During the process of Chinese cities’ transformation from being growth-led to regeneration-based, there has been a rising requirement for detailed urban design practice. This requirement needs urban design evolve from outcome-based technical tools to integrating process and outcome public policy. Detailed urban design as public policy aims at particular public issues, and is being conducted to improve the quality of urban management and city governance. It features being authoritative and dynamic and involving conf licts and compromises between multiple stakeholders on interests of space. The paper argues that in the current context of China’s urban transformation, there have been both potentials and constraints towards detailed urban design, and therefore further observations and researches are of necessity.