2. Research Methods

• Coordination degree of spatial production coupling.

The range standardization method is used to standardize the original indicators. If the index data are larger, it is more conducive to the development of the system to adopt positive index processing. Otherwise, the reverse index will be used to deal with. The standardized formula is as follows [30]:

Positive indicators:

$$X_{ij} =\left(x_{ij}-x_{min}\right)/\left(x_{max}-x_{min}\right), X_{ij}\in \left[0, 1\right]$$

(1)

Negative indicators:

$$X_{ij }= \left(x_{max}-x_{ij}\right)/\left(x_{max}-x_{min}\right), X_{ij}\in \left[0, 1\right]$$

(2)

After standardizing the indicators, calculate the proportion of the standard value of the No. $i$ evaluation object under the No. $j$ index [31]. The entropy and weight of the No. $j$ index are:

$$P_{ij}=X_{ij}/{\displaystyle \sum }_{i=1}^n{X}_{ij}$$

(3)

$$H_{ij }=-\frac{1}{\ln n}{\displaystyle \sum }_{i=1}^n{P}_{ij}\left(\ln n\right)P_{ij}\left(j=1,2,\dots ,n\right)$$

(4)

$$x_j=a_j/{\displaystyle \sum }_{i=1}^m{a}_j$$

(5)

In the formula, $0\le P_{ij}\le 1$, and, assuming $P_{ij}=0$, $P_{ij}\ln P_{ij}=0,$ the difference coefficient of the No. $j$ index is $a_j=1-H_j$.

Further construct a three-dimensional space dialectical coupling coordination degree model [32].

$$D\left(P_T,P_E,P_G\right)=\sqrt{C\times T}$$

(6)

$$C=\sqrt[3]{\frac{P_T\times P_E\times P_G}{P_T+P_E+P_G}}$$

(7)

$$T=\alpha P_T+\beta P_E+\gamma P_G$$

(8)

In the formula, $D$ is the degree of coupling coordination, $C$ is the coupling degree of the three systems, $T$ is the comprehensive coordination index of the three systems, $P_T$,$P_E$, $\mathrm{and} P_G$ are the comprehensive evaluation indexes of the three systems of representations of space, spatial practice, and representational space, respectively, and $\alpha ,\beta , \mathrm{and} \gamma$are undetermined coefficients. Considering that the three systems are of equal importance, we do equal weight processing here, that is, $\alpha ,\beta ,\gamma$ are all $1/3$. Using Liao Chongbin’s “ten-cent method” classification standard for coupling coordination degree [33], 0–0.1 means extreme dissonance, 0.1–0.2 means severe dissonance, 0.2–0.3 means moderate dissonance, 0.3–0.4 means mild dissonance, 0.4–0.5 is on the verge of imbalance, 0.5–0.6 is basic coordination, 0.6–0.7 is primary coordination, 0.7–0.8 is intermediate coordination, 0.8–0.9 is good coordination, and above 0.9 is high-quality coordination.

• Geographic detector.

Use differentiation and factor detection to identify the extent to which the influencing factors (X) of the space production quality of the danwei compound explain the level of space production (Y), measured by the q value, and the expression is [34]:

$$q=\frac{{{\displaystyle \sum }}_{h=1}^{L }{N}_h{\sigma }_h^2}{N{\sigma }^2}=1-\frac{SSW}{SST}$$

(9)

$$SSW={\displaystyle \sum }_{h=1}^L{N}_h{\sigma }_h^2,SST=N{\sigma }^2$$

(10)

In the formula, $h=1,2,\cdots ,L$, $L$ is the stratification of factor $X$; $N_h$ and $N$ are the number of units in layer $h$ and study area, respectively; ${\sigma }_h^2$ and ${\sigma }^2$ are the variances of the spatial production effectiveness $\left(Y\right)$of layer $h$ and the study area, respectively; $SSW$ is the sum of variance within the layer; $\mathrm{and} SST$ is the total variance of the study area. The value range of q is $\left[0, 1\right].$ The larger the value of $q$, the stronger the explanatory ability of the influencing factor $\left(X\right)$ is on the effect of space production $\left(Y\right)$, and vice versa. When $q=1$, it means that the influencing factor $\left(X\right)$ completely controls the space production effect$\left(Y\right)$. When $q=0,$ it means that the influencing factor $\left(X\right)$ has no relationship with the space production effect $\left(Y\right)$. The calculation of the $q$ value and a significance test can be realized by GeoDetector software. By comparing the numerical value of each factor $q$, the dominant factor of the coupling level of space production in the danwei compound can be detected.

2.4. Analysis Framework

As the sub-central city of the Yangtze River Delta metropolitan cluster, Hefei has been driven by the internal drive of the structural transformation of the economic system and the external influence of the continuous deepening of the urbanization process since 1978 (the reform and opening), and the urban danwei compound has quickly realized the spatial transformation of its own structural form. In this context, the Supply and Marketing Cooperative Compound is in the central area of the city (Luyang District). It was built in the 1950s and has a total of 16 buildings. There were 556 households at the initial stage of completion, and there are 469 households at present [35]. The current residents are mainly provincial supply and marketing employees or retired employees and some foreign tenants. The authors conducted research and surveyed the community from June 2018 to October 2020 (30 in-depth interviews, 190 documents, and 156 were effectively recovered). Combining the transformed space production theory, it is divided into three development stages and space types according to the development stage of the community and the corresponding changes in the leading force of space production (Figure 1).

