Search Results (25)

Coupled grey and green infrastructure (CGGI) offers a promising pathway toward sustainable stormwater management in historic urban environments. This study compares CGGI and conventional grey infrastructure (GREI)-only strategies across four degrees of layout centralization (0%, 33.3%, 66.7%, and 100%) in the Quanzhou West Street Historic Reserve, China. Using a multi-objective optimization framework integrating SWMM simulations, life-cycle cost (LCC) modeling, and resilience metrics, we found that the decentralized CGGI layouts reduced the total LCC by up to 29.6% and required 60.7% less green infrastructure (GI) area than centralized schemes. Under nine extreme rainfall scenarios, the GREI-only systems showed slightly higher technical resilience (Tech-R: max 99.6%) than CGGI (Tech-R: max 99.1%). However, the CGGI systems outperformed GREI in operational resilience (Oper-R), reducing overflow volume by up to 22.6% under 50% network failure. These findings demonstrate that decentralized CGGI provides a more resilient and cost-effective drainage solution, well-suited for heritage districts with spatial and cultural constraints. Full article

Historic districts of ancient towns serve as significant carriers of historical and cultural heritage while also being popular tourist destinations. Within the context of urbanization and organic renewal, the protection and development of historic districts have become crucial research topics. This study collects literature from the Web of Science database and applies manual screening to ensure relevance to the research theme. Using CiteSpace as an analytical tool, the study conducts a visual analysis from multiple perspectives, including keywords, writing time, authors, centrality, keyword clustering analysis, and timeline visualization. By constructing a knowledge graph, this research explores the key pathways and knowledge nodes in the organic renewal of spatial environments in historic districts of ancient towns. Based on literature clustering, the study categorizes research into four major aspects: heritage conservation, cultural and tourism development, spatial planning and design, and environmental enhancement. Based on this, universal strategies for the cultural and tourism development of historic districts in ancient towns are proposed. The research focus shifts from emphasizing cultural heritage preservation to the integrated development of culture and tourism. In the spatial development of historic districts, everyday life scenes should be incorporated while new technologies should be utilized to enhance environmental comfort. This paper summarizes the current research frontiers in this field and proposes future research trends, providing valuable references for scholars in related areas. Full article

The study explores the features of spatiotemporal circles of residents’ daily walking. Through a survey of residents’ walking activity in 16 residential communities, the walking purpose, distance, time, and speed of different residents were analyzed, and the circles of residents’ walking activities in historic and modern districts were identified. It is found that residents’ walking activities showed obvious spatiotemporal and individual differences. Walking activities on weekdays mainly focus on short distances (0.5–1 km) and short duration (5–15 min) for commuting and basic needs, while walking activities on weekends tend to be longer distances (more than 2 km) and longer duration (15–40 min) for leisure purposes. There are significant differences in distance and speed between walking activities in the historic and modern districts, with residents of the historic districts walking a smaller range but more diverse destinations, and residents of the modern districts walking to a wider range but fewer types of destinations. The study provides a scientific basis for multi-circle planning strategies of community life units, and it contributes to the localized adaptation of the “15-minute city” concept by revealing how historical and modern districts shape distinct spatiotemporal circles for walkability in Chinese cities. Full article

This study focuses on the systematic conservation of historical architectural heritage in Heilongjiang Province, particularly addressing the challenges of point-based protection and spatial fragmentation. It explores the construction of a connected and conductive heritage corridor network, using historical building clusters across the province as empirical cases. A comprehensive analytical framework is established by integrating the nearest neighbor index, kernel density estimation, minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model, entropy weighting, circuit theory, and network structure metrics. Kernel density analysis reveals a distinct spatial aggregation pattern, characterized by “one core, multiple zones.” Seven resistance factors—including elevation, slope, land use, road networks, and service accessibility—are constructed, with weights assigned through an entropy-based method to generate an integrated resistance surface and suitability map. Circuit theory is employed to simulate cultural “current” flows, identifying 401 potential corridors at the provincial, municipal, and district levels. A hierarchical station system is further developed based on current density, forming a coordinated structure of primary trunks, secondary branches, and complementary nodes. The corridor network’s connectivity is evaluated using graph-theoretic indices (α, β, and γ), which indicate high levels of closure, structural complexity, and accessibility. The results yield the following key findings: (1) Historical architectural resources in Heilongjiang demonstrate significant coupling with the Chinese Eastern Railway and multi-ethnic cultural corridors, forming a “one horizontal, three vertical” spatial configuration. The horizontal axis (Qiqihar–Harbin–Mudanjiang) aligns with the core cultural route of the railway, while the three vertical axes (Qiqihar–Heihe, Harbin–Heihe, and Mudanjiang–Luobei) correspond to ethnic cultural pathways. This forms a framework of “railway as backbone, ethnicity as wings.” (2) Comparative analysis of corridor paths, railways, and highways reveals structural mismatches in certain regions, including absent high-speed connections along northern trunk lines, insufficient feeder lines in secondary corridors, sparse terminal links, and missing ecological stations near regional boundaries. To address these gaps, a three-tier transportation coordination strategy is recommended: it comprises provincial corridors linked to high-speed rail, municipal corridors aligned with conventional rail, and district corridors connected via highway systems. Key enhancement zones include Yichun–Heihe, Youyi–Hulin, and Hegang–Wuying, where targeted infrastructure upgrades and integrated station hubs are proposed. Based on these findings, this study proposes a comprehensive governance paradigm for heritage corridors that balances multi-level coordination (provincial–municipal–district) with ecological planning. A closed-loop strategy of “identification–analysis–optimization” is developed, featuring tiered collaboration, cultural–ecological synergy, and multi-agent dynamic evaluation. The framework provides a replicable methodology for integrated protection and spatial sustainability of historical architecture in Heilongjiang and other cold-region contexts. Full article

