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Plan B Paper
Zheng, Zhaoyen. 2001.

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Urban and Regional Planning
Specialization in Urban Design

 

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PLAN B RESEARCH PAPER

Design for Culture and Prosperity:
DESIGN GUIDELINE FOR A NEG-TRADITIONAL CHINATOWN

        

   
   

 

 

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East Lansing, Michigan

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MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

PLAN B RESEARCH PAPER

Design for Culture and Prosperity:
DESIGN GUIDELINE FOR A NEO- TRADITIONAL CHINATOWN

Prepared for
Michigan State University

Urban and Regional Planning
Specialization in Urban Design

Prepared by
Zhaoyan Zhen g

East Lansing, Michigan

May 2001

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many people have supported, directed and encouraged my eflorts with this Plan B
Research Paper. I especially appreciate Professor Miriam Rutz for helping choose the
topic and develop the idea, Landscape Architect Mr. William Pierce for providing
various advices on design and writing, and the MS U Writing Center for help editing the

paper.

Thank you.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS ...................................................... vi
TEXT ................................................................. 1
I. INTRODUCTION .............................................. 1
II. CHINESE AMERICAN AND CHINATOWN: THE HISTORY AND THE
CULTURE .................................................... 3
2.1 Early Immigration . .......................................... 3
2.2 Immigration since 19603 ....................................... 4
2.3 Life in American Chinatowns ................................... 6
III. A TOWN OF CHINESE CULTURE: POSSIBLE SOLUTION ........... 8
3.1 Evaluation of Urban Environment in Current Chinatowns ............. 8
3.1.1 Historic images and current conditions ................ 8
3.1.2 Assets and concerns in urban environment of Chinatowns .
.............................................. 10
3.2 Neo-Traditional Urban Design Concepts that Promote Tradition and
Economy .................................................. 11
3.3 Design Guidelines for a Neo-Traditional Chinatown ................ 13
3.3.1 Design with Chinese architectural styles and spatial
characters ..................................... 13
3.3.2 Provide for mixed-use development ................. 15
3.3.3 Accommodate and encourage cultural-related activities .18
3.3.4 Develop an efficient and pleasant circulation system . . . .18
IV. CHINESE ARCHITECTURAL STYLE AND URBAN SPACES: THE

HERITAGE ................................................... 22
4.1 Classic Chinese Architecture Styles and Spatial Patterns ............ 22
4.1.1 City and street patterns .......................... 22
4.1.2 Architectural styles .............................. 31

4.2 Architectural styles and spatial patterns in the modern Chinese
communities (1930s — 19903) .................................. 52

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued)

V. A DESIGN ALTERNATIVE FOR A NEG-TRADITIONAL CHIN ATOWN

.......................................................... 64
5.1 Prototype for the Proposed N eo-Traditional Chinatown ............. 65
5.1.1 Choice and preparation of the site ................... 65
5.1.2 Cardinal orientation .............................. 66
5. 1.3 City layout ..................................... 66
5.1.4 Character of principle structures .................... 68
5.2 Spatial and Functional Structure of the Proposed Chinatown ......... 69
5.3 An Urban Design Alternative: Master Plan of the Conceptual Chinatown .
.......................................................... 77
5.3.1 Layout of the proposed neo-traditional Chinatown ..... 77
5.3.2 The master plan ................................. 81
5.3.3 Circulation and parking ........................... 82
5.3.4 Places and sequences ............................ 84
5.3.5 Residential neighborhoods ........................ 98
5.3.6 Outer layer of the city ........................... 101
5.3.7 Future Expansion ............................... 102
VI. CONCLUSION ............................................... 103
APPENDIX .......................................................... 106
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................... 109

ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 3-1: Typical Street Scenes of Chinatowns ......................... 8
Figure 3-2: Glory of Classic Chinese Architecture: The Temple of Heaven . . . .14
Figure 3-3: Separated circulation systems (1) ........................... 19
Figure 3-4: Separated circulation systems (2) ........................... 20
Figure 4-1: The Spatial Structure of Beijing, Ming and Qing Dynasty ......... 23
Figure 4-2: Master Plan of the Forbidden City, Ming and Qing Dynasty ...... 24
Figure 4-3: Section of the Forbidden City .............................. 25
Figure 4-4: The Central Space: the Hall of Supreme Harmony .............. 25
Figure 4-5: Aerial view of the Forbidden City from the north: the pivot ....... 26
Figure 4-6: City Wall of the Imperial City and the Watchtower ............. 26

Figure 4-7: Plan of the Capital of Tang Dynasty, the ChangAn City ......... 27

Figure 4-8: Residential wards of the Li-Fang System, Tang Dynasty ......... 28

Figure 4-9: The LinDe Hall in DaMing Palace, Tang Dynasty ............. 28

Figure 4-10: Pingjiang (SuZhou) Map, Song Dynasty ..................... 29
Figure 4-11: Street Pattern of Suzhou in Song Dynasty .................... 30
Figure 4-12: Section of the 1795 scroll ShengShi ZiSheng Tu .............. 30
Figure 4-13: Section of the scroll Qingming Shanghe Tu (l) ............... 31
Figure 4-14: Section of the scroll Qingming Shanghe Tu (2) ............... 31
Figure 4-15: Wood Structure, the Rule of Construction, Song Dynasty ....... 32

vi

ILLUSTRATIONS (Continued)

Figure 4-16: Plan, Elevation and Section of a Traditional Chinese Building . . . 34

Figure 4-17: Beauty of the Roofs (l) .................................. 35
Figure 4-18: Beauty of the Roofs (2) .................................. 35
Figure 4-19: Don-Gong ............................................ 36
Figure 4-20: Cai-Hua .............................................. 36
Figure 4-21: Marble steps of the Hall of Supreme Harmony ................ 37
Figure 4-22: Interior view of the Hall of Supreme Harmony ................ 38
Figure 4-23: Decorative details of a building for royal purpose .............. 38
Figure 4-24: A Residence in the North Third Hutong, Beijing .............. 39
Figure 4-25: Middle gate of a Residence in Lishi Hutong, Beijing ........... 39
Figure 4-26: A courtyard house, Fujian Province ......................... 40
Figure 4-27: A courtyard house, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province .............. 40
Figure 4-28: A residential courtyard, Shexian, Anhui Province ............. 41
Figure 4-29: Restoration of a Western Zhou Dynasty ..................... 42
Figure 4-30: Bird’s-eye view of typical Beijing courtyard houses ........... 43
Figure 4-31: Circulation routes in the courtyard houses and in the city ....... 44
Figure 4-32: A comparison of forms of courtyard complexes ............... 45
Figure 4-33: Panorama of Zhquheng Garden ........................... 46
Figure 4-34: Wuzhu Pavilion of Zhquheng Garden ..................... 46
Figure 4-35: Plan of Zhquheng Garden, SuZhou ....................... 47

vii

Figure 4-36:
Figure 4—37:
Figure 4-38:
Figure 4-39:
Figure 4-40:
Figure 4—41:
Figure 4-42:
Figure 4-43:
Figure 4-44:
Figure 4-45:
Figure 4-46:
Figure 4-47:
Figure 4-48:
Figure 4-49:
Figure 4-50:
Figure 4—5 1:
Figure 4-52:
Figure 4-53:

Figure 4-54:

Figure 4-55

ILLUSTRATIONS (Continued)

FoXiang (Buddhist Scent) Hall in Summer Palace ............ 48
Bird’s eye view of the Temple of Heaven, Beijing ............ 49
View of the HuangQiongYu, the Temple of Heaven ........... 50
QiNian Hall, the Temple of Heaven ........................ 50
Waterway in a residential neighborhood (1) .................. 51
Waterway in a residential neighborhood (2) .................. 51
Guangxiao Temple, Guangzhou ........................... 52
Ancestral Temple of The Chen Family, Guangzhou ............ 52
Bing Jiang Road of Bund, Shanghai ........................ 53
DaGuangMing (Great Bright) Cinema, Shanghai .............. 54
the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Nanjing ....................... 55
Residential neighborhood built in 19603 and 19703 ............ 57
Confucius Temple and the Market, Nanjing .................. 58
YuYuan Historic Commercial District, ShangHai .............. 58
The site of the Chinese Export Commodities Fairs, Guangzhou . . .59
Western Han Nanyue King Tomb Museum, Gangzhou ......... 59
The New Railway Terminal, Beijing ........................ 60
New District Development in the 19903 (1) .................. 60
New Development in the 19903 (2) ......................... 61

Tianhe New District, Guangzhou, late 19903 ................. 63

viii

ILLUSTRATIONS (Continued)

Figure 4-56: Pudong New Area, Shanghai, late 19903 ..................... 63
Figure 5-1: Canonical Plan of the royal Zhou capital (1) .................. 66
Figure 5 -2.° Canonical Plan of the royal Zhou capital (2) .................. 67
Figure 5-3: Canonical plan of the royal Zhou capital (3) ................... 67
Figure 5-4: City of JianKang in East Jin Dynasty ........................ 69
Figure 5-5: City of DongJing in Song Dynasty .......................... 70
Figure 5-6: Organic Spatial Structure, city of ShaoXing .................. 71
Figure 5-7: Organic Spatial Structure,, city Chongqing .................... 72
Figure 5-8: Evolution of Beijing’s site since the twelfth century ............. 73
Figure 5-9: the Physical Form and Urban Structure of Beijing .............. 74
Figure 5-10: Spatial Structure and Land Use Analysis: City of Beijing in Ming
and Qing Dynasty ...................................... 75
Figure 5-11: The hierarchy of urban spaces in the Old City of Beijing ........ 76
Figure 5-12: The conceptual plan of a neo-traditional Chinatown ............ 79
Figure 5-13: Land Use Planning for the Conceptual Chinatown ............. 80
Figure 5-14: Master Plan for the Conceptual Chinatown ................... 82
Figure 5-15: Circulation System of the Conceptual Chinatown .............. 83
Figure 5-16: Plan Detail of the Central Plaza ........................... 85
Figure 5-17: Axial Sequences on the Pedestrian Boulevards ................ 87
Figure 5-18: The Circular Sequence on the Loop of Boating Waterway ....... 88

ix

ILLUSTRATIONS (Continued)

Figure 5-19: The Meridian Boulevard Commercial Corridor ............... 90
Figure 5-20: The Meridian Gate, the Old City of Beijing .................. 91
Figure 5-21: The Northern Section of the Pivot .......................... 92
Figure: 5-22. The Water Palace ...................................... 95
Figure 5-23: Diversity of Chinese Housing Styles ........................ 96
Figure 5-24: Rockery Art in Liuyuan Garden, SuZhou .................... 97
Figure 5-25: Chinese garden in Portland ............................... 98
Figure 5-26: New courtyard house for modern urban life .................. 99

Figure 5-27: Parking and Vehicular Access in Courtyard Neighborhoods . . . . 100

Figure 5-28: Street and Spatial patterns in the four residential neighborhoods . 101

‘—

Introduction

This report is a brief discussion on designing a desired urban environment for
Chinese American communities in the United States. A neo-traditional urban design is
proposed for a conceptual Chinatown to visualize how proper design approaches can help
to stimulate local economy and enhance cultural pride of these ethnic communities.