3. Results

3.1. Comparison of the Coupling and Coordination Degree of the Three Development Stages of Space Production in the Danwei Compound

According to Lefebvre’s ternary space dialectical theory [36], we calculated the coordinated relationship between representations of space, spatial practice, and representation in the different spatial history of the danwei compound. We used Geographic detector to analyze the dominant factors affecting the ternary spatial coupling of the danwei compound’s space production. Calculating the spatial production coupling degree of the three stages of spatial development of the supply and marketing cooperative compound, we obtained 0.28, 0.16, and 0.51, respectively (

Table 2. Coupling and coordination degree of space production in the danwei compound.

Space Development Stage	T Coordination	C Coupling	D Coupling and Coordination	Coupling Coordination Type
Differential absolute space	0.284460044	0.275603466	0.279996739	Moderate disorder
Atomic abstract space	0.151667004	0.172727011	0.161854837	Severe imbalance
Integrated differential space	0.563872952	0.455314666	0.506694805	Basic coordination

). From the perspective of coupling coordination types, the period of homogeneous absolute space was moderately dissonant, the atomic abstract space was severely dissonant, and the integrated differential space was basic coordination. In the period of homogeneous absolute space production, the danwei was in the role of “parent”, and the danwei’s overall management of the life-long needs of the individual made danwei members strongly dependent on the danwei in order to obtain various resources. Therefore, even if danwei members feel a strong sense of relative deprivation, they have not considered leaving the danwei organization, forming a dependence on the danwei organization [37]. This deprivation–deprivation, dependence–dependence relationship between the danwei and danwei members makes the power of the compound in the process of space power have great disparity, and individual needs for spatial differentiation cannot be expressed. However, relative to the various resources and life opportunities that the danwei can provide to individuals, danwei members voluntarily give up their voices for differentiated needs. Therefore, although the space production of the danwei compound in the first stage can operate normally and efficiently, this does not mean that the spatial conflicts and crises are not hidden in it. Therefore, this stage presents a type of coupling and coordination with moderate dysregulation in the ternary space.

In the stage of atomic abstract space production, with the advancement of reform and opening up, the market economy has gradually replaced the planned economy, and the danwei system has tended to disintegrate. The Danwei has already withdrawn from the vacancies such as housing management and community maintenance. Due to various historical problems, no new social organization has come forward to take over the danwei compound at this stage, which has brought about a vacuum in management and the decline of the physical space environment. Driven by the market economy, capable compound residents have rented and sold compound housing and moved out of the compound. The composition of compound residents is facing the trend of heterogeneity, aging, and marginalization. With changes in the structure of residents, on the one hand, the close community social network during the planned economy period was separated, and a strong sense of community identity and belonging was lost, making the relationship between the residents of the compound present an atomized state of separation. On the other hand, the differentiated composition of residents has brought a variety of spatial differentiation needs, and spatial contradictions have become more prominent. In addition, the combination of local governments, the danwei, and developers has severely squeezed the living space of residents in the danwei compound and intensified spatial conflicts. Therefore, this stage is a period of decline in the development of the danwei compound, presenting a state of coupling and coordination with a serious imbalance in the ternary space.

In the period of integrated differential space production, take the opportunity of the transformation of the old community to improve the physical space environment and facilities of the compound and introduce the property company to market-based management of the compound to provide professional community services for the residents of the compound. The use value of residents’ living space and social space has received more attention and improvement. On this basis, the residents of the compound gradually form a sense of community and self-management and take the initiative to participate in community affairs. The compound gradually shows a virtuous cycle of development. Although more and more demands continue to be fulfilled, new demands will continue to arise. This means that although the spatial conflict has been relieved to a certain extent, it has never completely disappeared. Therefore, this stage presents a state of coupling and coordination in which the ternary space is basically coordinated.

3.2. Identification of the Influencing Factors and Explanatory Power of the Space Production Quality of the Danwei Compound

Through survey methods such as satisfaction questionnaire surveys and in-depth interviews of community management departments, residents of the supply and marketing cooperative compound, and danwei management departments, the data indicators obtained were used for geographic detection. We Obtained five leading factors that affect the quality of space production in the unit compound, including basic living conditions (0.89), living conditions (0.89), community social support (0.85), sense of community belonging (0.71), and residents’ satisfaction with community management and services (0.69) (

Table 3. Three-dimensional spatial coupling influencing factor q of spatial production determines the value of force.

Geodetector Indicators	q Determining Power Value	Geodetector Indicators	q Determining Power Value	Geodetector Indicators	q Determining Power Value
Diversified governance of compound space	0.33	Community social network	0.67	Basic living conditions	0.89
Resident community governance participation	0.21	Community social support	0.85	living conditions	0.89
Residents’ satisfaction with community management and services	0.69	Community cohesion	0.67	Living Environment	0.58
		Sense of community	0.71

).

According to the analysis of the specific situation of the case community, in the evolution of the spatial production of the supply and marketing cooperative compound, the basic living conditions of the “proportion of non-supply and marketing cooperative employees and their family members” and the “proportion of households in the compound” and other indicators were equal. This Reflects the trend of the compound population from homogenization to heterogeneity. The heterogeneity has led to the alienation of the relationship between the residents of the compound and weakened the residents’ sense of community identity and belonging and is the main factor that caused the compound to lose the original governance advantage of social capital enrichment. In the current stage of the integrated differential space production of the case compound, the old community transformation was used as an opportunity to improve the living conditions and human settlement environment of the compound. On the premise of meeting the needs of residents’ space use, infrastructure improvement projects such as water and electricity entering the home are carried out. At the same time, living service facilities such as parking spaces, centralized garbage collection points, streetlights, and community publicity boards have been increased. Therefore, the living conditions have been greatly improved, and, therefore, the positive influence on space production is greater. However, due to the limited area of the case compound and the shortage of land, it is unable to provide sufficient public venues for residents; so, the degree of improvement in this old community reconstruction was not significant. At the same time, at this stage, the compound introduced a market-oriented property company to manage the compound uniformly; so, the residents’ satisfaction with community management and services increased significantly, and the impact was greater. Based on the improvement of the living conditions of the compound and the improvement of management and public services, the residents’ sense of community and self-management was cultivated, and the community’s social support and sense of belonging to the community increased significantly.

