- Shan-Shui-City: A Chinese spatial planning tradition and its implications on urban sustainability    click here to open paper content1299 kb
by    CHEN, Yulin & JIANG, Yang | chenarch@gmail.com   click here to send an email to the auther(s) of this paper
Short Outline
The paper illustrates the notion of 'Shan-Shui-City' in creating ecological, artistic and cultural human settlements in traditional China, as well as its potentials of facilitating sustainable development in future China.
Abstract
China has been experiencing rapid urbanization since 1980s. Massive construction and urban sprawl has placed much pressure on preserving the natural and cultural environment of historic regions and cities. To address the problem, while experience of the modern developed world can be usefully adapted, a 2000-year history of urban development practice in China has also left us a great treasure of sustainable development solutions. This paper, therefore, attempts to illustrate how the notion of ‘Shan-Shui-City’ is embedded into the practice of creating ecological, artistic and cultural human settlements in ancient China.
The author will first introduce the theoretical framework for understanding the ‘Shan-Shui-City’ concept in 3 dimensions of function, aesthetics and culture. Second, the author will analyze the spatial pattern of the Beijing-Tianjin-North-Hebei Region in China using the established framework. Three cities including Beijing, Baoding and Jixian are selected. The “Shan-Shui-City” pattern is concluded as 1) placing the city at the center; 2) forming an axis; 3) containing views of surroundings; and 4) echoing the Shan-Shui with the City. Finally, emerging challenges of the ‘Shan-shui-city’ pattern of the Beijing-Tianjin-North-Hebei Region in the contemporary era were examined. The author further developed some recommendations and strategies to reconstruct the ‘Shan-Shui-City’ spatial pattern for mitigating the impact of disasters for the future region.
Keywords
'Shan-shui-city' pattern, Beijing-Tianjin-North-Hebei Region, Human Settlements
Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2010: Sustainable City - Developing World
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