The evolution of urban form in China: an application of M. R. G.

Conzens method in Guangzhou

Sheng Yao School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. Email: yaosheng18489@live.cn Tel: +44 07411028282 (Address above is available for 11mouthes) Department of Architecture, College of Architecture and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640 P. R. China

Abstract: M. R. G. Conzens theory of urban morphology has been an important stimulus to the study of the evolution of European cities. This paper explores Conzens method of morphological regionalization in the very different cultural environment existing in Guangzhou, China. No.10 Fu area is a typical traditional residential area in Guangzhou. Despite the lack of many of the sources of data used in the West, this paper undertakes a morphological regionalization in this area employing the three form complexes used by Conzen: ground plan, building types, and land and building utilization. The application of the method to conservation planning is discussed. Key words: evolutionary process, urban morphology, M. R. G. Conzens theory, Guangzhou

Introduction
In recent times, particularly since the mid-twentieth century, there has been increasing attention to conserving aspects of the character of places. Urban conservation has assumed considerable significance in many countries (Whitehand, Gu et al. 2011). Identifying and delimiting character areas has become part of the conservation process. However, decisions on this process are far from being well informed. Relevant research in urban morphology needs to be brought to bear on the subject. Urban morphology seeks to understand the spatial structure and character of a metropolitan area, city, town or village by examining the patterns of its component parts and the process of their development. However, in China in particular there is a weak connection between urban

morphology and the practice of urban conservation. Here top-down planning is imposed in design projects practically countrywide (Chen 2010). Many historical character areas have disappeared in Chinese cities as a result of large-scale urban growth and revelopment promoted by government and other agencies. Nevertheless, the approach of urban morphology has recently been adopted in China despite the fact that historical sources are poor in comparison with those available in the West (Whitehand 2009). It has become evident from analysis of the ground plan of the ancient Chinese city of Pingyao that the types of studies undertaken by Conzen and his successors can also be illuminating in Chinas very different cultural environment (Whitehand and Gu 2007). A study of a small area near Beijings Forbidden City has demonstrated the application of a full morphological regionalization (Whitehand and Gu 2007). This paper explores, in relation to China, aspects of urban morphological thinking concerning conservation that have been developed largely in the West. The principal part of the paper examines Conzens method of morphological regionalization in Guangzhou.

Application of Conzenian method

The theoretical underpinning to conservation that Conzenian thinking can provide stems from Conzens perspective on the relationship between the urban landscape and society(Whitehand, Gu et al. 2011). The urban landscape is, for Conzen, the objectivation of the spirit of the succession of societies that inhabits it. And morphological regionalizations are, like the landscape itself, a cumulative record Conzen, 1966, pp. 57-61. In practical terms the starting point for such a regionalization is the historico-geographical structuring of the landscape. A major aspect of understanding urban landscapes is the identification of urban landscape (or townscape) units. These units provide a framework for establishing the nature and intensity of the historical expressiveness of various parts of an urban area (Conzen, 1975, p. 98). As Conzen showed, they also provide a basis for assessing conservation priorities. In Conzens study of the English market town of Alnwick, he demonstrated how the historical development of a major aspect of urban form could be expressed in great detail cartographically (Conzen 1960). To understand this it is necessary to appreciate how the various urban landscape components (termed form complexes by Conzen) relate to one another(Whitehand, Gu et al. 2011). The urban landscape is a combination of three components : ground plan (or two-dimensional layout), pattern of building forms, and pattern of land and building utilization. All these aspects have been the subject of geographical investigation

