Essay

Historical sites and China’s commercial districts: the influence of urban spatial structure Yihang Li s2236117 words: 2873 Abstract Since the 21st century, with the rapid development of tourism, more and more historical sites or historic districts have been re-developed as tourist areas to attract more tourists. It is inevitable to provide more commercial space to serve people in these historical landscapes. In many places, excessive commercial development has destroyed historical sites. How to reorganize the space and integrate modern business districts with historical relics has become an important topic in landscape design. This article aims to explore the impact of urban commercial space development on Chinese historical and cultural landscape, and how to use landscape architecture to intervene and solve problems. In this article, I first explored why the development of urban commercial space and historical sites are in conflict. Through analysis of historical development and government policies, I concluded that the contradiction between urban development and historical sites in China must be under certain economic conditions. produced. Secondly, I explored the contradictions, opportunities and challenges between the development of commercial space and historical sites in Chinese cities. And combine case analysis and explain these problems. Finally, through case analysis, it is proposed that landscape architecture should be used to intervene in these spaces and reorganize their spaces to resolve these contradictions. It also classifies the spatial reorganization methods between commercial spaces and historical and cultural relics, and points out the impact of different methods on spatial relationships and people.Through research, it can be seen that from the perspective of landscape architecture, urbanization and historical and cultural relics and human spiritual and cultural cores interact and interact with each other. In landscape design, reasonable spatial organization can effectively help coordination The contradiction between modern commercial space and historical sites.

Introduction China is in a period of rapid development, a large number of people are constantly pouring into cities, and the process of urbanization is accelerating. On the other hand, China is a country with thousands of years of history, and many historical sites have been preserved in many cities. These historical sites have been transformed and renovated into tourist attractions, attracting a large number of tourists, and at the same time, modern urban businesses quickly occupy the areas surrounding the historical sites. This seems to make the commercial space threaten the purity of the material remains. These contradictions seem to be inevitable in the process of economic development and urbanization, and they are inherently self-evident. These contradictions can be summarized as the lack of spiritual culture brought about by over-commercialization and over-commercialization makes it difficult to effectively protect those material relics. We should start from the

perspective of landscape architecture and reorganize the relationship between material remains and urban commerce in order to resolve these contradictions.

1. Origin and background 1.1The value of historical relics is intrinsic and self-evident From the perspective of material heritage, the buildings, structures, handicrafts, and ancient trees in historical sites have commemorative significance, aesthetic value, and research value. Mr. Liang Sicheng, a well-known Chinese architect, made valuable suggestions on the urban planning of Beijing, the capital of China that had just experienced the war, in the early 1950s. He believes that Beijing is an ancient capital with a history of nearly a thousand years, and its architectural shape is beautiful, and it is not allowed to mix irregular shapes in the historical building community, thereby destroying the style of the ancient capital. (Sicheng Liang 1950) From the perspective of Chinese culture and spirit, historical relics contain the purest culture of China. They were formed from thousands of years ago through continuous development, conflict and integration, and therefore carry the Chinese people’s sense of spiritual and cultural identity. And belonging.

1.2The inevitability of contradictions between the development of urban commercial space and historical relics Since China's reform and opening up, the development and transformation of cities has revealed that commercial space is an important driving force for urban expansion and development, and has brought major changes to the urban landscape and urban spatial layout. As Jan Lin (2021) mentioned in his article, after industrialization, more and more people migrate to cities, and 75% of the population in developed countries or regions will live in cities. The process of urbanization is also inseparable from the development of tourism. Many places of interest have been developed as tourist areas to attract a large number of consumers, which has further promoted the spread of commercial space to the interior and surrounding areas of historical sites. As Daly (2011) pointed out in his article, in the past two decades, more and more heritage conservation has taken place in cities.Taking Chengdu as an example, the Chengdu Municipal Government has reviewed and approved 62 historical and cultural block renovation projects in 2020 alone. (Yuanli li, 2020) And the output value of Chengdu's tertiary industry in 2020 will increase by about 8%.