4. Discussion

4.1. Production of Homogeneous Absolute Space (Led by Traditional Danwei Compound “Government–Danwei–Employee”)

In the period of the danwei compound, the internal flow of personnel in the Supply and Marketing Cooperative Compound was almost static. It was based on the danwei system and the common working and living environment formed an acquaintance society [38]. Although there is a certain degree of social gap and spatial isolation outside the danwei compound, within the compound, the identity, status, production work, daily life, and leisure entertainment of the people are in a homogeneous, single, and stable state. However, it is different from Lefebvre’s absolute space; therefore, it is defined as “homogeneous absolute space” (Figure 2).

4.1.1. Representations of Space

Representations of space are the places where the discipline order of space rulers takes place [39]. However, after investigation, it was found that there is no obvious discipline–disciplined mutually antagonistic relationship between the danwei and employees in the Supply and Marketing Cooperative Compound. Danwei compounds often take collective work and life as the center for spatial planning. The work–life discourse space formed in the danwei compound, and residents can express their demands within the scope of the available conditions. The family committee in charge of logistics is an autonomous organization of residents in the compound that is autonomous and connected to the management department of the danwei and, in principle, reflects the wishes and needs of the residents. This kind of work–living space not only represents the physical space and the boundary of the walls inside the Supply and Marketing Cooperative Compound, but is also a kind of identity, belonging to the same danwei, which has long integrated similar work backgrounds, welfare benefits, and living environment, forming a social relationship of acquaintances with certain tribal and rural characteristics [40].

In such a spatial field, the construction of the central discourse depends on the realization of the collective interests of the danwei [20]. This “danwei–family committee–masses” hierarchical model of the power structure in which residents participate in the management of the life affairs of the compound, under the premise of ensuring collective interests, balances the expression of residents’ rights demands and the realization of personal interests. Therefore, the planning of the danwei compound space presents a high degree of homogeneity and equalization and efficiently reflects the use value of the working and living space, rather than the heterogeneous economic exchange value. Even when the power discourse of the family committee and the residents of the compound is in conflict, the resilience of the management model based on acquaintances and the constraints of the ideology of the supremacy of collective interests at that time enable the contradiction to be resolved to the greatest extent. Meanwhile, families in the compound with additional difficulties will also receive certain care and support. Therefore, conflicts of interest in space are always easy to resolve, and cracks in social relations are not easily accumulated and deepened. This is also very different from the alienation development of atomic abstract space after reform.

4.1.2. Representational Space

The living field of the residents of the danwei compound is the representational space [41]. Affected by the planned economic system at the time, housing was built, deployed, and managed uniformly by the danwei, and residents were all employees of the danwei. Employee housing is allocated with certain rules and regulations, which also take the need of employees into account. As the family population increases, housing will be adjusted. Therefore, in the homogeneous absolute space at this stage, the living life inside the compound is relatively fair and harmonious. At the same time, due to the high level of consistency between the mode of work and lifestyles of the residents in the danwei compound, it is easy to form similar values, which can then evolve into a solid collective consciousness, forming mutual help, mutual understanding, friendship, and a good self-dedication atmosphere, and conflicts between people are easier to resolve [42]. In addition, the “dialogue” nature of the acquaintances and social characteristics between the family committee and the residents of the compound makes it play a role in reflecting demands and wishes of the residents to the danwei and reconciling the conflicts of the masses. Therefore, the representational space at this stage is more like a community with the meaning of “home” based on a work relationship [43].

Take the living experience of this period dictated by the resident Uncle Li during the interview as an example. Uncle Li was just in his early 30s when he was transferred to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative Compound. He and his wife and daughter were assigned to a 60-square meter house on the first floor. Aunt Zhang was staying in the same danwei with them at the time, with her son and elderly mother. According to the number of people in the family, housing of the same size on the fifth floor was allocated. However, Aunt Zhang’s elderly mother was very old and found it inconvenient to go up and down. Therefore, Aunt Zhang relayed her request to the family committee. After negotiation and mediation, Uncle Li agreed to exchange houses with Aunt Zhang and moved to the fifth floor. In Uncle Li’s view, we are all neighbors and colleagues in the same danwei, so we should negotiate and help others if others have difficulties. Additionally, if he moved to the fifth floor, his little girl’s room would have better lighting. Therefore, why not do it?

4.1.3. Spatial Practice

In the process of the danwei compound spatial practice in this period, the management structure of danwei–family committee–residents based on the society of acquaintances was not only limited by the rules and regulations of danwei management but also relied more on the close interpersonal relationship network and similar values formed in long-term accompanied work and daily life experience [44]. During the investigation, Uncle Zhang, a former employee of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, recounted such personal experiences. During the danwei–system compound period, because the danwei followed strict rules and regulations on the area of individual housing, according to regulations, ordinary employees calculated the total area for one family according to the standard of 25 square meters for each family member, based on weddings and funerals. For the newly increased population and relocation of households, the housing area can be increased or recovered. Secondly, the employees of the supply and marketing cooperative compound had a unified orientation to enjoy educational service facilities such as kindergartens and Primary School as well as medical facilities such as the supply and marketing cooperative health stations. At the same time, there were public spaces and living service facilities, such as a large auditorium, playground, canteen, etc., in the compound [35]. Thirdly, guided by the spiritual consciousness of collective honor, there will be basically no private construction and illegal building of public space in the compound. The residents of the compound mostly abide by the regulations of the family committee, actively maintain the overall style and cleanliness of public space, and maintain the accessibility and integrity of street space in the compound. Finally, in terms of building quality and architectural style, in the planned economy period, the country’s overall economic development was in its infancy. Therefore, the economic levels had not yet solved the food and clothing problems of the vast majority of people [45]. Therefore, during the construction of the danwei compound during this period, the goal of economy, practicality, efficiency, and beauty was achieved in the order of hierarchy in order to pursue efficient construction and use and solve the lack of housing for a large number of poor employees as soon as possible. Therefore, the building structures are mostly brick-concrete multi-story houses, with poor building quality, and the architectural style fails to reflect more humanistic care and local characteristics.