(Conzen 1960). A ground plan can be defined as the topographical arrangement of an urban built-up area in all its man-made features. It contains three distinct complexes of plan elements: 1. Streets and their arrangement in a street-system; 2. Plots and their aggregation in street-blocks; 3. Buildings or, more precisely, their block-plans (Conzen 1960). The ground plan provides the framework for the building forms and pattern of land utilization, and the buildings contain the covered part of the land utilization. All these components derive their character from the historical and cultural context at the time of their creation and adaptation. The ground plan is the component most resistant to change, reflecting a major capital investment, particularly in the case of the street plan. Building forms also tend to persist for a lengthy time span, but are more susceptible than the street plan to destruction by fire and war, and to adaptation and replacement related to change of ownership and function. The pattern of land and building utilization is the most subject to change, at least in and around urban cores --- here new functional impulses and fashions are prevalent and change is often facilitated by the more limited tenure of the occupiers of buildings (Whitehand 2009). These differences between the three components in their change over time are evident in the way in which the urban landscape is historically stratified. The ground plan generally determines the major units of the hierarchy. The smallest units, or morphotopes, are generally determined by the form of the buildings (Conzen, 1988). Land and building utilization plays a muted role in defining the various levels of region within traditional areas of towns because of its broad conformability to the ground plan (Whitehand 2006). It is the application in Guangzhou of the method of elucidating these units and then employing them to establish conservation priorities that is the main focus of attention here.

Guangzhou
Guangzhou, with a population of some 7.73 million in 2007, is the largest city in southern China. Its early development can be traced back to 214 BC if not earlier (Zhou and Xiao, 2003, p. 124). During the period of Chinas closed-door policy, in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), Guangzhou became the only significant port in China trading with the outside world (Gu, Tian et al. 2008). The last of a series of extensions to its walled area took place in 1647, and the built-up area of the city was largely confined within those walls until the nineteenth century (Whitehand, Gu et al. 2011).

Commerce and handicrafts burgeoned in Guangzhou between the mid-eighteenth century and the Opium War of 1840-2 (Gu, Tian et al. 2008). After the mid-nineteenth century, Guangzhou underwent unprecedented socioeconomic and cultural change (Elvin and Skinner, 1974; Esherick, 2000; Tsin, 1999). Although traditional building methods and styles continued, Western influences began to play an important role in the citys transformation (Yang and Cai, 2003). Following Chinas transformation under communism, mainly during the third quarter of the twentieth century, Guangzhou underwent rapid development, particularly after 1984 when it was designated as one of fourteen coastal open cities (yanhai kaifang chengshi) by the central government (Xu and Yeh, 2003).

Urban conservation in Guangzhou

Guangzhou is at serious risk of becoming placeless and losing its cultural identity in a wave of urbanization and globalization. The introduction of structures of great mass and height into traditional residential areas is destroying the historical urban fabric. The development of conservation in Guangzhou resembles that in many other historical cities in China. Guangzhou was inscribed on the national list of Precious Historico-Cultural Cities in 1982. A conservation plan for the City was prepared in 1983 (Shi & Xu, 2005, p. 553) and was incorporated in a master plan for Guangzhou in 1984 (Guangzhou Municipal Government, 1984). Seven conservation areas were identified (Guangzhou Municipal Government, 1987). Eventually various conservation principles were reflected in a set of conservation regulations (Guangzhou Municipal Government, 1996; Peoples Congress of Guangzhou, 1999). In 2000, 16 HCCAs were designated and a further 21 historical conservation areas needing development management (neibu kongzhi lishi baohuqu) were scheduled to be so designated. The boundaries of these two types of conservation areas and further conservation principles and methods were set out in 2005 (Institute of Urban & Rural Planning & Design, & School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, 2005). Four general principles were identified in determining the boundaries of the HCCAs: namely authenticity, integrity, continuity and practicality. The present Historical Urban Area (Lishi Jiuchengqu) is some 20 sq km in extent. It contains ten of the Citys 16 HCCAs, each encompassing a significant number of traditional buildings and street blocks or archaeological sites, five Historical Character Areas (HCAs, Lishi Fengmao Baohuqu), in which historical features are more fragmented, and Construction Control Areas (Jianshe Kongzhiqu, areas immediately adjacent to the HCCAs and HCAs). The boundaries of the HCCAs largely follow city administrative boundaries and street lines (Guangdong Research Institute of Urban & Rural Planning & Design, & School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, 2005, p. 108). The ten HCCAs vary between about 50 and 145 ha in

extent(Fig 1).

Figue1. The No.10 Fu Historico-Cultural Conservation Area in relation to the line of the city wall and the Historical Urban Area. Based on Conservation Plan for the Historico-Cultural City of Guangzhou Plans Section (Guihuatu) (Guangdong Research Institute of Urban and Rural Planning and Design, & School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, 2005, pp. 6162).

