The morphological evolution of high-rise residential building plan in Shanghai under urban social changes

High-rise residential buildings are not simply objective products of cities, which are influenced by urban social changes and national housing standards. Human-oriented design has been continuously paid attention to in the development of contemporary Chinese urban housing. However, the morphology of high-rise housing in China tends to be in a lack of variety. The paper made a summary of the types of high-rise residential building plan in Shanghai from the 1980s to the present, and explained the process of change from the perspective of urban social changes. The form of high-rise residential plan could be divided into three types: gallery apartment building, tower-type apartment building and combined apartment building under the influence of social economy and housing standard in different periods. From 1980 to 1990, the form of high-rise residential plan was diversified, such as gallery and tower-type apartment building. In 1990s, tower housing became mainstream. In 2000s, the type was dominated by tower-type and combined apartment. Since 2016, China has implemented the two-child policy. To meet the need of various families, the form of residential building plan should be more flexible. The evolution of high-rise residential form can partly reflect the changes of urban society. Research on residential morphology can provide a basis for the sustainable development of high-density cities in China.