Chinese Qilou Architecture Heritage (CQAH) serves commercial and residential functions, integrates Southeast Asian and local Chinese architectural features, and is a unique testimony to modern commerce and culture of the overseas Chinese hometown. Since the 1990s, the academic community has conducted extensive research on CQAH. This paper utilizes CiteSpace 6.4.R1 as the research tool and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) as the core database, with “Qilou” as the core keyword and “Chinese Qilou Architecture” and “Qilou District” as the research themes. After a rigorous data collection procedure, 491 documents were obtained and subjected to visual analysis. The results show that research on CQAH is most prevalent in the field of architectural science and engineering, primarily focusing on four key issues: the distribution area and historical origin of Qilou, differences in regional characteristics of Qilou architecture, conservation and renewal of the Qilou historic district in urban development, and cultural inheritance and spatial activation. The research can be divided into four stages: exploration of basic features and historical background, exploration of architectural origins and development motives, cultural heritage protection and adaptive use, diversified perspectives, and multidisciplinary integration. Correspondingly, this paper also proposes four priority research directions for the future. This study provides theoretical support and practical reference for the conservation of CQAH and offers new methods and perspectives for the study of the future sustainable development of Qilou. Full article

Analyzing how urban ritual spaces transform into everyday living environments is crucial for understanding the spatial structure of contemporary historical districts, particularly in the context of ancestral temples. However, existing research often neglects the integration of both building-level and block-level perspectives when examining such spatial transitions. Grounded in urban morphological principles, we identify the fundamental spatial units of ancestral temples and their surrounding blocks across the early 20th century and the post-1970s era. Using the topological characteristics of an access structure, we construct corresponding network graphs. We then employ embeddedness and conductance metrics to quantify each temple’s changing position within the broader block structure. Moreover, we apply community detection to uncover the structural evolution of clusters in blocks over time. Our findings reveal that, as institutional and cultural factors drive spatial change, ancestral temples exhibit decreased internal cohesion and increased external connectivity. At the block scale, changes in community structure demonstrate how neighborhood clusters transition from a limited number of building-based clusters to everyday living-oriented spatial clusters. These insights highlight the interplay between everyday life demands, land–housing policies, and inherited cultural norms, offering a comprehensive perspective on the secularization of sacred architecture. The framework proposed here not only deepens our understanding of the spatial transformation process but also provides valuable insights for sustainable urban renewal and heritage preservation. Full article

With the rapid expansion of Chinese cities, traditional siheyuan in some old urban areas and historic districts have gradually transformed into overcrowded courtyard tenements inhabited primarily by rural migrants. Multiple families reside together in one siheyuan, creating a housing model akin to “shared housing”. Due to the complex relationship between property rights holders and users, coupled with the absence of a unified management and supervision system, siheyuan residents are confronted with the predicament of aging buildings, backward infrastructure, and poor living conditions. Finding a means of improving living conditions while maintaining the existing settlement style and population structure is an issue that demands urgent resolution. This study focuses on Mizhi, an ancient city in Shaanxi Province, China. Through the investigation and mapping of 31 typical siheyuan and in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 160 families, it reveals the property rights division, current spatial usage, and future demands of the residents of traditional settlements dominated by siheyuan and proposes suggestions for their renewal. This study finds that siheyuan can be categorized into three types based on property rights, that the primary motivation for migration is to access quality educational resources, and that the insufficiency of per capita facilities is the primary source of inconvenience in residents’ lives. Future siheyuan renewal efforts should adopt a multi-stakeholder framework that integrates the government, urban planners, and residents. Improving the residential environment requires a dual strategy: optimizing spatial design and strengthening policy management. This research provides fundamental data for the protection and renewal of siheyuan and has practical reference value for formulating future settlement development strategies. Full article