4.2. The Production of Atomic Abstract Space (Led by “Government–Market” in Commercial Settlements)

In the 1990s, under the influence of the reform of the economic system, from the privatization reform of the danwei compound to the establishment of the housing marketization system, housing commercialization policies took root in the hearts of the people. The housing price separated the social composition relationship of the communities [46]. During this period, the Supply and Marketing Cooperative Compound responded to the national housing reform policy and began to gradually implement the privatization process of the public housing. Individuals could buy out the right to use the houses, which they lived in at that time, based on the assessed housing price. At the same time, because the Anhui Provincial Supply and Marketing Cooperative was located in the center of Hefei, the transportation was convenient, and it was close to Hefei’s best primary schools, middle schools, hospitals, and other educational and medical public service facilities, with great investment-development potential [35]. Therefore, during this period, housing prices in the Supply and Marketing Cooperatives compound gradually increased. The original residents began to sell their housing in the compound in order to obtain a large amount of capital income or to improve their living conditions.

As a large number of original residents moved out of the compound, the composition of residents during this period showed serious differentiation in terms of educational level, occupational background, income level, and lifestyle, and the characteristics of differentiation were obvious. The needs of community residents showed a diversified trend, and the diversified needs could not be sustained by the government alone. With the intervention of capital, the Supply and Marketing Cooperative Compound blindly pursued the maximization of economic benefits in the control of government power and commercial interests and showed the dual attributes of consumption and daily life. During the “acquaintance society” period, the social network relationship of community residents was completely broken and there was a trend of discrete atomization among residents. Since space is the embodiment of social relations, the transformation of social relations also brings about the transformation of space production in this stage. From the “danwei–family committee–masses” model, coordinating with each other and participating in co-governance for the common realization of the collective interests of the danwei transformed into a “government–market” model, which showed a confrontational subject–object relationship of “discipline–disciplined”. The exchange value of the community space crushed the use value and became the dominant value of the space evolution, and an atomic abstract community space was produced (Figure 3).

4.2.1. Representations of Space

People who have the ability to command space, through various means to create tangible space, representations of space and representational space, recreate and strengthen their own power [47]. The Supply and Marketing Cooperative Compound has united market forces (real estate developers, chain stores, etc.) and the local government forces (including district government, housing construction bureau, real estate bureau, etc.) to gradually dismember the living space of the original compound and jointly produce a closed commercial community with gentrification characteristics. The original danwei compound was incorporated into the commercial urban space, while the residents of the compound at this time were disciplined by a discourse system dominated by the exchange value.

Since 1990, Supply and Marketing Cooperatives Compound has redeveloped the houses along the street on the side of Lujiang Road in the compound and introduced commercial businesses such as chain hotels, restaurants, and supermarkets in order to obtain rental profits, after obtaining approval from the government departments in their jurisdiction (including the district government, the Housing Construction Bureau, and the Real Estate Bureau). In the process of renovation, in order to adapt to the usage of the commercial and service industry, the depth of the original residential buildings was expanded to the inside and outside of the courtyard, respectively, occupying the public activities and passage spaces of the compound. Driven by market-oriented reforms, in 2001, public service facilities such as kindergartens, canteens, restaurants, auditoriums, activity rooms, and guest houses in the original Supply and Marketing Cooperative Compound were replaced by real estate development. A total of 10 hectares of land occupied by the original factory and compound public service facilities along the side of Tongcheng South Road was auctioned at the highest price of 241.95 million yuan/hectare in the entire district, which was later developed into commercial, office, and high-rise residential space, which implemented closed management as an independent modern community [35]. The underground parking lot, public activity venues, and sports facilities in the small area are not shared with the residents of the original compound. Additionally, the opening price of this modern commercial community was 11,000 yuan/m², which was equivalent to twice the average price of a new house at 5500 yuan/m² in Luyang District at that time and was also much higher than the price of 4000 yuan/m² for second-hand houses in the Supply and Marketing Cooperative Compound at that time. The superior geographical location, convenient transportation, high-quality education and medical resources, high-quality residential development, and high real estate prices enabled the newly developed modern community to show a significant tendency towards gentrification [36], which transformed the public areas of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative Compound, such as kindergartens, auditoriums, canteens, and factories.

At the same time, after the redevelopment and reduction in land area, the Supply and Marketing Cooperative Compound, under the market-oriented reform policy and the original housing property usage rights was bought out by individuals. Meanwhile, the danwei management investment, strength, and voice in the compound were not as much as before. Therefore, at this time, the Supply and Marketing Cooperative Compound showed a decline in the situation with no one cleaning up garbage, mottled and cracked roads, aging houses without repairs, and decayed greenery without care. In addition, due to the commercialization of the compound’s land and the development of real estate, local governments, danwei, and the market placed too much emphasis on seeking the exchange value of the space, ignoring the living needs of the residents and the use value of the compound and compressing almost all of the public activity area in the compound. Those made the danwei compound only have a single, homogenous, residential function, which was presented as the production of an abstract space with discrete characteristics.