Chinatowns are the main and concentrated settling place for earlier Chinese
immigrants, their culture, and their businesses. To most Americans, the name of
Chinatown “evokes images of an exotic world where people different from the rest of us
lead secretive, mysterious lives.”1 For many years Chinatowns were portrayed as ethnic
enclaves congested with poverty and illegality, or simply as shelters for recent
immigrants. However, the fact is, as stated in Zhou’s and Lin’s books, that Chinatowns
are socioeconomic units that have been vigorous and successful in economic
development and cultural inheritance. A Chinatown is a Chinese American community
with geographic boundaries, a typical urban area with high unity of ethnic components
and cultural backgrounds. A research on urban planning and urban design strategies for
improving the physical environment and the quality of life in Chinatowns will help
construct socioeconomic profiles and propose possible solutions for future development
in these ethnic communities. The data and guidelines will be helpful for local government
and community-based organizations in the decision-making process of the locality
development.

The purpose of this report is to discuss the relationship between current urban
environment and lifestyle in American Chinatowns, and to develop a conceptual urban
design model as an optimized option for this Chinese community. Since this report will
be based on the researches on general conditions and life patterns of all the Chinese
communities in the United States, the findings can be applied to any of the Chinatowns to
help identify admirable images of Chinese heritages, breaking cultural isolation and
ethnic barriers, improving human environment, enhancing business opportunities, and
including Chinese American culture into a part of the mainstream American culture.

This report starts with Chapter II, a background research on the history and
demographic information of Chinatowns in the United States. Early Chinese immigrants
came to the new continent as laborers, living a miserable and unstable life and being
excluded by the American society. Change of immigration laws after World War H
improved the living condition of Chinese immigrants and brought the balance of genders
and occupations to the population. Chinatowns were gradually converted into ethnic
economic entities from simple ethnic enclaves.

'Zhou, Chinatown (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992), viiii.

Chapter III conducts an analysis on the current urban environment of Chinatowns and
provides possible solutions for revitalization and enhancement. An evaluation of the
strengths and the weaknesses of current conditions leads to the finding that an urban
society of Chinese cultural heritage will fulfill the psychological, aesthetical and
socioeconomic needs of this ethnic community. Therefore, a neo-traditional urban design
strategy is proposed to promote the Chinese tradition and the local economy in
Chinatowns. This Chapter presents a set of design guidelines to help construct a
Chinatown that applies classic Chinese architectural styles and spatial patterns and
complements contemporary North American urban lifestyles.

Chapter IV introduces the classic Chinese architectural styles and spatial patterns, and
the culture and tradition carried by them. It helps generate a better understanding of
classic Chinese architecture and urban spaces, through photographs and drawings of
historic architectures and cities.

Chapter V presents an urban design alternative that visualizes the concept of a neo-
traditional Chinatown. Following the canonical capital city in Zhou Li and the spatial
structure of the Old City of Beijing, this design alternative constructs a conceptual
Chinatown that not only is physically in Chinese style, but also aims to culturally and
economically revitalize the Chinese community. The design creates an urban
environment that provides diverse lifestyles and dynamic economic bases. The neo-
traditional Chinatown is built for the Chinese American population, as well as the genera]
American public — it is an American downtown, a regional ethnic economic center, and a
tourist attraction.

Chapter VI, the conclusion, summarizes the urban design strategies for Chinatowns
and further addresses the importance of realizing Chinatowns’ American urban context.
A set of neo-traditional urban design strategies can help construct an integrated, vital and
sustainable economic entity, and also its cultural and economic linkages to the
mainstream American society.

11. Chinese Americans and Chinatowns: History and Culture

A review of the Chinese immigration history will help to understand the origination of
Chinese ethnic communities and the lifestyles there. The components of Chinese
immigrants in the nineteenth century were very different from those in the late twentieth
century. Due to the lack of language ability, working skills and capital resources, and the
exclusive American society at that time, early Chinese laborer immigrants lived in a very
harsh environment. Chinatowns appeared as the settlement places and shelters for the
ethnic population, and then, because of the later changes of the US immigration laws and
international relationships, gradually became ethnic enclaves with certain cultural
independence and economic capabilities. As time goes by, Chinatown dwellers
developed a lifestyle different from that of their Chinese origins. The local economy is
based on this unique lifestyle and special needs of the ethnic community. At the same
time, though there are many social problems in these ethnic communities, Chinatowns are
still considered as important carriers of Chinese traditions and the American Chinese
immigration history. The urban design strategies for Chinatowns should be developed
according to all of these special features.

2.1 Early Immigration

Chinese immigrants started the first settlement on the America continent in 1848,
when gold was discovered in the Sacramento Valley in California and railroad
construction needed labor. Chinese population thereafter increased from 35 in 1850 to
about 35,000 in 1860, and then continued increasing greatly due to series of treaties
between the Qing Dynasty and the US government. However, no Chinese immigrants
were allowed to become US citizens at that time.

The continuous increase in Chinese population stimulated anti-Chinese movements
because the competition with other (mainly white) workers in job opportunities. The US
Congress then passed several Chinese Exclusion Acts resulting in the population drop in
following decades, from about 127 thousand in 1890 to about 62 thousand in 1920. After
the pass of Immigration Restriction Law in 1924, which accepted several categories of
Chinese immigrants, there was a slight increase of Chinese population in 193032.

Due to the alliance between China and America in World War 11, various anti-
Chinese immigration acts were repealed immediately after the War. This resulted in an
increase of Chinese population in United States from about 78 thousand in 1949 to about
118 thousand in 1950. The population sharply decreased to about 18 thousand again
during the next decade because China was taken over by the Chinese Communist Party in
1949. The western capitalist countries were considered the enemy of the New China;

 

2 Kiang, Chicago Chinatown (Lincolnwood: The Institute of China Studies, 1992), 2.

therefore emigration to the US was highly restricted, if not completely forbidden. At the
same time, many overseas Chinese went back to the New China seeking new
opportunities.

In the 19603, American immigration policy became more accepting. Chinese
population increased to 228,565 in 1970, 812,000 in 1980 and 1,645,472 in 1990. The
increase of the 19803 amounted to 833,472, which is greater than the Chinese population
accumulated during the previous 130 years.3

Chinatowns became visible in many major cities during the 18803, when US congress
passed a series of Chinese exclusion laws. The Chinese immigrant community became
more consolidated and isolated from the outside society for self-support and self-
protection. “Gradually, Chinatowners were sealed off from the outside world and were
forced to conduct marginal economic activities to sustain their daily survival needs.
...Unlike European immigration, early Chinese immigration to the United States was
subject to exploitation, harsh taxation, racial discrimination, and social injustice.”4

2.2 Immigration Since 19603

In 1965, the US government revised the discriminatory immigration law. The
national-origin quotas that favored white immigrants from northwest Europe were
abolished. Ever since then, the racial composition of new immigrants to the US was
significantly changed. In 1990, nearly 44 percent of the annual arrivals were from Asia.
Compared with the percentage of 0.3 for Asian Americans out of the total population, in
1990 the number grew up to 3.0.5

Unlike early immigrants, who were predominantly poor and uneducated sojoumers,
recent immigrants are “demographically and socioeconomically heterogeneous” and
oriented toward permanent settlement. As shown in the 1980 US census, Chinese
immigrants from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan had a higher percentage of
high school graduates than the general US population (76 versus 67), and almost three
times as many college graduates (44 versus 16). Immigrants from Mainland China, a
disadvantaged developing area compared with Hong Kong and Taiwan, also had a higher
education attainment level than the national average.6

These new immigrants bring diversity into Chinatowns. Chinese immigrants from
Hong Kong and Taiwan, with strong human capital, usually had achieved middle-class
status and well-established lives before immigration. They are also more involved in the
economic activities in Chinatowns than earlier immigrants were. Not laborers any more,
many of them are major investors in various businesses there. However, because of racial
and language barriers, options for new Chinese immigrants are still limited. For this
reason, immigrants from Hong Kong and Taiwan tend to depend on Chinatowns and base

 

3 Kiang, Chicago Chinatown (Lincolnwood: The Institute of China Studies, 1992), 2.
4 Zhou, Chinatown (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992), 32.

5 Ibid, 42.

6 Ibid, 48.

their business and employment opportunities on the ethnic network and the community.
New immigrants from Hong Kong since the late 19803 were more driven by the concern
about political uncertainty after the scheduled return of Hong Kong to China in 1997.
They settled in major Chinatowns everywhere in North America, with all their farme
wealth and savings, starting new enterprises to secure their properties in the new country.

The majority of earlier Mainland Chinese immigrants were Cantonese speakers from
rural Canton area coming because of family or kinship connections. For many years,
Cantonese was the only language in America’s Chinatowns. Later, Chinese from Taiwan,
Hong Kong became additional sources of first generation Chinese immigrants. In recent
years, geographic origins of new immigrants have become more diverse. Though the
Cantonese culture still dominates Chinatowns, the population of Mandarin speakers is
growing rapidly. According to the place of emigration, recent Chinese immigrants can be
roughly categorized into three groups: those from Mainland China, those from Hong
Kong, and those from Taiwan.

The population from Mainland was mainly admitted under the relative-preference
categories of US immigration policy. Because of the huge development gap between
rural and urban China, rural immigrants under these categories are usually poor, with
little education, and do not understand English. Their initial stages in US are facing
enormous difficulties even in the ethnic labor market. Most of the time they are
completely ineligible for competition in larger labor markets. On the other hand, urban
immigrants have much better education and job skills. Though most of them still lack
English-language ability, a good portion of them is ready for the job market or for further
education.

Number of Mainland Chinese immigrants who came as the “skilled and
professionals,” and the “skilled labors,” was still small because of the strict migration
controls of both China and US. However, in recent years more and more students and
visiting intellectuals have decided to stay in the US instead of turning back home after the
completion of their education and/or research program. They are predominantly
Mandarin-speaking professionals in technological and scientific fields. Most of them had
degree of graduate and above, usually obtained in the US, and about one third of them
held managerial and professional positions before immigration. Compared with those
from Hong Kong and Taiwan, immigrants from Mainland China came from a material
shortage and financially started their American Dream from almost nothing but their
intelligence and hard work. Mainland Chinese and Chinese from other areas have been
getting along well with each other, but Mainland Chinese immigrants are still identifying
themselves as different cultural group from others.

Compared with those from Mainland, immigrants from Hong Kong have more
advantages in surviving and succeeding in the US. They are from the urban area that is
one of the most industrialized and fastest growing regions in Asia. Their lifestyles,
education system and economic system are westernized and capitalist, and heavily
influenced by the British. More over, English is one of the official languages in Hong
Kong. Therefore fewer adjustments are needed for them to merge into American society.

Since immigrants from Hong Kong are much better off, they can settle with ease and
enter the American job and investment market immediately after immigration.

Similarly, immigrants from Taiwan are also affluent, well educated and skilled. Many
of them have received an education or training in the United States. As former
Mainlanders coming from places other than Canton, they preserve a cultural tradition
different from Cantonese, speaking Mandarin or the Fujian Dialect. Because of these
differences, they have tended to stay away from the Cantonese—dominated old
Chinatowns and establish their own enclaves. Researches show that nearly 68% of the
recent Taiwanese immigrants were from executive, managerial, and professional
positions. 7

Meanwhile, according to the 1980 and 1990 census, the average levels of educational
attainment and median household income for persons of Chinese descent were higher
than the national average.

According to the demographic profile above, though the racial component of
population in Chinatowns is of high homogeneity, there are still significant cultural and
economic differences among groups of Chinese people from different origins. City
planning and urban design strategies for Chinatowns should consider the discrepancy and
build a community that unites all Chinese people, despite origins and classes.

2.3 Life in American Chinatowns: From Bachelor Society to Immigrant Enclave

Before 1943, Chinese immigrants were not eligible for US citizenship and therefore
could not bring in their family members. Also, they were not allowed to intermarry with
Whites.8 This resulted in high level of gender disproportion in the Chinese population and
isolated ethnic community in Chinatowns. Censuses showed that in the 19003 the gender
ratio of men to women of Chinese population in US was 100:7.