Traditional villages are an important cultural heritage left by China’s agrarian civilization and serve as a testament to the historical development of the Chinese nation. The study of spatial and cultural differentiation in traditional villages is significant for their future preservation and development. Existing studies predominantly adopt a macro perspective, focusing on large-scale regions, and lack investigations from a micro perspective in medium- and small-scale areas. This study utilizes ArcGIS 10.8 for spatial analysis, multi-factor geographic detectors, and cultural geography spatial zoning methods to explore the spatial structure and cultural differentiation of 305 traditional villages in western Henan. The results indicate that the distribution of traditional villages in this region is significantly clustered and uneven, primarily concentrated in specific districts of Sanmenxia and Luoyang. Per capita GDP and the distance to roads are negatively correlated with the distribution of traditional settlements, reflecting the positive impact of lower economic levels and remote locations on village preservation. The spatial layout of traditional villages in western Henan exhibits clustering patterns, with cultural zoning characterized by distinct residential forms. This study, through the analysis of the spatial structure characteristics and influencing factors of traditional villages in the western Henan region, provides a new perspective on the formation and evolution of traditional villages, revealing the cultural differentiation characteristics of western Henan. The research results offer directional guidance for the conservation strategies of traditional villages in western Henan and provide a decision-making reference for cultural heritage conservation practices in similar regions. Full article

In the context of historical districts becoming a key to the urban transformation and high-quality development of Chinese cities, this paper investigates the regeneration of historic environments in China, emphasizing the creation of public value through urban morphology. By analyzing five distinct case studies—Chengdu KuanZhai Alley, Shanghai TianZiFang Alley, Guangzhou EnNing Road, Taiyuan ZhongLou Street, and Beijing NanLuoGu Alley—this study explores the relationship between urban form and public value creation from 2000 to 2020. The research posits that the spatial attribute of “public nature” is central to the regeneration process, highlighting the importance of understanding how urban spaces can foster community engagement and social interaction. An evaluation system is constructed to assess the regeneration of historic areas based on spatial “publicness” and people’s perceptions, addressing the need for a more nuanced approach to urban planning. The findings reveal that effective urban regeneration not only preserves historical significance but also enhances the quality of public spaces, thereby contributing to social equity and cultural integrity. This study aims to provide valuable insights for urban planners and policymakers, advocating for a public value-oriented approach to the renewal of historic districts that balances economic development with the preservation of cultural heritage. The integration of public value concepts into heritage management is crucial for creating vibrant urban environments that resonate with community needs and aspirations. Full article

The preservation of historical traditional architectural ensembles faces multifaceted challenges, and the need for facade renovation and updates has become increasingly prominent. In conventional architectural updating and renovation processes, assessing design schemes and the redesigning component are often time-consuming and labor-intensive. The knowledge-driven method utilizes a wide range of knowledge resources, such as historical documents, architectural drawings, and photographs, commonly used to guide and optimize the conservation, restoration, and management of architectural heritage. Recently, the emergence of artificial intelligence-generated content (AIGC) technologies has provided new solutions for creating architectural facades, introducing a new research paradigm to the renovation plans for historic districts with their variety of options and high efficiency. In this study, we propose a workflow combining Grasshopper with Stable Diffusion: starting with Grasshopper to generate concise line drawings, then using the ControlNet and low-rank adaptation (LoRA) models to produce images of traditional Minnan architectural facades, allowing designers to quickly preview and modify the facade designs during the renovation of traditional architectural clusters. Our research results demonstrate Stable Diffusion’s precise understanding and execution ability concerning architectural facade elements, capable of generating regional traditional architectural facades that meet architects’ requirements for style, size, and form based on existing images and prompt descriptions, revealing the immense potential for application in the renovation of traditional architectural groups and historic districts. It should be noted that the correlation between specific architectural images and proprietary term prompts still requires further addition due to the limitations of the database. Although the model generally performs well when trained on traditional Chinese ancient buildings, the accuracy and clarity of more complex decorative parts still need enhancement, necessitating further exploration of solutions for handling facade details in the future. Full article