Chengdu City Planning Bureau，2017.Schematic diagram of Chengdu historical and cultural streets Retrieved from：http://mpnr.chengdu.gov.cn/

Chengdu City Planning Bureau，2017.Schematic diagram of Chengdu's historical district Retrieved from：http://mpnr.chengdu.gov.cn/

Chengdu City Planning Bureau，2017.Chengdu historical scenic area planning Retrieved from：http://mpnr.chengdu.gov.cn/

From a historical point of view, China has a long history. Many cities have hundreds or even thousands of years of history. There are many historical relics in and around the city. The process of urbanization cannot avoid these places for development.It can be seen that the commercialization process of historical and cultural blocks is inevitable, that is, the contradiction between the two is inevitable.

2.Challenges between the development of Chinese urban commercial space and historical relics 2.1The lack of spiritual culture caused by over-commercialization Since the end of the 19th century, China has begun to learn from the West. At

the same time, China is facing the problem of loss of cultural identity. Especially since the late 1970s, China began its market-oriented economic transformation, and most of the newly built urban areas adopted European-style buildings. However, the transformation of a large number of traditional buildings and historical blocks tends to be homogenized, and a large number of over-commercialized spaces have broken the spiritual and cultural connotations of historical areas. The business model and commercial space in the historical district are very similar. These make the Chinese people face a crisis of cultural identity. As the Chinese landscape architect Kongjian Yu (2006) said, the lack of culture in China is the most serious in urban design.

Author：NA，2019. European-style buildings built in China Retrieved from：http://m.cnzzzz.com/n/3794.html

Ciqikou Ancient Street in Chongqing

Luodai Ancient Street in Chengdu

HL Wang，2007.Over-commercialized and homogenized ancient town landscape Retrieved from：https://www.flickr.com/photos/hl-wang/1919260505

Author:NA，2017. American restaurants in a historic district that is incompatible with traditional architecture Retrieved from：https://www.chinesecanadianvoice.ca/100862/

2.2Excessive commercialization makes it is difficult to effectively protect those material remains As Liangyon Wu (1999) pointed out, since the 20th century, society has been in an era of "major development" and "major destruction". The destruction of human nature and cultural heritage has endangered its own survival. In the process of urban reconstruction, in order to seek greater commercial interests, there was no effective protection of the ancient buildings, and a large number of historical blocks were occupied and destroyed. To give an example, the Sanfang Qixiang Historic District in Fuzhou is an ancient historic district that has continued from the Jin Dynasty in China (266AD to 420AD) to the present day. This block has 268 ancient buildings and dozens of former residences of celebrities. It is a typical representative of ancient Chinese urban planning. However, during the construction of the project, the developer only protected 42 ancient buildings, former residences of celebrities, and 36 ancient and famous trees. The rest of the area was demolished to build modern commercial buildings. The developer hopes to make this a full-life resort center integrating tourism, catering, residence and leisure. Despite the unremitting efforts of residents and volunteers, this project ended in failure. The Fuzhou Municipal Government raised RMB 3 billion to repair the damaged ancient buildings, but this historic district was irreversibly damaged.

Author：NA，2019.

Sanfang Qixiang Historic District in Fuzhou

Retrieved from：https://new.qq.com/omn/20190816/20190816A06ZQN00.html

Author：NA，2019.

Buildings in Sanfang Qixiang Historic District under restoration

Retrieved from：https://vincentkensei.pixnet.net/blog/post/204347576

Author：NA，2019. Sanfang Qixiang Historic District Planning Map: Urban commercial space destroys historical relics Retrieved from：https://www.ddove.com/htmldatanew/20171125/52f4881cffb2bc62.html

Author：NA，2019. The rendering of the renovation of Sanfang Qixiang Historic District: Excessive commercialization destroys the original appearance of the building's history Retrieved from：https://www.ddove.com/htmldatanew/20171125/52f4881cffb2bc62.html

3.How to solve the contradiction between urban commercial space and historical relics In this society where the process of urbanization is accelerating, faced with challenges such as the lack of cultural identity caused by excessive commercialization and the difficulty of protecting material historical relics, we need to rely on landscape architecture to reorganize the relationship between material relics and urban commercial spaces in order to solve These contradictions.