4.2.2. Representational Space

During the transition period of the commodity economy, the residents of the Provincial Supply and Marketing Cooperatives compound were in a situation where the exchange value was greater than the use value. Daily life was full of the symbolic meaning of discipliners. The society of acquaintances disappeared, with the discrete atomization state appearing [48]. The residents of the compound personally experienced the multi-faceted disconnection of daily life needs, behaviors, and spatial patterns.

In terms of physical space, first, there was a lack of public activity space. The original public area of 10 hectares of the compound and the land were auctioned for real estate development without fully considering the interests and living needs of the residents of the original compound, resulting in a significant reduction in the public activity space of the residents of the original compound. The only remaining public activity space can no longer be used due to a long-term lack of management and maintenance resulting in cracked pavement, overgrown weeds, and accumulation of debris. At this stage, the public activity space in the compound is almost zero, which cannot provide the residents with space and opportunities for communication and interaction. Residents represented a danwei–home two-point-and-one-line isolated living state, which intensified the social network, ruptured the community relationship, and reduced the possibility of further repair and regeneration [49]. Second, was the lack of parking space. There was a non-motorized vehicle parking shed in front of the office building in the original Supply and Marketing Cooperative Compound. However, with the development of the market economy, people’s living standards were improving day by day. Motor vehicles and non-motorized vehicles have gradually become popular in ordinary households; so, the spatial conflicts have intensified year by year. The root cause is the serious compression of the compound space caused by real estate development. The danwei and local government have not made long-term plans and considerations for the compound’s future development and residents’ daily needs, which makes the development of parking space in the compound limited, seriously lagging behind the growing parking demand of residents. As a result, cars and bicycles compete for parking space, and the fire channels and the corridors in front of buildings are parked in disorder, which seriously affects the daily commute of residents and poses safety risks. Secondly, there is a lack of daily life service facilities in the compound. The daily activity facilities such as the kindergarten, canteen, and auditorium in the original compound were demolished and real estate development was carried out. At present, children in the compound need to go to a kindergarten that is 1 km away from the compound, which greatly increases the commuting time and distance for parents to pick up their children to and from school, reducing the convenience of life and reducing the contact and interaction of the residents of the compound. The disappearance of the canteen brought inconvenience to the lives of the residents of the compound, especially the elderly residents who account for a large proportion. The cancellation of the auditorium meant the disappearance of the place where collective activities were held, which led to the almost disappearance of collective activities, the collapse of the collective ideology of the danwei, and the disappearance of common emotional connections, which accelerated the loss of the original residents in the compound [50]. Finally, the management and governance of the compound were in a state of suspension. Under the tide of marketization, with the privatization of housing use property rights, the danwei’s investment and voice in the management and control of compound residential areas gradually weakened. As the management power of the compound was not transferred to the community, the compound gradually evolved into a “three-regardless” residential area. The lack of long-term management and maintenance of the compound led to confusion in the community’s garbage disposal sites. There is no fixed garbage collection point, meaning garbage cannot be treated regularly. The building is seriously aging, the facade is mottled and cracked, and the corridors are covered with small advertisements and graffiti. The public activity space is overgrown with weeds, lacks corresponding activity facilities, piles up debris for a long time, and cannot be used normally.

At the social space level, firstly, due to the long-term detached status of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative Compound, the material environment such as the aging of the building and the decline of the public activity space is rapidly deteriorating. At the same time, because the compound housing was transformed from the danwei public property right to the private-use property right housing, the living area per capita was limited and gradually could not satisfy the residents’ increasing pursuit of large-area housing. Therefore, a large number of original danwei residents chose to rent and sell compound housing and go to areas relatively far away from the city center to purchase newly developed residential quarters and carry out improvement-type replacement of houses. The loss of nearly 50% of the original residents, as well as the migration of a large number of migrants such as migrant workers and students, led to the complete disintegration of the original social network of the compound. The original danwei collective community cohesion disappeared, and residents no longer interacted with each other (which they formerly did even if they did not know each other). This represents an atomized and discrete daily life space with individuals [51]. The dilapidated physical environment of the community limits the possibility of communication and contact between residents and further prevents the re-establishment of the social network of the compound.

Secondly, in the context of housing market reforms, since the first land auction in Hefei in 1998, along with the simultaneous advancement of external expansion and internal potential urbanization, the housing value and the “rental difference/rental difference in high-quality areas” the “rent gap” was “activated”, which was quickly reflected in the transaction price and spatial difference of commercial housing [52]. In 2008, with the support of the local government, the price of the re-developed real estate was twice the average selling price of a new house in Luyang District at that time, which was much higher than the price of second-hand houses in the original compound. For the residents of the compound involved in the demolition and redevelopment, the Provincial Supply and Marketing Cooperative proposed three types of resettlement compensation methods: cash compensation, in situ resettlement, and participation in group buying. Most of the residents whose homes were demolished did not want to abandon the superior location in the city center occupied by the original houses. At the same time, they did not have enough funds to provide more residential area in the new residential quarters and chose to relocate in situ. Although this kind of resettlement compensation method guaranteed the interests of the residents of the demolished compound to the greatest extent, the newly developed residential districts were already on sale due to their superior location, scarce education and medical resources, and high-quality apartments. Those led to a rapid rise in second-hand housing prices, as high as 66,000 yuan/m², which was much higher than the average second-hand housing price in the same area in Luyang District. Additionally, the phenomenon of gentrification was prominent [53]. The rapidly rising housing prices have caused psychological imbalances among the residents still living in the original danwei compound and laid a hidden danger of instability for the orderly development of the social network in the compound.

In short, the community compound at this stage cannot create a sense of community belonging and gradually moves towards the decline and rupture of material space and social networks, which had become the fundamental reason for the discrete evolution of the community. When the identity space in the representational space and the institutional space of the representations of space do not form a synergy, the livable development of the community will be a utopian fantasy [15].