The problem of deficient records

Compiling a record of detailed changes to the urban landscape of Guangzhou is far more difficult than in the large majority of Western cities. As in practically all Chinese cities, the lifespans of buildings are comparatively short. Surviving street and plot patterns, and, for the period since 1840, survivals of building fabric, are important sources for investigating the development of residential building types (Zeng, 1991; Zhou and Xiao, 2003).

There is a lack of systematic historical building records and historical series of true ground plans (comprising streets, plots and the block plans of buildings), such as are available for most European cities. A collection of historical maps of Guangzhou, published in 2003 (Zhou and Xiao, 2003), contains maps of the city and its environs from 1685 to 1949. However, maps prepared before the early-twentieth century show little more than streets and builtup areas. The earliest complete survey of Guangzhou was prepared by Guangzhou Land Bureau (Guangzhou Tudiju) between 1926 and 1935. The resulting maps, comprising 383 sheets, were bound in two volumes, entitled Guangzhou minguo jingjie tu (Map of land divisions and boundaries in Guangzhou in the period of the Republic). They show street systems and plot boundaries of much of the built-up area of Guangzhou at the scale of 1:600, or 1:500 in the case of maps prepared in 1933. A series of large-scale maps at the scale of 1:500, showing building block plans and street systems, was prepared in the post-1949 period. Guangzhou minguo jingjie tu and the large-scale maps that were prepared in the late-twentieth and early-twenty-first centuries were important sources of information for the present research, and provided the base maps for the field surveys.

A Chinese application: No.10 Fu area, Guangzhou

The meaning of case study. The case study is establishment of some basic principles and exhibition of some morphological phenomena of general significance in the very different environment from western cities. NO.10 Fu area was selected to examine the application of Conzenian urban morphology to conservation in Guangzhou in relation to the method currently adopted in that city.

Background to No.10 Fu area The word of Fu() means the commercial area near the river in Guangzhou. Following the project of Daguan river and Xihao river which are west of city wall in Ming dynasty, 18 Fu areas were built along the river and developed to be commercial areas in Xiguan which is a district west of city wall. In Qing dynasty, they have been the major commercial areas and open windows to the outside world in Guangzhou, even in China(Fig2). No.10 Fu area is one of them. It is a ordinary and traditional area in Guangzhou which is commercial outside and residential inside the area. It represent the characters of traditional areas in Xiguan.

Fig2. The location of Fu in relation to the line of the city wall and the rivers. Based on Atlas of Conservation Plan for the Historico-Cultural City of Guangzhou Structure of Space Section (kongjiangejutu) (Guangdong Research Institute of Urban and Rural Planning and Design, & School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, 2005, pp.19).

Townscape analysis Figs4578 comprise, for the studying area, the maps of the basic triad of form complexes, together with their syntheses --- the maps of urban landscape units.

1. Town plan Three different types of plan-unit boundaries, or seams (Conzen, 1969, p. 128), have been mapped in Figure3: street-block seams (following the lines of streets), plot-tail seams and plot-side seams. They are used to distinguish the groups of plots, and it is clear that the plan-unit boundaries are both a powerful articulation of the ground plans structure and a fundamental framework for the plan units.

Fig3. Plan-unit boundaries

In Fig4 , 1-st order boundaries separate areas of markedly different on ground plan for example, the road of No.10 Fu qilou unit(Fig9 B) and principal traditional residential unit are distinguished by the boundary. Among the residential areas, the post-1949 multi-storey flats of big size unit is separated with the pre-1949 traditional

residential unit. 2-order unit boundaries reflect in particular spatial variations in plot patterns which include plot depths, plot directions and the entrances of building in the plot.(Fig4). As is widely evident in Europe, there is a marked tendency for spatial groupings of plots into series with common characteristics. These groupings are a major basis of plan units (Whitehand, Gu et al. 2011). And there are still some tiny differences among the plots, for example the plot widths and plot shape, so this paper use the 3-rd unit boundaries to distinguish them.

Fig4. Plan-units

2. Building types Because of the poor record of buildings especially the common residential houses in Guangzhou, most judgment were made by survey works in the area to see the exterior of the buildings and sometimes check the inside structure of the buildings.