Tracing the historical development of soil salinization and monitoring its current status are crucial for understanding the driving forces behind it, proposing strategies to improve soil quality, and predicting future trends. To comprehensively understand the evolution of research on the remote sensing inversion of soil salinity, a scientific bibliometric analysis was conducted on research from the past two decades indexed in the core scientific databases. This article analyzes the field from various perspectives, including the number of publications, authors, research institutions and countries, research fields, study areas, and keywords, in order to reveal the current state-of-the-art and cutting-edge research in this domain. Special attention was given to topics such as machine learning, data assimilation methods, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote sensing technology, soil inversion under vegetation cover, salt ion inversion, and remote sensing model construction methods. The results indicate an overall increase in the volume of publications, with key authors such as Metternicht, Gi and Zhao, Gengxing, and major research institutions including the International Institute for Geoinformatics Science and Earth Observation and the Chinese Academy of Sciences making significant contributions. Notably, China and the USA have made substantial contributions to this field, with research areas extending from Inner Mongolia’s Hetao irrigation district to the Mediterranean region. Research in the remote sensing domain focuses on various methods, including hyperspectral imaging for salinized soil inversion, with an increasing emphasis on machine learning. This study enriches researchers’ knowledge of the current trends and future directions of remote sensing inversion of soil salinization. Full article

With the rapid development of Chinese cities, the spatial pattern in historical districts has deteriorated due to a lack of protection measures. Indigenous communities have taken it upon themselves to expand certain spaces around the original residential buildings in order to meet the demands of modern life. However, this expansion has had a negative impact on the stylistic integrity of historical districts, leading to a conflict between cultural heritage and district protection. This study focuses on Tanhualin, a representative historical district in Wuhan. The study divides the district into 10 sub-areas, extracting a total of 4850 street views and selecting 6752 spontaneous spatial samples from them. Utilizing the Mask R-CNN model, the study uses computer-based deep learning to identify, summarize, and categorize the various forms and functions of these spontaneous spaces. The study also analyzes the negative impact of these spaces on the unity of the historical blocks’ interfaces, as well as their positive impact on cultural heritage and the creation of a distinctive atmosphere. Finally, the study proposes reconstruction and renewal strategies from both urban design and architectural design perspectives. These strategies aim to improve the quality of life for indigenous communities, establish a sustainable system for preserving historical imprints, protect the cultural atmosphere of historical blocks, and enhance the adaptability of these blocks in modern cities. Full article

Ginling College is the first women’s college founded by the American Christian Church in Nanjing, China, in the early 20th century. The architectural style of the school reflects the orientation of the “Chinese localization” of the Christian Church at that time. It is a representative work of the revival of traditional Chinese architecture. It is known as a “Renaissance of Chinese traditional architecture” and profoundly influenced later generations. Due to its important historical status and artistic value, the Ginling College complex has been designated by the Chinese government as a national key cultural relic protection unit and China’s 20th-century architectural heritage, and the protection scope of the Ginling College historical district has been specially designated for overall protection. Currently, little research has been conducted on this historic area, so the authors undertook this project. This paper adopts a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods for research, starting from the two aspects of architectural art and sustainable design, and analyzes in detail the artistic characteristics of the project, the structural materials obtained locally, and the sustainable design method that utilizes natural lighting and ventilation to explore a modern campus design method based on the concept of sustainable design with a “combination of Chinese and Western architectural art”. Through artistic creation and technological innovation, traditional Chinese revival architecture has realized a harmonious coexistence between man and nature, embodying the design concept of sustainable development, and promoting the development of architecture and the region. Full article

Modern Nanjing experienced a boom in the construction industry. As an advanced material and construction system, reinforced concrete structure was also imported during this period. This paper presents the brief historical background and structural adaptability of reinforced concrete buildings in modern Nanjing. Reinforced concrete was used in industrial buildings in the districts along the Yangtze River in the early 20th century, and in public buildings along Zhongshan Road after 1927. Western-style reinforced concrete buildings used both pure frame structure system and mixed structure with a reinforced concrete frame, brick masonry and timber roof trusses. The Chinese Renaissance buildings used roof structures with different shapes and materials on the main reinforced concrete structure. Based on the study of existing modern reinforced concrete buildings in Nanjing, this paper classifies and compares different types of structures, and indicates that the selection of structures was the adaptive result of comprehensive trade-offs between structural performance, space availability and economy. This research implies the transplantation and adaptation of reinforced concrete structures in modern Nanjing and lays a fundamental structural foundation for the conservation of this architectural heritage. Full article

This paper focuses on how to solve the demand of how to quickly explore more urban space design and layout in terms of the conservation and reuse of historical blocks under computer-aided design technology. Referring to urban inductive patterns, the author establishes an urban space design grammar of historical districts based on shape grammar and pattern language. It forms a complete generative urban space design method involving morphological analysis, rule-making, and scheme generation. Furthermore, taking the typical Russian-style historical block along the Chinese Eastern Railway—the historical district in front of Anda Station as an application example—this paper completed the generative urban space design process of block redevelopment and environmental reconstruction, which, using computer-aided technology, was under the premise of protecting the original historic block fabric. The final two group results of the experimental plot and the other plots of the historical district show that this method can quickly and accurately generate lots of urban space design schemes that meet the designers’ pre-thinking, and these schemes can be modified by real-time calculation and interactive operation. Full article