After the WWII the US government began to allow Chinese women enter the country
as wives of Chinese Americans who had served in the US military. The female Chinese
population began to grow to the normal level. In 1950, 34.5% of the population was
female. After the 1965 immigration law, the percentage increased to 42.6% in 1970 and
45% in 1990.

Because of the problems resulting from the early immigration policy, Chinatown was
once a newcomer’s temporary shelter, congested with bachelors and ethnic businesses,
and semi-dissociated from the mainstream American society. However, along with the
steady increase of women and children immigrants, it had become a family-based ethnic
community with various social and economic activities to fulfill the needs of the
community itself. More and more enterprises and institutions were established to cope
with the increasing demands in goods and services, especially those cultural-related ones
that could not be satisfied by the western industrialized merchandisers of the American

 

7 Zhou, Chinatown (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992), 75.
8 Sung, A Survey of Chinese-American Manpower and Employment (1976), 4.

society. As time moves on, more and more labor-intensive small businesses appear and
start to build up an economic base for the community.

People who choose to live in Chinatown are usually first-generation and recent
Chinese immigrants. At the first arrival, new immigrants tend to stay in the metropolitan
area, close to the ethnic community and job market. Not only the familiar circumstances,
but also the social and economic support from the ethnic community attract and benefit
these new arrivals. Family linkages, entry-level jobs, and the transitional environment
there provide a shelter and training program for new immigrants in the adapting stage.

Since most of new immigrants came as family members and usually follow the
footsteps of their predecessors, the pattern of the settlement continues and the ethnic
segregation persists. Though immigrants after 1965 are more really to merge into the
American mainstream, only a small Chinese population lives in middle class suburban
neighborhoods other than Chinatowns.

Traditional industries in Chinatown started with hand laundries and food services.
In the 19303 and 19403, these were the labor-intensive, low-paying, and backbreaking
jobs that no one else was interested in. After the disillusion of the gold dream, harsh
reality forced the Chinese immigrants accept whatever the job was. However, even the
undesirable laundry business began to decline very soon because of the inventions of
home washers and dryers. The restaurant business, on the other hand, was able to survive
and flourish. It started as quick and inexpensive food services for the Chinese laborers,
and because of the special taste of Chinese Cuisine, later it became an industry based on
consumers extended to the non-Chinese population.

Since the immigration reform of 1965, Chinese immigrants have poured into
Chinatowns in United States and brought rapid growth to the communities. Chinatowns’
economy was diversified, and gradually moved beyond the narrow ethnic territory. The
garment industry replaced laundries and became the second most important business.
Restaurants continued thriving, while services based on ethnic clients started booming as
well. Various businesses spread out through the Chinatown, such as Chinese insurance
and real estate agencies, import/export businesses, banking and accounting services,
health care, beauty salons, grocery stores, jewelry and hobby stores, herbal medicine
stores, news and media, etc.

From Chinatown’s history we see that immigration policies, ethnic and cultural
barriers determined Chinatown’s socioeconomic situation.

For settled Chinese Americans, Chinatown means more than a place clustered with
Chinese people, products and restaurants -- it is a culture identification and heritage. To
the outsiders, it serves as the epitome of traditional Chinese culture.

III.

A Town of Chinese Culture: Possible Solution
3.1 Evaluating Urban Environment in Current Chinatowns
3.1.1 Historic Images and Current Conditions

From the facts and analysis shown in the first two chapters, under the cover of
transitional shelter and ethnic enclave, a Chinatown is a dynamic economic entity, with
intensity of labor power and small businesses, and the industrious people. It is “not only a
productive arena, but also a ”place of cultural significance and a community of symbolic
and sentimental attachment.”

Unfortunately, the appearance of these Chinatowns is not able to deliver the positive
image of a productive and growing community. A Chinatown is more like a typical
American Downtown congested with Chinese immigrants, facing the problems of
unpleasant physical environment, humdrum daily life, and lethargic local economy. It is,
from a planner’s view, an urban place that needs to be redeveloped and promoted as a
healthy and thriving ethnic society that presents the pride of the unique culture and the
good life quality.

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 3-1: Typical Street Scenes of Chinatowns: Streetscape of commercial strips is a congestion of
buildings and signs lack of identity and with no amenities.
a. San Francisco Chinatown, Grant at Jackson.

 

b. Chicago Chinatown, Wentworth.
Source: h :.//3tuweb ee. mtu.edu/~lkok/chi o chinatown2.htm

 

c. Toronto Chinatown. By author.

Branching out from the Mainstream Chinese culture and residing in North American
society, Chinatowns in North America developed a mixture of lifestyles of pre-
industrialized Chinese small towns and typical American inner cities.

 

9 Lin, Reconstructing Chinatown (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998), i.

 

On one hand, the ethnic businesses maintained a small-scale and labor-intensive
pattern, and the entire community seems to be a clannish closed system that is
significantly separated from the mainstream American society. Chinese traditions are
sustained in many daily life details here as they were in China one half century ago,
though the harsh physical and social environment allows only a minimum possibility of
propagating and enhancing these traditions into an admirable part of the diversity of
multi-cultured America. Despite the undesirable congestion and messiness, people enjoy
living there as in a small traditional business town in China, with pedestrian shopper
flowing in and out stores and friends or relatives living on the next block. From a
populous country, closer relationship, smaller private spaces, and stronger sense of
membership and neighborhood are affecting the life pattern of Chinese people all the
time.

On the other hand, Chinatowns have almost all kinds of common problems typical
American inner cities do: dilapidating building structures, underprivileged and un-
educated population, unemployment, high crime rate, underdeveloped infrastructure, and
the lack of planning effort. Visitors are attracted by the exotic atmosphere, but never
impressed by the entire place as a pleasant tourist resort, a comfortable shopping
environment, or a desirable residential neighborhood. Despite the oriental gourmet and
the hint of foreign building style, Chinatowns are just a special type of American
downtowns that need to be redeveloped and revitalized stage-by-stage. General urban
design strategies, such as building up identities and creating spaces to encourage
pedestrian activities, and economic development strategies, such as creating employment
opportunities and a balanced mix of businesses, can always applied to Chinatown as to
general downtown development in America. Here in Chinatown, the major efforts should
not only come from the state and the local government, because of the fairly large amount
of ethnic and cultural issues related with the redevelopment and revitalization.
Community based organizations should be more involved in various development
decisions in Chinatowns, especially the Chamber of Commerce and the Chinese
American Associations, however, most of the time there is the lack of cooperation
between different organizations, and the decision making is usually limited in a short-
terrn and piece-meal scope.

It is easy to understand the difficulties of dealing with problems accumulated through
decades or even centuries, but there are always some shortcuts to initiate a new prospect.
My idea of ameliorating the social-economic condition of Chinatowns is to start with
strengthening and expanding the advantages of Chinatowns as a tourist attraction.
Tourism is now one of the major industries of Chinatown, which brings business to
Chinese restaurants and specialty shops. From this point of view, improvement of the
architectural environment and establishment of more cultural-related attractions are
critical strategies to start with. A neo-traditional community that visually presents the
image of Chinese architectural styles, spatial characters and life styles will be a window
of the traditional Chinese culture, and therefore will successfully draw the attention of
general American tourists. The discussion below is to develop a set of urban design

guidelines for establishing a neo-traditional Chinatown, and converting a blighted
neighborhood to a regional attraction.

3.1.2 Assets and Concerns in the Urban Environment of Chinatowns

People live in Chinatown most likely because of two reasons: First, it is the place to
make their stay profitable, comfortable and legal, or it is the transitional shelter protecting
and training newcomers. Second, it is a place with symbolic and sentimental significance
that links them to a sense of culturally belonging.

While the Chinatown dwellers yearn for their mother culture, they seem to be less
motivated in revitalizing actions. More or less, people in Chinatown care more about the
safety and sanitary, employment and Medicare, and chances to merge into middle class
American society. The result is that, to the general public, Chinese traditions in
Chinatown end at Chinese cuisine, several colorful roofs and gateways, festival parades,
theory or myth of Fengshui, handicrafts, gambling games, and Clans. There is a
noteworthy lack of museums and galleries which introducing history and culture of Great
China, its glorious ancient civilization and promising present. Even the recent
development in Chinatowns still hasn’t paid enough attention in disseminating the great
achievement of China in literature and painting, music and calligraphy, philosophy and
thoughts, religions, urban development and architecture. More apparently, it is even
harder to try to get a hint of Contemporary China from Chinatowns in America.

To prepare urban design guidelines for a neo-traditional Chinatown, we start with the
strength and weakness analysis for the current urban environment of a typical Chinatown.

Assets (Strengths):

A regional business and civic center of the American Chinese population
Unique ethnic merchandise and service supplier

Presence of an ethnic merchandise and service market

Exotic theme as regional tourist attraction

Proximity to downtown and major employment centers

Proximity to other multi-cultura] communities

Existence of hi gh-density resident population

Easy access from major freeways and local streets (location)

Operation of the public transportation system

Cultural and linguistic ties to China.

Concerns (Weaknesses):

Lack of visual identity as a community of the Chinese population

Lack of comfortable, pleasing pedestrian environment, through the absence of open
spaces, scale of buildings, layout of the streets and the vegetation.

Lack of inviting activities throughout evening hours and off-peak seasons

High congestion of the entire neighborhood

10

Lack of middle class American Chinese residents
Large portion of Non-English speakers and unemployed population
Lack of influx of tourists and visitors in conjunction with major sports, art,
entertainment and conference activities

0 Lack of economic balance, with a need of major businesses and industrial enterprises
to complement the job centers and residential population

0 An erosion of the streetscape character, including deteriorating paving, narrow
sidewalks, and loss of street trees

0 Existing buildings which are out of character or scale by virtue of inappropriate
design, bulk size or setbacks

0 Inconvenience of parking places Chinatown at a competitive disadvantage with
American suburban locations

0 Homogeneity of business and merchandise disadvantages Chinatown in competition
of attracting general shoppers.
Isolation from the mainstream of American society, historically and culturally
Negative public imagination caused by the historic inscription — undocumented
immigrants, sweatshops, poverty, poor sanitation, high congestion, dilapidating
physical appearance, and organized criminal syndicates.

3.2 Neo-Traditional Urban Design Concepts that Promote Tradition and
Economy

Facing these realities, I am seeking the solutions for building a Chinatown that has
both traditional Chinese identity and economic propellant. Lucky I see the possibility of
construct such a Chinese community in North America. First of all, Chinatowns, the
ethnic enclaves in different culture, have strong desire of identifying themselves as part
of the Chinese culture. Secondarily, the urban lifestyles in North America allow lower
density development, which makes the reappearance of traditional Chinese neighborhood
feasible. Thirdly, the existence of ethnic market and the attraction of exotic architectural
style provide the motive power for a dynamic local economy. More over, the current
lifestyles in Chinatowns encourage mixed-use development and pedestrian dominant
circulation patterns, which enhance the places’ potential of being converted to a high
quality urban environment.

Urban design strategies for a North American Chinatown should not only help
establish the physical identification of a Chinese community, but also sustain an ethic
economic entity as thriving as the communities in contemporary China. As neo-
traditional development receives widespread welcome in North America, a neo-
traditional Chinatown will be a viable option to achieve the goal.