Practically all plots, whether containing pre- or post-1949 buildings, are totally or very nearly covered by buildings, the multi-storey flats of 9 storeys areas, which generally have building coverage of less than 50%, are particularly distinctive (Fig9 H). It is very difficult to distinguish the row houses because of their frequently and irregularly redevelopment in structures and utilizations of buildings, for example the owner changed the zhutongwu house(a type of traditional houses with one jian) to be used as a flat(Fig6 A); rebuilt the ground floor of pre-revolutionary other row house to be a shop(Fig6 B); separate a mingziwu house(a type of traditional houses with two jian) to be two houses with one rebuilt and the other one still be traditional(Fig6 C). The principle of the judgment is to check the origin of the building, the zhutongwu house which now be used as a flat is still a traditional lingnan house in building type.

Fig5. Building type

Fig6. Jingtang Chens photographs, 2010

Fig7. Land and Building utilization

3. Land and building utilization In Fig7, it is clear and obvious that most of the commercial and residential mixed lands are along Baohua Road and No.10 Fu Road facing outside the studing area, the residential lands are inside. It is a common pattern of land and building utilization in Guangzhou. Many rooms of the ground floor of the multi-flats in the right side of the map are changed to be shops, so it is commercial and residential mixed lands too. 4. Urban landscape units The maps of the basic triad of form complexes, together with their syntheses --- the map of urban landscape units. The inter-war thoroughfare units are almost entirely lined with purpose-built shopfront buildings. These front directly onto the street in Baohua Road(Fig9 A) and No.10 Fu Road(Fig9 B). Most of the units are traditional units, the special one is River Space unit; it is a river before in Ming and Qing dynasty

Fig8. Urban landscape units

but was filled to be the street of No.16 Fu beijie, and the plots still has the character of rivers edge(Fig9 G). No.16 Fu Dajie is a street in the middle of the map with plots along the two sides of it which are shorter than most of other plots in studying area(Fig9 C). The buildings of the multi-storey flat unit are built in the post-revolutionary period, and are totally different with other building fabric because of their massive size(Fig9 H).

problems The most intractable problems concern the relationship between traditional and modern physical forms. Structures of great height and mass introduced in recent decades are grossly out of scale amidst one and two-storey dwellings(Fig9 H). The introduction into them of multi-storey buildings in most cases not only destroys the human scale of what are generally little more than alleyways but also seriously impairs natural lighting at street level(Whitehand, Gu et al. 2011). Another problem is numerous poorly-constructed redevelopment and invariably illegal, top-floor extensions. It not only destroy the facades of original grey brickwork but also the character of the whole block. Here many of the redevelopment and extensions are non-desirable relationship with traditional lingnan culture, it is just poorly and simply-constructed rooms or shops which are introduced into the houses of original characters.

Fig9. Characteristics of urban landscape units. Autors and Jingtang Chens photographs, 2010

conclusion
Unlike urban expansion, restructuring and economic development in China, which have been the subject of considerable research over many decades, the conservation of Chinese towns and cities received little attention until the 1980s(Whitehand and Gu 2007). Cities in China will lose much of their traditional characters if urban conservation continues to be ineffectual. The principle of Conzenian method is that we should treat historical landscapes as entities not loose assemblages of historical bits and pieces. But in China, the poplar things for urban morphology are redevelopment of commercial pedestrian streets and monumental buildings. The traditional residential area which represent the historical characters of local culture attract little attention from the government, and many structures of great height and mass introduced in recent decades destroyed the urban fabric of the areas. In this paper, The feasibility and value of utilizing the Conzenian method of urban morphology has been shown in an environment strikingly different from the European one in which it has so far largely been applied. Through landscape research, we can understand the historical characters of urban form and correlated to urban conservation. The meaning of townscape analysis in Guangzhou is providing a basis for conservation planning, urban design and building design for the future. Urban landscape wants to achieve a succession of previous societies. Without the plans based on the townscape analysis, it is in high risk of losing connections between historical grain and new buildings. A major consideration is the way in which urban morphological analysis and synthesis, expressed cartographically in terms of a hierarchy of urban landscape units, articulate and help to enhance that historical and geographical awareness that is such an important contributor to a healthy society.

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