4.2.3. Spatial Practice

The behavior subject constantly interacts with the environment and, while the behavior is disciplined by the space, it also shapes the space [54]. At the level of spatial practice, some employee representatives who still live in the compound play games through the danwei with the local government. Residents occupy and transform space through their own subjective initiative, express their own demands, and highlight the contradiction between public and private space.

The game between residents, danwei, and government is the renovation of dilapidated houses. When the danwei compound was built in the 1950s, all of which are brick-concrete structures, the construction standards were low, some housing facilities did not meet the standards, and the per capita living area was small, which is not suitable for long-term living. With the decline of the material environment in the of the Supply and Marketing Cooperatives Compound, the houses in the compound were seriously damaged. Building 18 was identified as a severely damaged house in the 1990s. Similar to Building 18, there were Buildings 17, 15, 3, and 2. Buildings have very poor earthquake-proof effects and have many hidden safety hazards. These current conditions have long caused concerns for the residents. Since 2010, some employees of the danwei have repeatedly requested in writing to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to reform their houses for salvage, while the Supply and Marketing Cooperative did not proceed with further acceptance on the grounds of financing difficulties. In July 2014, after several situations and negotiations, the Provincial Supply and Marketing Cooperative asked the Service Center of the danwei to conduct a household survey on the renovation of dilapidated houses in the compound. According to survey data, nearly 93% of the residents of the compound agreed to the renovation, and the masses had a strong will. However, at this time, the Supply and Marketing Cooperative Compound wanted the Hefei Municipal Government to apply for the renovation of dilapidated houses. Due to the demolition of the former Hefei Dilapidated House Reconstruction Office, there were few corresponding support policies, which hindered the market-oriented operation of the overall renovation of the compound. The renovation of the compound once again ran aground. It can be seen that the danwei was the link between the residents of the compound and the local government. In the danwei compound, it represented the end of the administrative management of the government department. However, it usually requires the support and encouragement of the government in terms of policy and finance. The danwei responded to problems with a relatively strong posture. When the community had increasingly complex and diverse needs and difficulties, it was seen as a “dragging” strategy. The local government adopted the attitude of non-active participation in the settlement without the policy instructions of the superior.

Illegal construction/occupation of production by residents of the compound represented that “The poor and the working class have little power over space, but they have the ability to establish a certain situation” [18], although the current main management danwei of the compound (Supply and Marketing Cooperative) has also tried to negotiate with the local government on solving the existing complex contradictions and needs of the compound through applications and written reports. However, the actual problems have not been fundamentally resolved in the delay. Therefore, the contradiction between supply and demand of residential space in the compound has become more and more intensified, causing residents to have to solve the problem in such a way that the weak, occupying space, use the an art of resistance. Unlike space rulers, the weak have no independent place and cannot confront the strong. Therefore, they must use time and opportunities to occupy places in a roundabout, indirect, and scattered manner. [41]. Residents of the compound occupy the public space on the first floor by building a sunroom or building a backyard to increase the living area, occupying fire aisles and self-built parking spaces, occupying the inter-building space to build a storage room privately to express anti-discipline behavior and attitudes, and strategically occupy the public space as one’s daily life space.

4.3. Production of Integrated Differential Space (Co-Governance of “Government–Market–Residents” in Livable Areas) (Co-Governance of “Government–Market–Residents” in Block-Based Residential Areas)

In the face of the constant complaints from the residents of the compound and the informal resistance of the residents, the material space of the danwei residential area is facing further deterioration and decline. Additionally, the danwei and the local government are facing an increasingly prominent “discipline–anti-discipline” spatial contradiction, which even intensifies the new hidden dangers of social problems [55]. In 2010, in response to the country’s policy call to “visit urban settlements built before 2000” and “vigorously promote the transformation of old urban communities”, Hefei officially launched the transformation of old communities. The decayed Supply and Marketing Cooperative Compound, which was built in the 1950s, became a key target for the Luyang District Government to show the results of the renovation of the old community. As the main funding provider, the local government has conducted public tenders for the design and construction company for the renovation of the old community. In the process of transformation, in response to the central work requirements of “filling up the shortcomings of the old urban community infrastructure and satisfying the people’s yearning for a better life”, the local government and danwei put aside the posture of space powerhouses and the danwei agency service centers, with the design and construction company, conduct door-to-door visits and investigations for the immediate transformation needs of the residents of the compound. Therefore, in the final transformation plan of the old community, the use value of residents’ living space and social space has received more attention and improvement. In the transition from discrete to space to differentiated space, although more and more demands are constantly being realized, new demands will continue to arise, which means that although the spatial contradiction has been relieved to a certain extent, it has never been completely relieved. Therefore, this period is an integrated differential space: The contradiction is resolved in the game and negotiation, but the ideal terminal state has not been reached (Figure 4).

4.3.1. Representations of Space

The disciplined discrete space turns to a diversified and differentiated space, which is mainly reflected in the introduction of market-oriented properties: the formation of danwei–property management agency–residents multi-participation in the governance model of the compound and the differentiated negotiation of illegal construction/occupation of public opinion.

Firstly, the relationship between the government, danwei, the market, and the residents of the compound has changed. The root cause of space conflict and atomization is that the neatly colluded space exchange value hides the space use value of residents’ daily life. Therefore, on the one hand, the residents of the compound require the danwei to declare the renovation of the community in the name of the environmental improvement of the old community and strive for the reform index from the city. On the other hand, they require the introduction of market management. Danwei Agency Service Center, the property management agency, and the residents jointly participate in the governance of the compound. They Introduce the property management agency, and carry out market-oriented management of parking, greening and public space, and regulate the garbage classification and public security management at the centralized garbage disposal point. Residents and danwei jointly participate in the decision making and evaluation of the selection and employment of the property management agency.