The desired habitat environment for Chinese Americans should satisfy Chinese
American lifestyle, enhance quality of life, present tradition and pride, and facilitate local
economic development. From this point of view, the vision, focus and design strategies
for a neo-traditional Chinatown should be as follows:

11

The vision of a neo-traditional Chinatown:

0 A community image that establishes pride and identity as a regional center of the
American Chinese population (Unique sense of place, accomplished visually,
socially, culturally, economically, locationally, and educationally);

o A regional tourist attraction that generates new establishments of businesses and
employment opportunities, and increases community revenue;

0 An overall vehicular and pedestrian circulation system that increases the accessibility
to the area from major traffic arteries, job centers and other residential
neighborhoods;

0 A increased mixed-use development that retains residents, tourists, jobs, businesses,
entertainment and services;

0 An interconnected commercial corridor network that maximizes the continuity of the
urban business texture;

o A Chinese-style and human-scale streetscape and spatial pattern that invites people,
businesses and activities (created architecturally, environmentally, and physically);

A parking system that provides enough capacity and convenience to users;
A network of public open spaces “urban living rooms” that integrates pedestrian
circulation with the activities and attractiveness of the location.

Efforts needed for the improvement of:

0 A sense of quality;
0 A feeling of security;
0 A variety of access options.

The design strategies include:

0 Identifying the entire community as a regional ethnic and cultural center that carries
and presents the pride of Chinese heritage;

0 Expanding lifestyle opportunities by offering a wide range of residences at urban
densities together with supporting commercial services;

0 Continuing to develop a compact, high density core that acts as the focal point for the
Chinatown community and the region;

0 Designing the physical setting for pedestrians and non-pedestrians, residents and
tourists, considering their needs for comfort, convenience and safety;

0 Encouraging the development of cultural and entertainment facilities and cultivating
new educational opportunities;

0 Highlighting the distinctive design and development features that define the Central
Culture and Business District;

0 Developing a strong transit system geared towards the needs of potential and current
users;

0 Expanding and managing the parking system, considering street capacity and short-
and long-term parking user needs;

12

0 Creating a network of public spaces that is integrated with an adequate system of
pedestrian ways, which should stimulate and support the highest quality of
development.

3.3 Design Guidelines for a Neo-Traditional Chinatown
3.3.1 Design with Chinese Architectural Styles and Spatial Characteristics

To create strong, unique identity for a Chinatown, a neo-traditional urban design is
the most effective approach. Sublime city walls and resplendent palaces, images of
dragons and phoenixes, inscribed celebration arches, tiled roof peaks, deep and curved
eaves, walled poetic gardens and rhythmical houses, stone—paved narrow but intimate
lanes and alleys, semi-private courtyards with tea tables seating under trees, children
playing around winding corridors, bustling folk markets on the river front, bridges and
boating docks along the canals, ...these are all the traditional images of Chinese cities
missed and valued by generations of Chinese people all over the world. Nothing can do
better as a material carrier of Chinese culture.

Here I propose a neo-traditional Chinatown, a living model of Chinese traditional
lifestyles, to aim at my goal of realizing the vision of a wealthy and proud Chinatown. It
is will be a Chinatown that applies architectural styles and spatial characters that reflex
Chinese spirits and serve contemporary urban life in North American, not merely
imitating ancient Chinese cities. A3 a typical Chinese community and a tourist attraction,
the architectural styles and spatial characters of this Chinatown should be planned and
designed to compliment the functional purpose and cultural intension of various places.

When applying classic Chinese architectural styles, we mean to utilize the traditional
forms, structures, spaces, material, and colors as architectural vocabularies to construct
individual and groups of buildings. As introduced in the next chapter, these are basic
elements defining the term of “Chinese style.”

Besides the appearance of buildings, human experiences in an urban environment are
mainly composed by the outdoor spaces. These urban spaces, which are designated to
certain uses, are enclosed by interfaces of various architectural and non-architectural
elements. Thus, the grammatical rules of constructing this Chinatown are more critical
for successfulness of transmitting the spirit of traditional Chinese urban culture. From the
findings in Chapter IV, these rules are shown in forms of spatial characters in urban
spaces, such as grid, enclosure, axis, symmetry, sequence, and hierarchy. Meanwhile,
looking through the great unity and diversity of classic Chinese architecture, there is
always a noticeable balance between order and variety (See Appendix 1: Roof Types of
Classic Chinese Buildings; Appendix 11: Classic Chinese Building Complexes; and
Appendix 3: Classic Chinese Courtyards).

13

 

Figure 3-2: Glory of Classic Chinese Architecture: The Temple of Heaven, Beijing
Source: Scenic Spots and Historic Sites of China (Beijing: China Travel & Tourism Press).

All elements and the rules to put them together serve the same purpose: to create
places for people. Public places frame the general spatial structure of the city — a network
of entrances, corridors, plazas, open green spaces, canals, docks, and landmarks. Semi-
public places build up the transitional peripheral and linkage between the zones of public
activities and residential neighborhoods. Shared by tourists, occasional visitors and
residents, tributary canals, lanes and alleys, and neighborhood open spaces are therefore
semi-public in nature. Residential courtyards should be considered private in urban
spaces, since they are serving as an exclusive interior open spaces shared by surrounding
households only.

Symbolic elements, such as gateways, fence walls, signs, panels and banners,
watchtowers, bell & drum towers, decorative columns, celebration arches, altars,
monuments, and pavilions etc, highlight the uniqueness of the community as a Chinese
heritage. The history and legends behind these symbolic features remind American
Chinese and all the visitors of the presence of Chinese culture as the glory and the
essence of human civilization. They are me'dia just as important as documentary records
in carrying on the tradition and culture, and revealing its extensiveness and profundity.

To develop a pedestrian friendly and human scaled urban space, decorative details
need to be well designed to compliment both the cultural intention and user comfort.
Signs, sculptures, frescos, reliefs, and graphics can be used either as part of the
architecture or independently to create additional attractiveness. Landscaping the streets
and plazas is also indispensable for a high quality development. Street gardens, water

14

features, hills and woods, pavilions, these elements beautify and soften the hardscape and
bring variety to the city’s geometric spatial structure. More over, streetlights and street
furniture should also be in forms of Chinese accent to fit the view.

3.3.2 Provide for Diverse and Mixed-Use Development

To maximize the economic opportunity and accommodate diverse lifestyles, a
Chinatown needs to fulfill all kinds of social and economic activities involved in the daily
life of Chinese Americans. At the same time, as a tourist attraction, it should provide
maximized comfort and convenience for volumes of visitors as well. Land use planning
of a Chinatown should aiming at expanding lifestyle opportunities by offering a wide
range of residences at urban densities together with supporting commercial services, and
continuing to develop a compact, high-density core that acts as the focal point for the
Chinatown community and the region.

Residential development should provide a full range of housing options that retain
and attract various classes of residents. Single-family homes, townhouses, apartments for
all income levels help build up the population structure for the self-sustained community.
Medium— or higher-income families, moderate- to low-income families, and the non-
family households coexist in the same community, with the residential styles shaped to fit
their needs and income levels respectively. An average of 3-storey development is
strongly suggested to keep the proper density meeting the housing demand and support
commercial and institutional facilities.

Consistent with the concept of retrieving the tradition, for various categories of
residential land uses, architectural styles and spatial patterns should follow the neo-
traditional courtyard house template, which was discussed in Professor Wu’s book about
the Ju’er Hotong redevelopment project in Beijing.10 Aware of the attractiveness of
traditional Chinese residential neighborhoods to the tourists, residential and commercial
mixed—use development strategies should be applied along the tourist shopping and
visiting routes, and lanes (Hutong) and alleys (Linong) in residential neighborhoods
should keep the traditional characteristics and be open for tourists to explore.

Commercial land use development should provide a mix of businesses with an
intensity and diversity attracting regional consumers. Commercial facilities here are not
only serving local residents, but more for the regional tourist market. This is the key point
to make the mode of the community economy basic and sustainable in long term.

The following is the suggested program list for different type of land uses in the
central culture and business district of a Chinatown:

Commercial Uses:

Retail:
Chinese building materials and garden supplies

 

'0 Wu, Rehabilitating the Old City of Beijing (Vancouver: UBC Press, 1999).

15

General merchandise stores
Food Stores
Chinese grocery, Meat and Fish Market, retail bakeries, other
food stores
Apparel and accessory stores
Chinese fashion stores, etc
Furniture and home furnishings
Eating and drinking places
Chinese restaurant, cafeterias, etc
Drug and proprietary stores
Miscellaneous retail stores
Chinese specialty sporting goods
Chinese Book stores
Chinese Jewelry and antiques stores
Chinese music and video store
Chinese tobacco stores
Chinese liquor stores
Chinese handcraft and curio stores
Chinese hobby stores
Chinese
Chinese florists
Chinese fabric stores
Chinese herbalists
Gasoline service station/ Chinese convenient food
Electronic supplies store

Personal services:

Chinese beauty salon

Dressmakers
Business service center
Photography and Film developing
Travel Agencies
Martial Arts
Home Decoration
Ceremony service

Professionals:
Accountants
Attorneys
Art Galleries
Acupuncture
Banks
Financial Institutions
Pharmacists
Animal Hospitals

Architects’

l6

Constructors
Real Estate Developers

Institutional Uses:

Governmental:
The City Hall
Chamber of Commerce

Culture Center:
Museum and Library
Chinese newspaper, radio and TV
Chinese Youth Club
Chinese American Association
Community center
Conventional center

Educational:
Elementary schools
High School
Community college
Chinese School
Training center

Religious:
Churches
Temples
Religious research centers

Social Services:
Medicare
Day care
Senior care

Recreational Uses:
Parks and Gardens
Clubs, sports facility, Chinese games, Karaoke
Chinese festival celebration,
Chinese martial arts and sports
Hotel and Tourist center
Theatre
Teahouse

Industrial Uses:
Chinese food processing
Garment

Home decoration
Handicrafts

Furniture

Print and publishing
Other light manufactures

3.3.3 Accommodate and Encourage Cultural-Related Activities

A Culture Center is a must for every Chinatown. Symbolically it is the central core of
a Chinatown, with spatial and functional significance. Major governmental, institutional
and commercial organizations cluster around a central grand activity plaza. This is the
focal point of the entire Chinatown; the destination of a tourist’s trip, the stage and stalls
of a grand ceremony, the exhibition place of Chinese architecture and art, and the open
market of featured Chinese specialties.

The built environment with quality is a splendid grand theater; it now needs a
wonderful show to play there. It is very important that festivals and thematic events
happen in a Chinatown periodically, creating some excitement and inviting more visitors.
Strategies to fulfill this objective phase by phase are highlighting the distinctive design
and development features that define the Central Culture and Business District,
encouraging the development of cultural and entertainment facilities, and cultivating new
educational opportunities.

In Chinese traditions there are various festival celebrations year round: Western New
Year, Chinese New Year (Spring Festival), Lantern Festival (YuanXiao Festival), Tomb
Sweeping Festival (QingMing Festival), Dragon Boat Festival (Duaan Festival),
Chinese Valentine’s Day (QiXi), Mid-Autumn Festival, Senior’s Festival (Double Nine
Festival), etc. Festival celebration is the best season for business promotions, cultural
presentations, street fairs, and public activities. Street activities can include mass
gatherings, parades, ceremonies, performances, competitions, exhibitions, fairs, sports,
and gaming. All these should be based on tradition of the specific festival and the climate
of the season.

Besides traditional festivals, other cultural-based or business—based events will also
keep the center and the entire community vigorous and flourishing. Programs such as A
Chinese Art Festival, International Art Festival, Chinese Food Festival, Grand Chinese
Cuisine Competition, Peony or Narcissus Festival, Farmer’s Market, Chinese Traditional
Costume Show, Chinese Antique Fair, Buddhism and Taoism Research Conference etc
will become additional tourist attractions.

3.3.4 Develop an Efficient and Pleasant Circulation System
The ultimate goal of the community-wise circulation system design is to maximize
the convenience and comfort for both vehicles and pedestrians, businesses and residents,

dwellers and visitors, so as to facilitate the local social and economic development.
Design strategies include:

18

A. Develop a strong transit system adapted to the needs of the
Chinatown as an ethnic community, an economic entity and a tourist
resort.

First of all, the circulation system should provide the maximum access reaching out
regional freeway and highway network, and the adjacent local road and street systems.
The accessibility from outside to the Chinatown greatly affects the successfulness of the
community as a tourist resort.

Secondary, separated vehicular and pedestrian circulation systems are critical for
development of urban commercial environment. According to existing street patterns and
the traffic flow, several different methods can be applied for the separation. For two-
dimensional approaches, vehicular routes and pedestrian routes are two paralleled
systems that flow independently and should only meet each other on the parking spaces
of the pedestrian destinations. Because in most situations it is very costly to make a
complete separation, overlaps and crosses happen along the streets and at the road
intersections. In these cases, according to the hierarchy of the road systems and the
primary uses of the adjacent land, traffic lights, speed limits, and different paving textures
help to define the priority of vehicular or pedestrian movements.

Vehicular and pedestrian circulation systems can also be separated three-
dimensionally. Bridges and tunnels are used to form the overpass of one circulation
system and another. Normally in a commercial environment the pedestrian comfort is put
primary, therefore the overpass systems should keep pedestrians movement in the same
level as much as possible. Climate controlled skywalks are very popular in high-density
downtown business district development, where they make the second floor of
commercial buildings all connected block after block.

  
  

   

      
 

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In Chinatown, all these approaches can be applied based on the spatial character and
the functional use of different places. The architectural styles of bridges and skywalks
should also fit into the scene of a neo-traditional Chinese community.

Major commercial corridors and the central core area should be highly pedestrian
friendly, if it cannot be completely automobile-free. Using a pedestrian-automobile
separated circulation system doesn’t necessary harm the convenience for people coming
by car — as long as the parking spaces are well planned to keep parking and destinations
close enough for a pleasant walk.

Both vehicular and pedestrian circulations should provide a sequential visual
experience that exhibits the entire city as an art of Chinese architectural and urban design.
Start points, guided routes and the highlights of the sequence ought to be clearly defined
to create integrity for each tour.

B. Expand and manage the parking system, considering street
capacity and short- and long-term parking user needs

Convenience of parking directly affects the popularity of a commercial district. Type,
location and amount of parking spaces determine the possibility for a passing-through
driver to stop and visit the place. They also strongly affect the tourist experience and the
degree of satisfaction. The challenge here is to develop a parking system that provides
maximized convenience without breaking the continuity of the street interfaces or
disturbing the pedestrian flow. A mix of parallel parking, bay parking and deck parking
will help control the distribution of traffic volume and protect the commercial and
cultural atmosphere of the entire place.

20

Centralized deck parking should locate near major entrances of the Chinatown, and
near the central core. The parking structure can also apply Chinese architectural style to
preserve the visual integrity. While ensuring a free flow of pedestrians in the central core
area, secondary commercial strips along traffic roads should provide parallel parking to
encourage drive-by shoppers and visitors. Bay parking areas should be limited and
located in the backyards enclosed by buildings to maintain the high quality of streetscape
and pedestrian environment.

C. Creating an adequate system of pedestrian walkways that is
integrated with a network of public spaces, stimulating and supporting
the highest quality of development

A perfect tour of Chinatown starts with the entry gateway of the community,
following the planned route showing all the excitement of the town, and then backs to the
start point again. A tour chaining all the highlighted points is like a pearl necklace; along
the route visitors won’t miss any of the wonderful beads. Consequently, public spaces,
including commercial corridors, culture centers, parks, gardens, event plazas and other
landmarks, need weave together with pedestrian walkways to consummate a high quality
image of this tourist town. These public spaces should be grouped spatially according to
purposes, in order to create a rhythmic sequence for the tour.

21

IV.

Chinese Architectural Style and Urban Spaces: The Heritage

Understanding the characteristics of Chinese architecture and urban spaces, their
evolution and impacts on urban lives are the prerequisites of developing urban design
strategies for a neo—traditional Chinatown. A Chinese style urban environment will
provide not only the visual identity for the Chinatown, but also a physical and
communicable experience for people. The neo-traditional design strategies aim at
reconstructing the urban life in Chinatowns through recovery of the tradition and
enhancement of the locality. Here, the neo-traditionalism concept is more of a lifestyle
than of an architectural style.

4.1 Classic Chinese Architectural Style And Spatial Patterns

Traditional or classic Chinese architectural style refers to the structural, spatial and
decorative styles applied in Chinese mainstream culture before 1911. The spatial patterns
of traditional Chinese cities, neighborhood and individual buildings are also based on
those developed in the feudal age of China. They are all, more or less, a reflection of the
centralized, hierarchical social structure.

4.1.1 City and street patterns

Chinese cities maintained the consistency of their structural characteristics since their
very origin till the end of Feudalism in 1911. Cities and towns formed in central
populous area where closely interrelated governmental, religious and commercial
activities were a core of life in these evolving urban areas.

Special characteristics of Chinese cities stem from the strong role given to city
planning. “Chinese architecture and city planning were so interrelated that the Chinese
never designed or built structures independently as ‘objects’ but rather considered all part
of a continuous environment.”ll

Traditional Chinese capital cities were created in a rigid grid and axis system,
coordinated with existing or man-made natural features. Major roads were laid out on
longitudinal and latitudinal lines, while the center of the city was usually the
governmental building cluster, literally a city within the city. Defensive city walls, with
solidly constructed gates and watchtowers, enclosed the entire city. The rules of etiquette
decided the placement of different land uses and the city was planned based on its
regional function and social hierarchy of the political, military, and merchant classes of

 

” Treister, Chinese Architecture, Urban Planning, and Landscape design (Gainesville: University of Florida, 1987),

p38.

22

its residents. The entire city then became a series of courtyards and alleys following the
grids.

 

 

 

 

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Figure 4-1: The Spatial Structure of Beijing, Ming and Qing Dynasty.
Source: The Committee, History of Chinese Architecture (Beijing, Press of Chinese Construction Industry,
1986), p 51.

23

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

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Master Plan of the Forbidden City, Ming & Qing Dynasty

1- the Hall of Supreme Harmony; 2- the Hall of Literary Grace; 3- the Hall of Martial Spirit;
4- the Hall of Heavenly Purity, 5- the Hall 0! Royal Peace; 6- the Hall of Regal Supremacy,
7- the Hill of Seenem 8- the Temple of Royal Ancestor: 9- the Altar of the State:

10- the Lake of South Sea; 11- the Lake of Mid Sea: 12- the Lake of North See

Figure 4-2: Master Plan of the Forbidden City, Ming and Qing Dynasty
Source: The Committee, History of Chinese Architecture (Beijing: Press of Chinese Construction Industry,
1986). P 61.

24

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Processional axis: from the TianAn (Heavenly Peace) Gate on the south (point 1) to the Shean (Divine

Might) Gate on the north (point 16).
Source: The Committee, History of Chinese Architecture (Beijing: Press of Chinese Construction Industry,
1986), p 66.

 

Figure 4-4: The Central Space: the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Forbidden City, Beijing.
Source: hmz/lwww,bjta.ggv,gm

25

 

Figure 4-5: Aerial view of the Forbidden City from the north: the pivot
Source: Han, The Imperial Palace (Beijing: The Foreign Languages Press, 1995)

 

Figure 4-6: City Wall of the Imperial City and the Watchtower
Source: Han, The Imperial Palace (Beijing: The Foreign Languages Press, 1995)

26

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courtyards, and enclosed by short walls. The market or commercial neighborhood also
applied similar patterns. The system, developed to ensure easy military control, also
limited the freedom of activities and the growth of the city. However, this spatial pattern
was carried on for hundreds of years and is the unique fabric of traditional Chinese urban
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Source: The Committee, History of Chinese Architecture (Beijing: Press of Chinese Construction Industry,
1986). p 44.

27

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 4-8: Residential wards of the Li-Fang System, Chang’An, Tang Dynasty.
Source: Xu, The Chinese City in Space and Time (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000), p
70.

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ChangAn City in Tang Dynasty was the largest and the most prosperous city in the world. The
DaMing Palace was about three times as large as the Forbidden City built in Ming (1368 ~ 1644)
and Qing (1644 ~ 1911) Dynasty, and the LinDe Hall in the DaMing Palace was about three times

of area of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City.
Source: The Committee, History of Chinese Architecture (Beijing: Press of Chinese Construction
Industry, 1986), p 60.

28

Because of the gradual flourishing of handicraft industry and commerce, cities since
the Song Dynasty became freer in form to meet the needs of brisk commercial activities.
Li-Fang and the curfew system were abandoned, though the grid and hierarchy structure
still dominated cities. Fire fighting, transportation, bridges and streetscapes were further
developed based on this new freedom.

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Figure 4-10: Pingiiang (SuZhou) Map, Song Dynasty.
Source: Prentice, Suzhou — Shaping an Ancient City for the New China: Ann EDA W/Pei Workshop
(Washington DC: Spacemaker Press, 1998), p 9.

29

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Source: Xu, The Chinese City in Space and Time (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000). P 71.

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ChangMen Street in City of SuZhou.

Source: Xu, The Chinese City in Space and Time (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000), p 154-155.

30

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city of the Northen Song Dynasty, BianLiang.
Source: Xu, The Chinese City in Space and Time (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000), p 72.

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BianLiang.
Source: Xu, The Chinese City in Space and Time (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000), p 73.

4.1.2 Architectural styles
Traditional Chinese architecture is a result of five thousand years of technical and

artistic practice in wood and masonry structures. Because of the restricted social
hierarchy system and the differences of wealthy in ancient China, a set of different

31

standards was strictly applied in designing of buildings serving different purposes and
different class of people.

The most complete standard, The Rule of Construction (Ying2 Zao4 Fa3 Shi4), was
developed as governmental regulation in the Song dynasty (960AD ~ 1279 AD). The
Rule was later further defined and modified in several major dynasties, and was applied
in almost all the buildings in China until the end of the feudalism kingdom of China in
19103. Though the Rule of Construction was codified in Song dynasty, many of building
structures in Tang Dynasty (608AD ~ 907AD) had also applied the standards. According
to the Rule, buildings for royal palaces and religious purposes were to use the best quality
materials, richest colors and decorations, largest spaces, and the highest level of terraces
and roof structure.

       
 

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Source: The Committee, History of Chinese Architecture (Beijing: Press of Chinese Construction
Industry, 1986), p 163.

Traditional Chinese architecture was based on a structural system rather than a certain
unified form. The visual form of a typical building is of three sections: roof, walls, and
platform. Timber elements formed the framing system. Columns supported a series of
beams and purlins, and beams and purlins bore the weight of the giant roof structure,
which was regarded the most symbolic image of the Chinese traditional architectural
style. The entire building was placed on a raised masonry platform. This protected the
wood from rain and moisture, and was shaped to accommodate the use, the hierarchy,
and the environment surrounding the building. Walls were not load bearing, therefore the

32

interior and exterior spaces defined by these walls could have unlimited freedom in size
and shape.

