Frontiers of Architectural Research >
Deciphering built form complexity of Chinese cities through plot recognition: A case study of Nanjing, China
Received date: 23 Nov 2021
Revised date: 22 Dec 2021
Accepted date: 29 Dec 2021
Published date: 31 Oct 2022
Copyright
Dramatic changes in the economic systems and land rights in the recent history of China yielded unique but complex urban forms for many cities. The complexity of urban form is mostly manifested as ambiguous relations between elements of the physical form and between the physical form and human behavior. Currently, these ambiguities become obstacles that increasingly hinder urban regeneration. However, despite the fast-growing research on the morphology of Chinese cities, our understanding of the complexity of their built form is still in its infancy. Taking the city of Nanjing as the case study, this study attempts to decipher the complexity of its built form by investigating its plot patterns. Six samples, dating back to different development periods, are selected and analyzed in terms of both a physical entity and a unit of property. The results show that the complexity of plots is largely attributable to the inconsistency between their spatial boundaries as physical entities and as units of property. Accordingly, the plots of all six samples are re-recognized and two generic types of plot sub-series, co-inflection and embeddedness, are developed as a prism to decipher the built form complexity. The findings contribute to the theory on the compositional hierarchy of urban forms and may shed light on the urban regeneration of Chinese cities as well.
Key words： Urban form; Complexity; Plot; Nanjing
Yacheng Song , Ye Zhang , Dongqing Han . Deciphering built form complexity of Chinese cities through plot recognition: A case study of Nanjing, China[J]. Frontiers of Architectural Research, 2022 , 11(5) : 795 -805 . DOI: 10.1016/j.foar.2021.12.007
| 1 |
Caniggia, G., Maffei, G.L., 1979. Composizione Architettonica – Tipologia Edilizia: 1. Lettura dell’Edilizia di Base. Marsilio, Venezia.
|
| 2 |
Caniggia, G., Maffei, G.L., 1984. Composizione Architettonica e Tipologia Edilizia: 2. Progetto Nell’Edilizia di Base. Marsilio, Venezia.
|
| 3 |
Caniggia, G., Maffei, G.L., 2001. Architectural Composition and Building Typology: Interpreting Basic Building. Alinea Editrice, Florence.
|
| 4 |
Conzen, M.R.G., 1969. Alnwick, Northumberland. Institute of British Geographers.
|
| 5 |
Dong, Y.N., Han, D.Q., Shen, Y., Bao, Y.Z., 2019. The making and application of typological map adaptive to conservation and regeneration of historic districts in China: a case study of the Xiaoxihu area in Nanjing. Archit. J. 605, 81–87.
|
| 6 |
Gu, K., Zhang, J., 2014. Cartographical sources for urban morphological research in China. Urban Morphol. 18, 5–21.
|
| 7 |
Han, D.Q., Song, Y.C., Ge, X., 2020. Recognition and design for morphological structure of intensive urban blocks. Archit. J. 625, 79–85.
|
| 8 |
Han, D.Q., Song, Y.C., Wang, E.Q., Liu, H., Fang, R., 2021. Multiple dimensions of urban design development from a practice perspective: a case study of an institute in Nanjing. Front. Archit. Res. 10 (1), 79–91.
|
| 9 |
He, H.H., Zhang, X.C., 2014. Rethinking urban rural planning from property right viewpoint. Planners 18, 18–24.
|
| 10 |
Huang, H.M., Lai, S.H., 2013. Property right reorganization and spatial remolding: Guangzhou old city renovation from land property right view point. Planners 29, 90–96.
|
| 11 |
Kropf, K., 2009. Aspects of urban form. Urban Morphol. 13 (2), 105.
|
| 12 |
Kropf, K., 2014. Ambiguity in the definition of built form. Urban Morphol. 18 (1), 41–57.
|
| 13 |
Kropf, K., 2018. Plots, property and behaviour. Urban Morphol. 22 (1), 1–10.
|
| 14 |
Kropf, K., 2019. Plots, formalism and the limits of the minimal. Urban Morphol. 23 (1), 83–87.
|
| 15 |
Li, Y., Gauthier, P., 2014. The evolution of residential buildings and urban tissues in Guangzhou, China: morphological and typological perspectives. Urban Morphol. 18 (2), 129–149.
|
| 16 |
Liang, J., Sun, H., 2007. Pattern and Mechanism-The Urban Transformation of City Centers in China. China Architecture and Building Press, Beijing.
|
| 17 |
Moudon, A.V., 1986. Built for Change: Neighborhood Architecture in San Francisco. Mit Press.
|
| 18 |
Moudon, A.V., 1997. Urban morphology as an emerging interdisciplinary field. Urban Morphol. 1 (1), 3–10.
|
| 19 |
Scheer, B.C., 2016. The epistemology of urban morphology. Urban Morphol. 20 (1), 5–17.
|
| 20 |
Scheer, B.C., 2018. Toward a minimalist definition of the plot. Urban Morphol. 22 (2), 162–163.
|
| 21 |
Song, Y.C., Han, D.Q., Zhang, Y., 2018. A study on the representation of hierarchical structure of block form in Nanjing. Archit. J. 599, 34–39.
|
| 22 |
Song, Y.C., Zhang, Y., Han, D.Q., 2021. Access structure. Environ. Plan. B Urban Analyt. City Sci. 48 (9), 2808–2826.
|
| 23 |
Sun, S.W., Xi, D.F., 2003. Thinking on the land use right and urban planning development. City Plan. Rev. 27, 12–16.
|
| 24 |
Whitehand, J.W.R., 1972. Building Cycles and the Spatial Pattern of Urban Growth. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, pp. 39–55.
|
| 25 |
Whitehand, J.W.R., 1987. The Changing Face of Cities: A Study of Building Cycles and Urban Form. Blackwell.
|
| 26 |
Zhang, L.N., Ding, W.W., 2018. Changing urban form in a planned economy: the case of Nanjing. Urban Morphol. 22 (1), 15–34.
|
| 27 |
Zhou, J.Y., Qi, D.J., 2011. Legislation and formulation logic of regulatory detailed planning. City Plan. Rev. 35 (6), 60–65.
|
/
| 〈 |
|
〉 |