Secondly, regarding the demolition and renovation of the original illegal buildings, Although the illegal construction/occupation expressed the resistance of some residents to space discipline and the expression of differentiated space needs, it also encroached on public space and harmed the interests of other residents. For example, occupying the backyard on the first floor, occupying pedestrian passages, adding storage rooms between the buildings, occupying fire-fighting passages, rebuilding a sunroom on the top floor, etc. will bury hidden dangers for the living safety of the compound and, at the same time, conflicts and quarrels among residents intensified. Meanwhile, in the long-term game between the government, danwei, and residents, they gradually realized that forced demolition will only intensify the contradictions among the people, the government, and danwei. It is necessary to respect diverse needs, respect residents’ living habits, and negotiate and handle the issue of encirclement construction. Taking advantage of the opportunity of the renovation of the old community in 2018, the design department entered the site to conduct a comprehensive investigation and safety assessment of the enclosure/occupation situation of the housing. Then, the service center of the provincial supply and marketing cooperative agency took the lead to invite the district housing construction committee, district urban management office, district environmental protection office, and other relevant departments, as well as design companies, construction companies, and residents’ representatives to organize consultation meetings, based on the safety technical assessment report issued by the design company, combined with the technical safety regulations of the government on community fire protection, house structure, pedestrian passage width, etc., considering the interests of residents and diversified needs, according to the actual situation of multiple illegal constructions The situation was subject to differentiated dismantling, transformation, and retention treatment. The demolition of illegal construction was completed smoothly, eliminating potential safety hazards, beautifying the public space environment, alleviating contradictions and disputes, and curbing the trend of illegal construction/occupying.

4.3.2. Representational Space

Residents’ daily life space should not be dominated by commoditized exchanges. Therefore, in the process of the transformation of the old community, through on-site investigations and interviews on the residents’ own demands and wishes, a list of transformation projects was formed to realize the “popular opinion” and “anti-discipline” of the space production. The danwei compound was transformed from being disciplined to an active participant in space production, and the use value of space was re-excavated. Specific representational space transformations included (1) exterior wall renovation and corridor cleaning; the painted exterior wall or cement mortar exterior wall was completely removed and then sprayed with real stone paint, covering an area of 17,808 square meters, and the red brick exterior wall was cleaned and varnished with an area of 752 square meters. For the existing residential corridors with dirty walls and a serious “psoriasis” phenomenon, the general walls needed to be polished with sandpaper during the renovation and cleaning, and the severely damaged walls needed to be renovated to the structural layer. The total area of cleaning was about 18,270 square meters. The eradicated area of the old wall was 6395 square meters. (2) Additional fitness venues and fitness equipment, with four additional fitness venues with an area of 186 square meters and 12 additional pieces of fitness equipment. Pruning and transplanting a total of 19 trees in the community, replanting Manila turf, totaling 210 square meters, and repairing the flowerbeds with brick cement mortar, totaling 45 square meters. (3) Mainly laying in front and back of the house and aisles, etc., was a total of 4175 square meters. Existing trash cans were damaged. The rectification adopted anti-aging, hard plastic, wheeled garbage cans. There are 51 trash cans in total and one set per unit. Special storage spaces with a size of 80 cm × 80 cm are reserved along the road. The top surface of the motor vehicle shed was replaced with a color steel plate, an area of 86 square meters. The iron fence was painted with rust, an area of 12 square meters. Based on the current conditions, the roads in the community will be repaired on the original basis. (4) Upgrade the community to add electronic monitoring equipment. Renovate the surrounding walls of the community. The current quality of the surrounding walls is still good, but it is dirty and damaged. The design is sprayed with real stone paint, and the wall sprayed was 766 m with a height of 3 m [56].

4.3.3. Spatial Practice

Lefebvre’s space is not only an empirical setting of things in a certain field but also an attitude and customary practice. The spatial practice of creating a differentiated space is mainly reflected in the stimulating of the residents’ awareness of active participation in community governance and the development of the habit of actively maintaining the environment and order of the community [53]. In 2018, with the help of the transformation of the old community, the environment of the supply and marketing cooperative compound was rectified by public opinion and the living environment of the residents was greatly improved. However, to transform a new compound environment requires long-term professional maintenance to maintain the sustainable development of the results. Therefore, the supply and marketing cooperative tried to introduce a property company to be responsible for the professional management of the compound. The danwei conducted household surveys and solicited opinions from residents on the introduction of market-oriented property management work. As a result, more than half of the residents disagreed with the establishment of the introduction of properties. Since most of the people living in the compound are elderly people and foreign tenants, a household used to pay only 60 yuan a year for the sanitation management fee, but now it has to pay the property fee on a monthly basis. Therefore, many people cannot accept it ideologically. Under the ideological mobilization of street organizations, danwei, and building managers went house to house, an owner committee was established, and a recommended property company was introduced for test management. Gradually, it has gained more and more recognition from the residents of the compound in terms of maintaining public security in the community, guiding residents’ garbage classification, maintenance of public facilities, greening maintenance, and parking order guidance. At the same time, under the positive development trend of continuous improvement of the compound environment, the residents of the compound will take the initiative to report to the property that the sanitary conditions in the corridor need to be dealt with in a timely manner, spontaneously supervise each other’s garbage entering the bin, monitor the fire channel parking situation, and consciously maintain the environment and order of the compound [57], Gradually forming a space of difference reflecting diversity.

It can be seen that the maintenance of space rules requires the intervention of multiple forces, but residents feel that it is more important. If the new space habit cannot be brought into play with the help of spatial practice, then the formation of the space of difference is also a fantasy [58]. The cultivation of new habits relies on the support of multiple forces: The policy and financial support of the street and the danwei, the communication between the business committee and the building owner in daily life with the residents, the supervision of urban management, the guarantee of property management, etc., all promote the integration of space Indispensable conditions and means.

