- Selection, Integration and Adaptation: Legacy of Traditional Regional Design in Capital Region, China   93 kb by    Chen, Yulin | chenarch@gmail.com    Short Outline China has a great tradition in regional design. The Capital Region covering Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei is analyzed. The essence of its regional design is summarized as the selection, integration and adaption of the evolving function and environment. Abstract Fast urbanization and urban sprawl in China is transforming the metropolitan landscape across the country. As city regions (i.e., city clusters) are being shaped, to create livable human settlements according to natural environment as well as to fulfill political, economic, social and cultural requirement becomes a significant challenge. While the western world provides helpful precedents (e.g., the Greater London), China has her own long-time tradition in regional design, leaving us as human beings a great treasure. In ancient China, several city regions existed and kept growing throughout dynasties with prosperous economy, rich culture and spectacular human settlements. The Capital Region covering Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei today (so-called Ji Fu in the Ming and Qing Dynasty) is one of successful traditional regional design examples worth exploration. The author will first identify emerging challenges of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region in China nowadays, and introduce the concept of regional design. Second, the author will analyze regional design traditions in the Capital Region according to three phases along her past evolution: (1) Pre-Qin Period as scattered cities confronting each other in the northern China; (2) from Qin to Song Dynasty as an integrated strategic military region confronting nomads from the north; (3) from Yuan to Qing Dynasty as a capital region governing the whole country. The essence will be illustrated from multi-dimensions (e.g., farming, transportation, military defense and recreation, etc), and summarized as the selection, integration and adaption of the evolving function and natural environment. Finally, recommendations to sustain the Capital Region in future will be concluded as shaping a holistic regional vision, establishing a regional artistic skeleton, and creating a regional coordination mechanism. Keywords regional design; traditional; capital region Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2011: LIVEABLE CITIES: URBANISING WORLD, Meeting the Challenge   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper