a brief info about how china achieved their early urban planning.

1. CHINA
• Early cradles of Chinese
civilization:
– Wei River Valley (Wèi Hé)
– Yellow River (Huang He)
• WHY civilization materialize
along river?
– Continuous river supply
– Fertile soil (due to floods)
– Stable food supply
• Matured farming village? For
agriculture.

2. • Matured farming village? For agriculture.
• Town? Intermediate between matured
farming village + walled urban centre.
• Walled urban centre? housing, trade,
commerce, transport, manufacturing, politics,
religion, culture and art and service centre.

3. • How most cities were designed?
– Under the emperor’s command.
– Discussion among scholars,
philosophers, builders
– Combination of heaven, earth and
humankind.
– Feng Shui (maintain harmony), Ying guo
(system of urban design and mgt), Feng li
(neighborhood design).

4. • The use of open space, the merging of
agrarian and commercial facilities, DESIGN
integration of commercial and PRINCIPLES
residential needs, and aesthetic
consideration.
• Courtyards were used as common public
space, gardening and natural landscape
combined with bodies of water to enrich
the environment.
• Within the city, market on first floor and
residential on the second floor.
“well-field system” basic
geometric and legal module
• Unity was reflected at all levels-the of urban-regional planning.
neighborhood faced a common internal
courtyard- each created a nesting
pattern.

5. • Who construct? Local people / farmers.
• Example:
– Forbidden City, Beijing
(walled urban centre)
– Great Wall of China
- First Emperor,Qin Shi Huang
order : protect against
northern nomads
- the Wall extended by Han
Dynasty due to Silk Road.

6. • The city was designed to integrate moral values
and natural forces.
• Population?
– The ancient Chinese cities : 1 million early throughout
their Evolutionary process
– the West : ½ million residence during Renaissance.
• What is city?
– The Chinese : centre for agricultural marketing and
administration
– The West : basis for expansion into other territories.
• There’s no eternal monuments and city was built
at the emperor’s request. The city itself was a
monument to the Chinese.

7. • When examined historically, • These allowed
many of the cities now substantial freedoms,
thought to be most yet enforce styles,
beautiful are the result of
dense, long lasting systems safety, and often
of prohibitions and guidance materials in practical
about building sizes, uses ways
and features.

8. Summary
• Why do cities exist?
• What are the functions of early cities?
• How do cities thrive
and why do cities
die?