The basic modular unit of structures is jian. Jian is the space between two adjacent
columns paralleled with the roof ridge. The length of this space unit in the other direction
is called depth (Jin-Shen). The number of Jians is always an odd number because of the
symmetric building layout. Based on the hierarchy system, building serving higher class
people and purposes were to apply more jians and longer spans than those for lower ones.
The design and construction of formal buildings were based on the modular system, from
the numbers of jians, to the scale of depth, to the scale of lumber elements, and to the
scales and styles of decorative details. Composition of the three major sections of a
building, the roof, the walls and the platform, were also according to the modular and
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33

 

Figure 4-16: The Plan, Elevation and Section of a Traditional Chinese Building: Sacred Mother’s
Hall, J in’s Ancestor Hall, City of TaiYuan, Shanxi Province, Northern Song Dynasty (1023-1031
A.D.)

Source: The Committee, History of Chinese Architecture (Beijing: Press of Chinese Construction
Industry, 1986), p101-102

Roofs are the most characteristic images of Chinese architecture. Roof forms convey
the feeling of shelter; and deep shadows emphasized the entrance and expressed
invitation to the inner spaces; the curve of ridges softened the relationship between
manmade structures and the natural environment. High unity of roof shapes covered with
massive tiles gave the diverse indoor and outdoor spaces harmonious integrity.
Functionally, the long overhangs create deep shelter from summer sun, and the upward
curve invites light and sheds the rain.

34

 

Figure 4-17: Beauty of the Roofs: Sacred Mother’s Hall, Jin’s Ancestor Hall, City of TaiYuan,
Shanxi Province, Northern Song Dynasty (1023-1031 A.D.)
Source: Chinese Academy of Architecture, Classic Chinese Architecture (Hong Kong: Joint
Publishing Co., 1986), p 87.

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Figme 4-18: Beauty of the Roofs: Ceremonial Hall, J in’s Ancestor Hall, City of TaiYuan, Shanxi
Province, Northern Song Dynasty (1023-1031 A.D.)
Source: Liu, Chinese Architecture (London: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 1989), p 235.

35

 

 

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Under the eaves there were fine and rich texture created by range upon range of wood
brackets (Dou-Gongs). Dou-Gong transmits the massive roof weight to beams and
columns. The Don-Gongs not only spread the load evenly to the major support structure,
but also create a sculpture-like fabric in the shadow of the roof. In later dynasties, the
decorative feature of Dou-Gongs was prominently emphasized, compared with their
original role as structural elements.

 

Figure 4—19: Dou-Gong. Chunyang (Pure Positive) Hall, Yongle (Everlasting Happiness) Palace,
Ruicheng City, Shanxi Province, Yuan Dynasty (1212 A.D.). Source: Liu, Chinese Architecture
(London: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 1989), p 133.

 

Figure 4-20: Cai-Hua. The Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Forbidden City, Beijing, Qing Dynasty.
Source: Liu, Chinese Architecture (London: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 1989), p 251.

The scale of the building, type of the roof, color and material applied were all decided
by the Rule of Construction. Longer spans and more jians, richer color schemes, higher
terraces, and more valuable materials were used for people of higher social standing. The

36

 

 

King’s palace was rated the highest and had nine jians” for the primary building
structure, applied a four-slope palace-style (WuDian) roof structure and gold-plated or
golden-yellow glazed roof tiles, red-painted round columns, golden decorative painting
(Cai-Hua) with rich green and blue patterns on red background, and the highest and most
decorative platform. For officers of lower ranks, buildings would apply five to seven
jians, smaller spatial spans and lower height, regular four-slope roofs, green or blue
grazed roof tiles, red-painted round columns, greenish and bluish Cai-Hua, and fewer-
step terraces. Residential buildings for common peeple had a simple 3-jian structure, two-
slope roof with gray pottery tiles, round wood columns painted in chestnut color or black,
gray brick walls or white-lime washed brick walls, no Cai-Hua, and platform with only

few steps.

 

Figure 4—21: Marble steps flanking the Cloud-and-dragon Ramp leading to the Hall of Supreme
Harmony, the Forbidden City, Beijing
Source: Chinese Academy of Architecture, Classic Chinese Architecture (I-Iong Kong: Joint
Publishing Co., 1986), p 142.

 

‘2 Nine is the magic number in Chinese culture, which means most or infinity.

37

 

Figure 4-22: Interior view of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Forbidden City, Beijing
Source: Chinese Academy of Architecture, Classic Chinese Architecture (Hong Kong: Joint Publishing
Co., 1986), p 143.

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 4-23: Decorative details of a building for royal purpose: gold-plated bronze lion and roof
tiles, white marble terraces and railing, and extremely rich colors.
Source: Han, The Imperial Palace (Beijing: The Foreign Languages Press, 1995)

38

 

Figure 4-24: A Residence in the North Third Hutong, Beijing
Source: Wang, Ancient Chinese Architecture - Vernacular Dwellings (New York: Springer Wien
New York, 2000), p 122.

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Figure 4-25: Middle gate of a Residence in Lishi Hutong, Beijing
Source: Wang, Ancient Chinese Architecture -- Vernacular Dwellings (New York: Springer Wien New
York, 2000), p 2.

39

 

Figure 4-26: A courtyard house, Fujian Province.
Source: Liu, Chinese Architecture (London: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 1989), p 175.

 

Figure 4-27: A courtyard house, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province.
Source: Liu, Chinese Architecture (London: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 1989), p 175.

40

           
  

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Figure 4-28: A residential courtyard, Shexian, Anhui Province
Source: Wang, Ancient Chinese Architecture -- Vernacular Dwellings (New York: Springer Wien New
York, 2000), P 120.

The most significant spatial character of traditional Chinese architecture should be the
series of courtyards enclosed by connected buildings, walls and arcades. The indoor and
outdoor spaces for different functions were defined by and interrelated with each other.
Series of courtyards usually had a common axis and were laid out in a symmetric and
formal manner. Along the axis, movement through spaces was arranged sequentially with
intervals of building-courtyard—building. The designed route cut through the central jian,
which is usually for public or extended family use or passage, of buildings positioned on
the axis. Most rooms were placed off the axis and aligned symmetrically. Colonnades,
usually along the sides of the courtyard, served as connections between buildings, and
also transitional spaces between interior rooms and exterior yards.

Based on the rules of F eng-Shui, central buildings and the courtyards created with
other buildings usually had a south-north orientation, with the major entrance facing
south. Buildings on the central axis had more importance and higher hierarchy and were
called “main” or “upper” buildings, while those on east and west sides of the court were
ranked lower and called “wing buildings.” The entire building group is closed from the
public, with all buildings, windows, and doors (except the main entrance gate and
occasional windows in the hunt elevation) facing the inside courtyards.

41

 

 

 

 

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42

excavations in Qishan, Shaanxi Provice.

Figure 4-29: Restoration of a Western Zhou Dynasty (1027 — 771 BC.) Courtyard House based on
Source: Wu, Rehabilitating the Old City of Beijing (VancouverzUBC Press, 1999), p 71.

 
  

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Source. Liu 1990. 210.

Figure 4-30: Bird’s-eye view of typical Beijing courtyard houses
Source: Wu, Rehabilitating the Old City of Beijing (Vancouver: UBC Press, 1999), p 82.

The typical courtyard pattern of the plan was applied in various kinds of Chinese
architectural complexes, ranged from residential to religious uses, and from governmental
to commercial uses. The essential philosophy here is a defensive attitude toward outsider
and the open, caring, observing and anti-private attitude within the patriarchal social
system. As people were ranked by order, places within the court were ranked in sequence
as well. Spaces located on the axis and close to the center of the court were honored
places for the most important people and uses. Rooms on sides, comers and areas further
away from the central area were regarded as less important and for people of lower
position. The level of privacy increased from south to north, and from center to edges.
This assignment of users to places followed the strict hierarchical order of family and
society.

43

     

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Figure 4-31: Circulation routes in the courtyard houses and in the city
(A) and (B): A large residence in Suzhou. (C): The circulation system in the Old City of Beijing.
(D): The circulation systems in the Hutong neighborhood of Beijing. The fish-bone-like
circulation system has been applied both in housing complexes and entire historic city.
Source: Wu, Rehabilitating the Old City of Beijing (Vancouver: UBC Press, 1999), p 76.

Closer observation brings the founding that though serving different purposes ranging
from governmental to religious, the land use patterns within courtyard compounds
remained consistency: administration or activity places are at the center core, main

44

entrances, receiving areas and group activities on the south, sleeping-living and other

private places on the north and in the major wing buildings, and service and recreational
areas further to the edges.

HOUSING

TEMPLE MONASTERY PALACE

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Figure 4-32: A comparison of forms of courtyard complexes
Most traditional Chinese building types, including houses, mausoleums, temples, monasteries, and
palaces, are arranged around courtyards of varying shapes and sizes.
Source: Wu, Rehabilitating the Old City of Beijing (Vancouver: UBC Press, 1999), p 81.

While most of the major Chinese structures applied a rigid grid system and the
codified regulation for spaces, Chinese gardens, either huge royal gardens in the imperial
city or mini-gardens in residential courts, were designed with natural, informal and
curvilinear spatial layouts. A geometric relationship among elements was still observed in
major spots of manmade structures, but the handling of water feature, rocks, planting
materials and meandering were all created as extracts of natural beauty -- free in form,
varied in components, and refreshing as an oasis.

45

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Figure 4-33: Panorama of Zhquheng (Humble Ministration) Garden, at private garden in SuZhou
Source: Chinese Academy of Architecture, Classic Chinese Architecture (Hong Kong, Joint Publishing
Co., 1986), p 229.

 

 

Figure 4-34: Wuzhu Pavilion of Zhquheng Garden, SuZhou
Source: Chinese Academy of Architecture, Classic Chinese Architecture (Hong Kong, Joint Publishing
Co., 1986), p 229.

46

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Figure 4-35: Plan of Zhquheng Garden, SuZhou
Source: Chinese Academy of Architecture, Classic Chinese Architecture (Hong Kong, Joint Publishing
Co., 1986), p 229.

47

 

 

Figure 4-36: FoXiang (Buddhist Scent) Hall in Summer Palace, a Royal Garden of Beijing
Source: Chinese Academy of Architecture, Classic Chinese Architecture (Hong Kong, Joint
Publishing Co., 1986), p 215.

Traditional Chinese architecture shows high respect to the surrounding
environment. In the countryside, streets, open spaces and buildings were laid out
to follow natural topography, while in cities they were woven into existing urban
fabric according to the recognized precedents or codified regulations. Natural
elements were always invited into the relatively closed architectural environment.
Architectural forms were designed to complement Nature, in proportion of scale,
shape of roof, transition of space, and in penetration between natural scenery and
building structure. Building compounds tended to be horizontal and nestled
closely to the ground. Religious buildings, such as Pagodas, were vertically
constructed to show the worship to God. These towers dominated surrounding

48

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urban spaces and marked the area as a specific place. Traditional place-making
elements, such as buildings, courts, walls, openings, and landscaping, could be
composed in unlimited ways to create infinite varieties of spaces while the
inherent unity from the orders integrates all as one. The charm of traditional
Chinese space and architecture is also expressed in the transformation of time and
place — in process of movement, the beauty of spaces is revealed layer by layer, in
rhythmic sequence, with exciting climaxes.

 

Figure 4-37: Bird’s eye view of the Temple of Heaven, Beijing
Source: Chinese Academy of Architecture, Classic Chinese Architecture (Hong Kong, Joint Publishing
Co., 1986), p 161.

49

 

 

Figure 4-38: View of the HuangQiongYu (Great Cosmos) Hall through the doorway, the Temple of
Heaven, Beijing
Source: Chinese Academy of Architecture, Classic Chinese Architecture (Hong Kong, Joint Publishing
Co., 1986), p 159.

    
 
 
  

 

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Figure 4-39: QiNian (Prayer for Good Harvests) Hall, the Temple of Heaven, Beijing
Source: Chinese Academy of Architecture, Classic Chinese Architecture (Hong Kong, Joint Publishing
Co., 1986), p 157.

50

 

Figure 4-40: Waterway in a residential neighborhood, ZhouZhuang, Suzhou.

Source: hgpz/lwww.tr’avelchr__n_agg' 'de.com/gity' ggiQs/suzhogmtm

 

51

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Figure 4-42: Guangxiao Temple, Guangzhou, about 400AD
One of the four famous temples in Guangdong Province, it has a history of 1,500 years. The temple enjoys
a very important position in the Buddhist history in China. Many famous monks from China and abroad
have come to preach here since the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420).

Source: ht_tp://www.guflgg_hou.chinats.com

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Figure 4-43: Ancestral Temple of The Chen Family, Guangzhou.
It is now the site of the Guangdong Folk Art Museum. The 100-year-old temple is the largest and best
preserved and decorated ancient architecture existing in Guangdong Province.

Source: ht_tp://www.mgghog.chinats.com/hischen.hnn

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4.2 Architectural styles and spatial patterns in the modern and
contemporary Chinese communities (19308 - 1990s)

Since the Opium War in 1840, China entered the era of semi-colonial, semi-feudal

society. Along with the invasion of western capitalist industrial system, large numbers of
western-styled buildings appeared in the major cities of China. Modern western

52

architectural styles and construction technologies accelerated the steep change in Chinese
architecture.

Between the Opium War (1840) and the Sino-Japanese war (1894-1895), Chinese
architecture experienced the early stages of modernization. In dozens of concession
territories, western colonists established their domination through series of
administration, tax, police and justice departments. Western architecture and changes in
urban forms emerged in major ceded territories and trading ports. These new buildings
were mainly one or two-story, of classic European colonnade style, and applied a mixed
structure of masonry and wood.

After the Sino-Japanese War, more and more western countries entered China and
started investments and industries. At the same time, Chinese national capitalism began
its the early development. Industrial districts rose in many cities. Modern building
materials, such as cement, glass and machine-made bricks and roof tiles, started to be
manufactured and applied in new constructions. In the 19105, multi-story buildings
appeared in major cities, more steel structures were used, and reinforced concrete started
to be employed. The architecture, usually by western architects, was still predominately
classic European styles.

In 19203 and 1930s, because of further investment by foreign and national capitalists
in concession territories, large-scale developments were launched. Regarded as a symbol
of capital and power, high-rise office buildings, apartments and hotels sprouted
everywhere. During this time period, eight- to nine-story buildings were built frequently.
In City of Shanghai, there were 28 buildings have more than ten stories. The highest one
had 24 stories, demonstrating the great improvement of building technology.

 

Figure 4-44: Bing Jiang Road of Bund, Shanghai, 19208 and 19303
The Bing Jiang Road built in 1939 was designed with extraordinary style. By the magnificent buildings
of the Bund, the Huang Pu River forms a beautiful view with glittering water. Paralleling Bing Jiang
Road, stand the J iang Feng Bank, Customs House, Peace Hotel and the Bank of China.
Source: Wm

53

Some noticeable architectural movements took place in this turbulent era of growth.
While western classicism and neutralism merged into common new developments in
Chinese cities, the newborn modernist architecture began to influence China as well
(Figure 4-45). However, Chinese architects and nationalists advocated that China should
develop its own architectural style from the traditional architectural forms and spatial
concepts. Therefore, the Movement of Chinese Original Style was launched in late 19208
to carry forward the Chinese spirit in architectural design and urban development. The
Chinese Original Style was actually the Chinese neutralist style, which combined various
classic Chinese architectural styles of different dynasties in the thousands years of
Chinese history. The one of the earliest and representative works was the Sun Yat-sen
Mausoleum in Nanjing, designed by Yanzhi Lu, winner of the design competition, in
19203 (Figure 4-46).

 

Figure 4-45: DaGuangMing (Great Bright) Cinema, Shanghai, Built in 19205 tol9305
Source: The Committee, History of Chinese Architecture (Beijing: Press of Chinese Construction
Industry, 1986), p276.

54

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Figure 4-46: the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Nanjing, designed by Yanzhi Lu, 19205
Source: The Committee, History of Chinese Architecture (Beijing: Press of Chinese Construction
Industry, 1986), p 280.

55

Not only the traditional Chinese architectural styles were facing the tremendous
challenge of modernization. Chinese cities, during the years between 1840 and 1949, also
experienced significant changes, compared with the past two thousand years of their
peaceful evolution in Chinese feudalism. Industrial districts emerged in cities, and
transportation systems were given emphasis and dominated the growth of the city.
Commercial streets, rather than governmental or religious buildings, became the center of
the city. This industrial era brought to cities various new urban social and economic
activities. New types of public buildings serving commercial, institutional, recreational,
and transportation purposes flourished. Infrastructure was also greatly improved. Since
18603, water, electricity, gas, sewage, telecommunication, trolley and bus services were
established in major cities successively. However, Chinese cities in this era were mostly
in a free grth status. There were very few planning efforts in the urban development
process.

While high-rise modern buildings, busy commercial streets and stylish single-family
homes presented a prosperous view of the city, large amount of low- and moderate-
income working class people were living in very high-density neighborhood. In South
China, it was in the form of lanes and alleys, which derived from prototype of three-side-
enclosed courtyard. In North China, it was compounds, which were a series of four-side-
enclosed courtyard shared by dozens of families.

Because of the Second World War (the War of Resistance Against Japan, 1937 to
1945) and the Third Chinese Civil war (1945-1949), urban development and economic
activities were severely curtailed. In the three decades after China was taken over by the
Chinese Communist Party in 1949, political issues imposed super significance over any
social-economic activities. Therefore there were relatively very few architectural and
urban developments taking place from early 19508 to late 19705. Most of the buildings
built in this period were mid-rise concrete boxes, with no amenities.

56

     

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Figure 4—47: Residential neighborhood built in 19603 and 19703
Source: Treiser, Chinese Architecture, Urban Planning, and Landscape design (Gainesville:
University of Florida, 1987), p53.

In 19805, the post-Mao administration began focus on preservation of Chinese
traditional architecture and urban environment. It also began a rehabilitation and
revitalization of traditional Chinese culture, which was almost completely destroyed in
Mainland China during the so-called Cultural Revolution in the19605 and 19705.

Recognizing the preciousness of the historic heritage, major historic cities started
imposing strict protection on traditional architecture and neighborhoods. In some cities,
wrecked historic sites were rebuilt to imitate the ancient traditional townscapes in order
to cherish tradition and attract visitors (Figure 4-48 and 4-49).

57

 

Figure 4-48: Confucius Temple and the Market, Nanjing, J iangSu Provice, rebuilt in late 19803
Source: http://www.nj.ac.cn

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Figtne 4-49: YuYuan Historic Commercial District, ShangHai
Somce: Information Office of Shanghai Municipality, Shanghai Today (Shanghai: China
Intercontinental Press, 2000).

The 19903 was an era of rapid economic growth in Mainland China. Very large scale
developments happened in almost all the urban areas of the country. Great business
opportunities attracted large amount of domestic and oversea investors. Many
international real estate developers, design and consulting firms were involved in the
development of new districts and new towns, reinforcing the contemporary and
postmodernism images of the flourishing Chinese cities.

58

 

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Aiming at building an urban environment to facilitate economic development and
encourage commercial activities, architects and urban designers in China concentrated
more efforts on environmental designs for commercial streetscapes and residential
neighborhoods. Size, amount and codes are no longer the only requirements for the new
development. Style, scale, urban context, decorative details, lighting, transitional spaces,
open space, and street furniture are now all indispensable considerations in urban
environment. Designers and developers are now trying to create places with culture and
amenities.

 

Figure 4-50: Modern Architecture in China: The site of the Chinese Export Commodities Fairs,
Guangzhou, late 19805
The spring (in April) and autumn (in October) fairs have been bonding in Guangzhou since 1957. In
1974, it became a fair site. The 1mique and large-scale fairs enjoy a high reputation in the world.
Source: WW

 

Figure 4-51: Modern Architecture in China: Western Han Nanyue King Tomb Museum, Gangzhou,
1990’s

59

 

 

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Discovered in 1983, the Nanyue King Tomb, which dates back to 2,000 years ago, is the earliest large-
scale painted stone-chamber tomb ever found in south of the Five Ridges. Buried with the tomb owner
in jade shroud are a gold seal and many exquisite jade adornments. It has now become a famous

museum in the world.
Source: http://wwwggaggzhoucm ts.corn

 

Figure 4-52: The New Railway Terminal, Beijing, late 19905
Source: :// icture.21 0 ° '

Another noteworthy urban development concept in contemporary Chinese cities is
District Development. Different from the single-land-use district concept in western
planning ideas, district in China usually refers to large-scale mixed-use project that
inclusively has various kinds of residential, commercial, institutional, recreational, and

sometimes industrial development necessary to create a small size self-dependent
community.

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However, it is obvious that the new developments, neither in architectural style nor in
spatial pattern, reflect classical Chinese tradition. While contemporary Chinese cities
benefit from westernized economic development modes and the process of
modernization, Chinese architectural and spatial traditions are in danger of disappearing
from the new Chinese urban context. Except for some historic resorts spattered in the
shadows of skyscrapers, there is little evidence to identify well-developed cities such as
Shanghai, Guangzhou (Canton) and Shenzhen as Chinese. Because of the cost of urban
land, courtyard-style residential neighborhoods are no longer developed. Existing
traditional neighborhoods suffer from severely underdeveloped facilities and utilities,
and, most often, fi'om unendurable congestion. Cost of maintaining and improving these
neighborhoods as a livable urban residential area with traditional architectural style and
spatial character will be very high. It is not a surprise that these neighborhoods are
vanishing during the continuous urban renewal programs.

Compared with contemporary American urban areas, Chinese cities benefit greatly
fi'om their historic origins, mixed-use development strategies and the less automobile-
dominant transportation pattern. Unlike those American cities originating fi'om the
ghettos and sweatshops in early industrialization, most of Chinese cities emerged fi'om
residential settlement and market places, and brought along hundreds or even thousands
years of history. In China, living in cities means having higher social hierarchy, being
financially better off, and taking advantage of utilities that are more developed. The
popularity of cities encouraged various mixed-use developments that gradually became a
tradition. At the same time, smaller road capacity and less industrialized economy
resulted in less dependence on automobiles. It kept enough pedestrian flow on~the street,
which preserved an intimate urban environment and stimulates commercial and social
activities.

61

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a‘Jt‘t‘

Because of the unique social and cultural background in China, though facing many
problems in land use, density and circulation, cities are still the most desirable places for
residents and businesses. Population living in the city cores vitalizes urban life. Jobs and
public facilities are near by. Public transportation systems provide the convenient
commuting. Streets are pedestrian friendly, with commercial diversity satisfying various
consumers. Scale and atmosphere of the streets encourage human activities.

Reviewing the history and examining the present, we see the two striking
characteristics of the urban development in contemporary China: 1055 of traditional
Chinese architectural styles and spatial patterns, and successfulness of downtown
economic development. The conflict between historic preservation and economic
development is a common dilemma seen in the modernization process of historic cities
all over the world. In China, cultural heritage was sacrificed for politics and profit much
more than it should. Due to the absence of the First and Second Industrial Revolutions in
China, the modernism movement in China encountered more difficulties than in western
countries. On one hand, traditional building styles, urban structures and infrastructures
could not accommodate the needs of modern industrial society. The urgency of catching
up with other industrialized countries pressed the nation to speed up and rebuild cities
meeting the requirements for future development, even at a cost of losing tradition. On
the other hand, wars and political movements kept breaking the natural process of the
urban evolution; most of the time, cultural heritage, including traditional architecture,
was destroyed in order to demonstrate and consolidate the revolutionary social changes.