3.1 Why landscape architecture can help improve the contradiction between historical relics and urban commercial spaces Landscape architecture is a discipline that interacts between architectural space, natural space and spiritual and cultural fields. Good landscape architectural planning can not only beautify the outdoor environment, but also play a role in inheriting the historical context and coordinating the public space environment. On the other hand, the landscape is also related to the issue of people's cultural identity. (Girot 1999) The landscape is the foundation of belonging. (Corner, 1999) 3.2 Strategies and methods A well-known designer, Mr. Sasaki (1950) once said that the development of landscape architecture has reached a crossroads, one leading to the field of improving people's living environment, and the other just superficial decoration techniques. Landscape design can be used to resolve land contradictions. I put forward three principles. First, we must respect history and position it according to different site culture and historical characteristics. Second, we must respect people's needs, and carry out functional positioning according to people's needs. Third, we must respect the site and carry out reconstruction and design based on the original architectural and landscape characteristics ， and design with the idea of landscape urbanism.

3.2.1 Clarify the characteristics of historical relics and locate design goals Christian Norberg-Schulz (1979) once put forward the concept of "genius LOCI" (GENIUS LOCI), thinking that all things, including people and places, have their characteristics and essences. In a sense, the spirit of place is the objectification and spatialization of the memory of a person or a group of people, that is, the sense of place as urbanists call it, which can be interpreted as a sense of belonging to the site.

Therefore, recognizing the characteristics of the site can help designers help people build a sense of belonging.

I take the renovation project of Kuanzhai alleys as an example to illustrate it.

Kuanzhai Alleys is a Qing Dynasty historical and cultural district in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. It is composed of three old streets in the east-west direction (Kuan Alley, Zhai Alley, and Jing Alley from north to south) and residential courtyards between the streets. This block was built in the 57th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (1718 AD) in the Qing Dynasty of China. After quelling the Zhungeer Rebellion, the Qing army selected more than a thousand soldiers to garrison Chengdu, and built a

complex of buildings in Mancheng and Kuanzhai Alleys on the basis of Shaocheng.

Google map，2021. Satellite plan of Kuanzhai Alley Retrieved from：https://www.google.com/maps/@55.9412083,-3.2053387,12z

Chengdu is a slow-paced lifestyle, and Kuanzhai Alley is the place that best represents the slow-paced and laid-back lifestyle of old Chengdu. Therefore, the designer positioned the overall design of this renovation to reproduce the charm of life in old Chengdu. The three alleys correspond to the different characteristics of the slow-paced life in Chengdu. First of all, Kuan Alley corresponds to the "leisure life" of old Chengdu. Kuan Alley represents the most popular and most popular folk culture in Chengdu; the aborigines, Longtang Inn, exquisite gates, phoenix trees, old teahouses under the eaves, etc., constitute the physical reproduction of Kuan Alley’s unique place spirit; Kuan Alley , Presents modern people ’ s memory of a city. In addition, the narrow alleys correspond to the "slow life" of old Chengdu. The renovated narrow alleys show the courtyard culture of Chengdu, highlighting the exquisiteness of the courtyards on both sides of the road with simple and simple street design, and creating a quiet atmosphere in the form of plants combined with buildings. Finally, Jingxiangzi corresponds to the "new life" of Chengdu people.

Through planning and transformation, Jingxiang is the modern interface of Kuanzhai Alley and the most open, diverse and dynamic consumer space in Kuanzhai Alley.

However, the reconstruction of Jingxiang has not been completed.

Qingfeng Yangqi，2019. Featured handicrafts in Kuanzhai Alleys Retrieved from：http://www.qsyo.com/news/777/

Qingfeng Yangqi，2019. Local traditional restaurant in a traditional courtyard in Kuangzhai alleys Retrieved from：http://www.qsyo.com/news/777/

Qingfeng Yangqi，2019. Chengdu characteristic gaiwan teahouse in Kuanzhai Alley Retrieved from：http://www.qsyo.com/news/777/

3.2.2 Function positioning according to human needs As Ross McLean (2020) mentioned in his article analyzing the industrial landscape, design is not only a practical function, but also a psychological impact on people. Landscape design will eventually affect everyone who comes to the site, so people's needs should be considered at the beginning of the design.

I still take the Kuanzhai Alley renovation project as an example. The design team positioned the target tourists in Kuanzhai Alleys, namely local residents and foreign tourists. And through the questionnaire, it is concluded that the target tourists in Kuanzhai Alley need to experience the culture here, and also need to buy souvenirs, dining and leisure needs. Therefore, the designer proposed to distinguish the three alleys' business formats. The first is the commercial format of Kuanxiangzi. The ratio of commercial and cultural landscapes is 7:3. Excluding mobile vendors, there are more than 20 stores. The first half of Kuan Alley is very popular, and the cultural and tourist attractions in the second half have no historical value. There are not many tourists. People can easily flow directly from the first half of Kuan Alley to Narrow Alley. Therefore, the designer increased the proportion of commerce in Kuan Alley, and the proportion of commerce was 70%.

RESTAURANT 50％

ENTERTAINMENT

SHOPPING

HOTEL

25％

10％

5％

Yihang Li，2021.

CULTURE&ART 10％

Kuan Alley Business Status Table

The commercial and historical cultural landscapes of narrow alleys account for about 4:6, and there are more than 20 businesses. The total length of narrow alleys is

the same as that of wide alleys, and the street width is 4 to 5 meters. The middle section of the street is narrow and the back section is wide. The height of the buildings on the left and right sides is about 7 meters, and the height difference is within 30%. Compared with Kuan Alley, the distribution of businesses is relatively scattered, and commercial spaces are interspersed with historical and cultural attractions and residences.

RESTAURANT

ENTERTAINMENT

17％

53％

Yihang Li，2021.

SHOPPING

OTHERS

26％

4％

Zhai Alley Business Status Table

Obviously, through the analysis of the user population, the design plan proposed by the design team is very practical.

3.2.3 Design according to the original site building and landscape structure Kongjian Yu (2006) once pointed out in one of his articles that the traditional way of urban expansion is sprawl expansion. This sprawling expansion will of course affect the planning of historical sites, which has been explained in the previous analysis. Therefore, we should use the thought zone of landscape urbanism to think about the historical relics and the entire urban landscape as a whole. As James Corner (2018) mentioned the landscape should not be divided.

I still take the renovation project of Kuanzhai Alley as an example. The designer uses narrative design methods to link the landscape nodes of Kuanzhai Alleys together, and jointly tell the history and culture of Chengdu's "Shaocheng". The laid-back atmosphere conveys real historical memories to foreign visitors. The surrounding buildings and landscapes of the scenic area also use wood brick materials to echo the history of the site. And the government listed Kuanzhai Alley and the surrounding area of 6.5 hectares as historical and cultural protection areas.

The designer completely continued the overall spatial structure of the Kuanzhai Alley and continued the residential style of Western Sichuan in the Qing Dynasty. Its main feature is: a road pattern like a "fish spine". This pattern is convenient for street residents to manage spontaneously, making it a quiet and laid-back living atmosphere.

Protected area

Kuanzhai alleys

Xi Chen，2019. Scope of Shaocheng Historical and Cultural Reserve Retrieved from：https://www.hubpd.com/c/2019-11-08/930474.shtml

Author：NA，2010. The spatial layout of Kuanzhai Alley Retrieved from：http://www.chinaasc.org/html/xuehuikanwu/

Author：NA，2010. The spatial facade that retains the original spatial characteristics Retrieved from：http://www.chinaasc.org/html/xuehuikanwu/

Now Kuanzhai Alley, together with Daci Temple and Wenshu Monastery, are known as the three major historical and cultural city protection blocks in Chengdu. It attracts a large number of tourists and historical researchers every year and has become an excellent place to promote the history and culture of Chengdu.It can be seen that in the case of the landscape reconstruction of the historical and cultural block of Kuanzhai Alley, the designer respects the site culture, explores the spirit of the site, fully understands the needs of users, and ensures the integrity of the historical block in terms of spatial layout.

Conclusion The process of urbanization in China is accelerating. At the same time, as a country with thousands of years of history, the process of urbanization inevitably conflicts with historical sites. Because of this, the Chinese are facing the lack of spiritual and cultural identity caused by over-commercialization and the difficulty of protecting historical and cultural relics caused by over-commercialization. Landscape architecture should analyze issues from a broader perspective, from the spirit of place, urbanism of the landscape, etc., and return to the site, coordinate the relationship between the old and the new landscape, and coordinate the contradictions between the landscape, architecture and people.China's urban development has a tense and fascinating relationship with its past relics. Since the beginning of learning from the West in modern times, Chinese cities have undergone great changes. The Chinese do not reject these changes, but they cannot forget traditional historical things. Using landscape architecture to provide strong support for the design intervention of Chinese urban cultural landscapes is to allow landscape architecture to not only provide aesthetics for the city, but also solve practical contradictions.

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