City Planning and Development of China

7/29/2019 City Planning and Development of China

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City planning and

development of

China

Features : -

Civilization

Early development

Chinese

Architecture

Ancient Chinese

urban planning

Urban Planning in

Pre-Industrial China

Development


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Civilization Chinese civilization originated in various regional centres along

both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the

Neolithic era

What is now China was inhabited by Homo erectus more than

a million years ago.

The Neolithic age in China can be traced back to between12,000 and 10,000 BC.

The Xia Dynasty of China (from c. 2100 to c. 1600 BC) is the

first dynasty to be described.

Imperial China - The first unified Chinese state wasestablished by Qin Shi Huang of the Qin state in 221 BC.

An important feature in Chinese architecture is its emphasis

on articulation and bilateral symmetry.


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Architectural bilateral symmetry

An important feature in Chinese architecture is its emphasis onarticulation and bilateral symmetry, which signifies balance.

Articulation, in art and architecture, is a method ofstyling the

joints in the formal elements of architectural design.

Bilateral symmetry and the articulation of buildings are found

everywhere in Chinese architecture, from palace complexes to

humble farmhouses.

Secondary elements are positioned either side of main

structures as two wings to maintain overall bilateral symmetry.


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Enclosure

Contemporary Western architectural practices typicallyinvolve surrounding a building by an open yard on the

property.

This contrasts with much oftraditional Chinese architecture,

which involves constructing buildings or building complexes

that take up an entire property but encloses open spaces

within itself.

These enclosures serve in temperature regulation and in

venting the building complexes.

Sky wells also serve as vents for rising hot air, which drawscool air from the lowers stories of the house and allows for

exchange of cool air with the outside.


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Hierarchical

The projected hierarchy and importance and uses of buildingsin traditional Chinese architecture are based on the strict

placement of buildings in a property/complex.

Buildings with doors facing the front of the property are

considered more important than those facing the sides.

Building facing away from the front of the property are the

least important.

Front-facing buildings in the back of properties are used

particularly for rooms of celebratory rites and for the

placement of ancestral halls and plaques.


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Cosmological concepts

Chinese architecture from early times used concepts fromChinese cosmology such as feng shui (geomancy) and Taoism

to organize construction and layout from common residences

to imperial and religious structures.

Taoism is a philosophical and religious tradition thatemphasizes living in harmony

Screen walls to face the main entrance of the house, which

stems from the belief that evil things travel in straight lines.

Door gods displayed on doorways to ward off evil and

encourage the flow of good fortune.

Animals and fruits that symbolize good fortune and prosperity,

such as bats and pomegranates, respectively.


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Early Development Urban planning originated during the urbanization of the

Yellow River valley in the Neolithic Age The process of centralizing power in a political state.

The earliest Chinese urban planning was a synthesis of

Longshan traditional cosmology, geomancy, astrology, and

numerology. This synthesis generated a diagram of the cosmos, which

placed man, state, nature, and, heaven in harmony.

The city was planned in the context of this cosmic diagram to

maintain harmony and balance, principles important in

Chinese law.


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Neolithic age

Urbanization begins atBanpo (4,800-3,750 BC)

on the zhongyuan plain

of the Yellow River.

Banpo in East Asia was

the first instance ofspecialized architecture.

Banpo was composed of

200 round pit houses and

the Great Hall across 5

hectares and surroundedby a ditch.

At this early stage the

principle of south-facing

entry was firmly

established.


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Banpo

The pit houses weresited for solar gain by

aligning the door to the

Yingshi asterism just

after the winter solstice.

As in other Neolithiccommunities, life at

Banpo was synchronized

to the agricultural year,

which was timed by the

movement of the BigDipper, which

functioned as a celestial

clock.


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Longshan Culture

Longshan Culture (3000-2000 BC)arrived from the east one

thousand years after Banpo in the same area. This arrival is

mythologized by the story of the Yellow Emperor.

The hierarchical and militaristic aspects of Longshan cultureare evident in their cities.

Their shape is a walled square filled with square houses.

The transition from round to square homes is always

accompanied by centralizing power in history.

The square shaped city, itself a product of centralized power,

historically arises a from a military encampment.

Three levels of settlement emerged in the early Longshan

state.


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Bronze Age urbanization

Erlitou is sited at the confluence

of the Lou and Yi rivers, a sacred

place known as the Waste of

Xia.

Geographically, the Waste of Xia

marked the centre of the nine-

in-one square earth.