The Authors should discuss the results and how they can be interpreted from the perspective of previous studies and of the working hypotheses. The findings and their implications should be discussed in the broadest context possible. Future research directions may also be highlighted.

5. Conclusions

Through the qualitative analysis of the space production stage of the case compound, combined with the quantitative analysis of the coupling and coordination of the space production, and through the geographic detector, the influence intensity difference analysis of the factors that affect the quality of the danwei compound’s space production was carried out. It was concluded that the case compound is currently in a period of integrated differential space production. According to the space ternary dialectical theory, the representations of space, representational space, and spatial practice in this period are basically in a state of coupling and coordination, of which the spatial production coupling coordination score is 0.51. In the transition from the atomic abstract space to the fusion difference space, the use value of residents’ living space and social space has received more attention and improvement. Although more and more demands continue to be realized, new demands will continue to arise, which means that although the spatial contradiction has been relieved to a certain extent, it has never completely disappeared. Through the analysis of the geo-detector, it can be seen that “basic living conditions”, “living conditions”, “community social support”, “community belonging”, and “residents’ satisfaction with community management and services” are the five leading factors that affect the quality of space production, and their q determining power values are 0.89, 0.89, 0.85, 0.71, and 0.69, respectively. Therefore, starting from these aspects, we propose the following possible paths for the sustainable community regeneration of the three danwei compounds under the background of the “post-danwei era”.

5.1. Construction of Community Resources and Improvement of Community Environment

Community resources include not only tangible capital such as natural conditions, physical environment, and supporting facilities that support the sustainable development of the community but also intangible capital such as cultural connotations, social networks, and spiritual belonging that represent the characteristics of the community [42]. The quantity and quality of community capital are important factors to measure the level of community construction and development, as well as an important dimension of influence on the quality of space production [59]. Therefore, in the “post-danwei era”, the construction of livable danwei settlements should have sufficient tangible hardware assets, such as community residents’ service facilities, and should also create a distinctive spiritual and cultural core. Community resources include not only tangible capital such as natural conditions, physical environment, and supporting facilities that support the sustainable development of the community but also intangible capital such as cultural connotations, social networks, and spiritual belonging that represent the characteristics of the community [60]. The quantity and quality of community capital are important factors to measure the level of community construction and development, as well as an important dimension of influence on the quality of space production [59]. Therefore, in the “post-danwei era”, the construction of livable danwei settlements should have sufficient tangible hardware assets such as community residents’ service facilities and should also create a distinctive spiritual and cultural core. With the decline of the traditional danwei system community, the danwei no longer plays the role of the main provider of community resources and lacks effective alternative resource providers to join, resulting in the decline of the compound’s material environment, the separation of social networks, and the loss of cultural connotation. In response to this situation, urban local governments should mobilize relevant departments and service agencies from the perspective of overall urban planning and development, conscious supplementing and constructing the community resources of the danwei system community after the change, and acting as the provider and manager of community resources. This move must be maintained for a period. Only in this way can it bring about effective improvement of this type of community environment and improvement of residents’ living standards. It is also possible to produce a new cultural spiritual connotation that maintains the integration of the community on this basis.

5.2. Cultivation and Strengthening of Residents’ “Community Awareness”

In the danwei system-dominated period, the danwei was the main body of the state for social resource management and distribution, so everyone had to depend on the danwei to meet their various needs in life. Therefore, everyone in the city was a “danwei person” [3]. After the start of the economic system reform, major changes took place in the danwei itself and its interior during the introduction of the market economic system. The most significant change was that the danwei split the social functions and returned it to the society, which was previously undertaken by danwei [61]. This means that danwei employees were pushed out of the scope of protection under the traditional redistribution system. Their reliance on the state and danwei for obtaining various resource of living was cut off, and they changed from “danwei people” to “social people.” As a result of this transformation, there was an urgent need for the “community”, a new entity that satisfied the urban social functions, and the community was responsible for many social functions that were stripped away from the original danwei. The above-mentioned changes brought about changes in real-life conditions and opportunities for urban residents. At the same time as these objective changes occurring, a subjective change in concept and consciousness was urgently needed. This was to change the high level of dependence on the work of danwei in the past into a strong sense of belonging to the residential community. The cultivation and strengthening of this awareness is a big boost to the construction of urban communities, and it is also a necessary condition for the reconstruction of the traditional danwei system communities [62].

5.3. Cultivation of Residents’ Participation and Self-Management Mechanism

After the system reform, the danwei system community was thrown out with the danwei’s blessing during the disintegration of the danwei system, and there was a great management crisis [63]. In this traditional danwei-based community, after the system transformation and enterprise restructuring, on the one hand, the danwei was withdrawn from the field of community governance. On the other hand, there was no effective management entity to settle in, which created a vacuum in community governance and also led to the decline of the community on the edge and the bottom [64]. Therefore, on the one hand, we should speed up the introduction of the five market-oriented professional real estate companies to manage and provide services to the compound. On the other hand, instead of waiting for a new community management agency to come in, it is better to rely on residents’ self-management. Allowing community residents to better participate in the process of community reconstruction and management may be more worthy of consideration. The basis of this mechanism lies in the meaning contained in the concept of “community”, that is, “community is essentially a community of social life. The value of the community and the social basis for its existence and development lies in the common interests and common concerns of public affairs among the residents of the community” [65]. Therefore, the cultivation and functioning of a mechanism for residents’ participation and self-management should be an effective condition for promoting community construction and community governance. This is not only a choice in the reconstruction of the traditional danwei system community, but also a long-term plan for the construction and development of the entire urban community.