Geographically, the state was

square shaped and centered onthe ruler. As described in the

Book of Documents.

China is a square of 45,000 li

with five nested squares spaced

at 500 li to create five zones.

This square was further

subdivided into nine parts based

on the now ancient nine-in-one

square, which had become a

prosperity symbol.


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The nine-in-one square

The nine-in-one square wastransformed into the HolyField symbol.

Its importance cannot be

underestimated as it is thegeometric basis of ancientChinese architecture, urbanplanning, and geography.

By the time ofthe Xia

Dynasty, the nine-in-onesquare territory of earthwas divided into ninestates.

Although an important

stage in urbanization,Erlitou was not a true city.

It was a palace complexsurrounded by an over-sized Neolithic village.


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The nine-in-one square

Concept

The ideal city was therefore a diagram of this multipurpose

cosmological symbol drawn upon the landscape.

The construction (ying) of the capital city by the artisans each

side is 9 li (~3 km) in length with three gates.

9 longitudinal and 9 latitudinal lines divide the interior of thecity with north to south road.

A temple of ancestors was placed in square 7.

A temple of agriculture in square 3.

An audience hall in square 1. Market was not considered of high importance and placed in

square 9 to the north of the palace.

The palace was located in square 5 of the Holy Field.


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Iron Age urbanization

As China moved into the Iron Age the total control of the Zhouover their empire dissolved into multiple states each one.

These period was a time ofgreat urbanization in China.

Chengzhou city itself finally became the political capital of the

Eastern Zhou in 510 BCE (its fortification tripled in width).

This period although politically chaotic was a great period of

urbanization, and experimentation of architecture and urban

planning.

The city marketplace with tower was a new feature of this era that

marked the beginning of an integrated economic function of cites.

The architecture of the warring states featured high walls, large

gates, and towers.

The development ofthe tower as a symbol ofpower and social

order especially defined this era.


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Models of watchtowers and other

buildings.


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Imperial Era

The imperial era of urban planning was marked by the theory of anational master plan which extended imperial authority uniformly

across China by creating a hierarchy economic and political of cites.

Historically, the cites of the six states were combined into one

unified regional system under the Qin Dynasty unification of China.

The imperial capital was meant to exist outside of any one region,even the one it was physically located in.

To achieve this it used a text based plan, a cult of heaven, forced

migration, and symbolization of the city as the Emperor.

The evolution ofthe imperial capital occurred in three stages, first

the super-regional capital on Xianyang, followed by the semi-regionaland semi-textual capital ofChang'an, and finally fully realized in the

fully textual capital ofLuoyang. The capital city of the Western Han

Dynasty, Chang'an, was built to exceed its predecessor, Xianyang.

Luoyang, the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty, would in turn

become the model of all future imperial cities.


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Construction

Use of large structural

timbers for primary

support of the roof of a

building. Wooden timber, usually

large trimmed logs, are

used as load-bearing

columns and lateral

beams for framingbuildings and supporting

the roofs.

These structural timbers

are prominently

displayed in finishedstructures.

However, it is not known

how the ancient builders

raised the huge wooden

load bearing columnsinto position.


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Although structural walls are also commonly found in Chinese

architecture, most timber framed architecture are preferred

when economically feasible. Timber frames are typically constructed with jointnary and

doweling alone, seldom with the use of glue or nails.

Structural stability is further ensured through the use of heavy

beams and roofs, which weighs the structure down.

Using even numbers of columns in a building structure to

produce odd numbers of bays (). With the inclusion of a

main door to a building in the centre bay, symmetry is

maintained.

The common use of curtain walls or door panels to delineaterooms or enclose a building, with the general deemphasis of

load-bearing walls in most higher class construction.

Flat roofs are uncommon while gabled roofs are almost

omnipresent in traditional Chinese architecture.


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Materials and history

Unlike other building construction materials, old woodenstructures often do not survive because they are more vulnerable

to weathering and fires and are naturally subjected to rotting over

time.

Although now non-existent wooden residential towers,

watchtowers, and pagodas predated it by centuries.

Later use of brick instead of wood had much to do with its

endurance throughout the centuries.

brick and stone architecture gradually became more common and

replaced wooden edifices.

The earliest walls and platforms in China were of rammed earth

construction, and over time, brick and stone became more

frequently used. This can be seen in ancient sections of the Great

Wall of China, while the brick and stone Great Wall seen today is a

renovation of the Ming Dynasty (1368

1644).


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Thank you

By Haider husain

Aman Agarwal

Ritesh singh