The result of recent changes in China is the massive and rapid disappearance of
traditional architectures and neighborhoods. The loss is irreversible. At the same time,
urban economy enjoys the advantages of modernization and is booming stunningly.

At the same time, on the other side of the world, Chinatowns are crouching in
dilapidated, congested, out-of-date neighborhoods that have no style and physical
attraction, struggling to visualize and keep their cultural identity, and trying to financially
benefit from their ethnic uniqueness.

62

 

Figure 4-55: Tianhe New District, Guangzhou, late 19903

Source: http://www.guangzhou.chinats.com

 

n c— - .
. a
d a

 

Figure 4-56: Pudong New Area, Shanghai, late 19905
The Pudong New Area was established in April 1990. It has a total area of 523 sq. km. It consists of 4
smaller key areas and has become a new hot spot for investment in China The Oriental Pearl is the
world's third tallest TV tower after the 553-metre CN Tower in Toronto and the 535-metre Moscow
TV tower. The 88-storey J inMao Building in Pudong is the tallest skyscraper in China and a soaring
monument to Shanghai's economic boom.
Source: Information Office of Shanghai Municipality, Shanghai Today (Shanghai: China
Intercontinental Press, 2000).

63

A Design Alternative for a Conceptual Neo-Traditional Chinatown

Through the historic documents on ancient Chinese cities, It appears that the imperial
capital cites in Ancient China were always planned for administrative, military, religious
and etiquette purposes, instead of organic. According to the canonical plan of capital in
historic document, the capital city must be planned to follow some strict rules, such as
north-south orientation, axiality, centrality, modulus and grids, intervals, hierarchy,
proportion, etc. Through hundreds of years in the feudalism age, the canonical model
barely changed. Capital cities of Han, Tang, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties were all to
some extent following these rules. The City of Beijing in Ming and Qing dynasty could
be regarded as a good example of the ideal capital, since it follows most of the rules
mentioned in the canonical plan, structurally and functionally. However, except for the
Forbidden City and its vicinity, the most part of the ideal capital city had gone along with
the process of modernization.

My idea of the conceptual neo-traditional Chinatown is to create a new town that
follows this canonical plan. This new Chinatown will have a spatial structure and land
use pattern that mirrors an imperial city. However, it will be far more than a copy of an
ancient capital - it is an ideal Chinese city reflecting greater Chinese culture and history
through its form and function. The following are some thoughts about this up-coming
“model” city.

1. It is a full-range presentation of Chinese architecture and a live model of Chinese
urban lifestyles.

2. It shows the diversity and variety of Chinese architecture, inclusively presenting the
Chinese styles of northern and southern, eastern and western, ancient and modern.

3. Various architectural and urban spatial styles will be located according to their
original geographic distribution. The major frame of the city’s spatial and functional
structure is from the canonical plan of the ideal capital city. The city will be in the
shape of a rectangle, oriented north-to-south. The grid system divides the city quad
into nine sections, with the cultural and civic center in the central section. Waters and
hills will be inserted to break the rigid grid system in residential neighborhoods;
helping generated organic urban fabrics that reflect regional features in different areas
of China. The northern part of the city will be more grid-like, while the southern part
will have some organic features representing non-capital cities. Design styles in each
section of the city will correspond to the style in each geographic area of China.
Smooth transition will be applied to keep the integrity of the entire urban style.

4. While every component of this city functions as a normal municipality, they are all
presentable as a showcase of Chinese urban life at the same time. All the commercial,
recreational and institutional land uses, and most of the residential and industrial land

64

uses will be open to tourists. Especially in residential areas, visitors will be able to
experience traditional Chinese urban spaces such as residential courtyards (siheyuan),
alleys (hutong), and residential quads (lifang), etc. Waterfront development will show
the unique commercial and recreational styles in ancient southern Chinese cities, such
as SuZhou and Shaoxing. '

5. Adding to the regular circulation systems for pedestrians and automobiles, this city
has two additional circulation routes that serve its residents and visitors respectively:
the fitness trails and the boating waterway. Fitness trails are mainly routed for
residents of the Chinatown, incorporating with the green open spaces in each
residential subdivision. The boating waterway is the third alternative route for the
leisure tour within this Chinatown, chaining major attractions together. Southern
cities such as SuZhou, YangZhou and NanJing were once very prosperous and
famous for their waterfront business and recreation area. In southern China, enjoying
market and recreational events while boating along the river was once a very popular
and delightful lifestyle of the middle class.

6. The image of the city will be identified very strongly as classic Chinese. Fairly large
amounts of symbolic and decorative elements will be used to visually stress its
Chinese style, such as city walls, watchtowers, Chinese gazebos, gateways and
archways, verandahs, Chinese gardens, etc. All of these elements will be assigned
with functions that fulfill the daily needs of contemporary urban life.

7. The plan of this city will also provide flexibility for its future expansion. It will be
alterable in both the spatial structure and the land use pattern.

5.1 Prototype for the proposed Chinatown — the Ancient Canonical Plan

The urban form and the symbolism of a conceptual capital city were systematized
around the Eastern Han period (206 BC. — 25 BC) Zhou Li (Record of the Rite of
Zhou) and especially its last section, KaoGongJi, gives an elaborately laid out and
detailed description of what purports to be the governmental and administrative structure
and organization of Royal Zhou. According to KaoGongJi, an idea capital city should be
constructed following the rules below:

5.1.1 Choice and Preparation of the Site

The ideal capital city should be at the center of the land. The officer measures the
sun’s shadow at the summer solstice to determine the center of the earth. This is the place
“where earth and sky meet, where the four seasons merge, where wind and rain are
gathered in, and where Yin and Yang are in harmony. Therefore the myriad things are at
peace. Thus it is here that the royal capital to be built.” '3 It makes the royal capital the
focal point of the cosmos.

The king establishes the capital of his state, “discerns the directions of the four
quarters, and puts right the proper positions (of the Royal Palace and the Ancestral Hall);
he gives to the city its principle layout and to the fields their proper divisions; he devises

 

‘3 Wright, The Cosmology of the Chinese City (1977), p 47.

65

the offices and apportions their positions; so that the center is established to which the
people turns.”14

5.1.2 Cardinal orientation

As noticed in early research, the prominent feature that “the ideal Chinese city shared
with a majority of the great capitals of Asia were cardinal orientation, cardinal axiality,
and a more or less square perimeter delimited by a massive wall.” '5 It is of a significant
importance that the main processional axis running from south to north, coming from
ancient Chinese astronomic and biologic theories. It was believed that the North Pole
corresponded to the position of the emperor on earth, around whom the vast bureaucratic
state system revolved. The emperor, also the Son of the Heaven, throned facing south
corresponding to the pole star, which watched over southerly the world of men at the axis
of the universe. He was therefore empowered to govern the men’s world drawing
assistance of the power from the cosmic center, and all the people on earth “face the
north to acknowledge their allegiance as his subjects.”16

5.1.3 City Layout
In KaoGongJi, the idea layout of the city is summarized as follows:
“The artificers, as they built the capital, demarcated it as a square with sides of nine li
(Chinese miles), each side having three gateways. Within the capital there were nine

meridional and nine latitudinal avenues, each of the former being nine chariot tracks
wide.”

 

:4"

Figure 5-1: Canonical Plan of the royal Zhou capital (Wangcheng) in the Sanli tu jizhu (juan 4.3b),
produced in the mid-tenth century.
Source: Xu, The Chinese City in Space and Time (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000), p 34.

 

‘4 lbid.

‘5 Xu, The Chinese City in Space and Time (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000), p 33.

‘6 Ibid.

66

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Figure 5-2: Canonical plan of the royal Zhou capital in the Yongle dadian (juan 9561.4a-b), produced in
1408.
Source: Xu, The Chinese City in Space and Time (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000), p 35.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Figure 5-3: Canonical plan of the royal Zhou capital in the Kaogong ji tu (B, p.110) produced in
the second half of the eighteenth century.
Source: Xu, The Chinese City in Space and Time (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000), p
35.

67

These drawings show clearly the concept of the ideal layout. ”The city was
subdivided into nine units, with the royal palace in the center, as a microcosm embedded
in a concentric system, from the Chinese empire up to the scale of the whole world, on
the pivot of which resided the Son of the Heaven.”I

Grid subdivision principles came from the old well-field system of the early
agricultural community. Again, the layout of the grid system reflected metaphorically the
way the ancient Chinese perceive the world: the form of a gridded square indicated the
earth, the central location of the royal palace indicated the centralized power of the
emperor as the Son of the Heaven, and the concentric system indicated this power
radiated from the royal palace in all directions to the entire royal capital, and then to the
frontiers of the world.18

Noticeably there are some numbers used repetitively in the plan of the ideal royal
city. In ancient Chinese culture, the numbers three, nine and twelve have particular
meanings. “Three represents the three sectors of the intelligible universe (heaven, earth
and man); nine symbolizes the ancient Chinese world (the nine provinces as established
by the Emperor Yu); and twelve is the number of months in a year.”19 Three also means
affluent and multiple, while nine is typically used as a symbol of supreme or utmost. The
application of these magical numbers in this plan sets up a hierarchy system with
harmony and order.

5.1.4 Characteristics of principal structures

After defining the spatial structure and hierarchy system of the ideal capital,
KaoGongJi further addressed the placement of different land uses to the royal palace. The
Ancestral Hall shall be on the left, that is, the east, and the Altar to the God of the Earth
[(the Altar to the State)] on the right, or the west. And then, “in the front (i.e., the south)
is the Imperial Court, while at the back (i.e., the north) lies the market.”20

Ancestor worship dominated the traditional Chinese culture since “the earliest known
time of Chinese civilization.” The position of the ancestor hall had become a crucial
criterion of the appropriate layout for a city or a settlement. The Altar to the God of the
Earth [(the Altar to the State)], with the soils of five colors symbolizing the territories in
the five directions (four quarters and center), functioned as another foci of the state’s
affairs. It was the place where annual rite of sacrifice served to “show reverence to the
heaven and to be on intimate terms with the Earth, and is to teach the people to remain in
gratitude.”21

 

‘7 Xu., The Chinese City in Space and Time (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000), p 35.
‘8 Ibid, p 35 — 36.

‘9 Ibid, p 36.

2° Ibid, p 36.

2' Ibid, p 37.

68

located at the rear part of the city, the market place was regarded as the least honor in

Chinese tradition. It had been highly supervised and controlled by government until the
mid of Tang Dynasty.

5.2 Spatial and Functional Structure of the Proposed Chinatown

An examination of historic Chinese cities demonstrates the significant influence of
the canonical capital city portrayed in KaoGong Ji, Zhou Li. Cities, northern or southern,
capital or local, planned or organic, all more or less show the basic principles for
composing a city: the axial spatial sequences, concentric core serials, longitudinal and
latitudinal traffic arteries, grid and network patterns for subdivisions, hierarchy system of
functional structures, etc. Since there was no radical change in social structure during the
entire feudal era of China, capital cities, which were the functional expressions of social
and economic configuration of the concurrent historic period, remain very similar in
form. The minor topological transfiguration of urban structures of capital cities was, in
most situations, initiated by the topographic character of the locality. Most of the ancient
capital cities in Northern China were located on the North China Plain, which allowed the
plan of the cities to follow the canonical model and its rectangular form. Jiankang
(Nanjing) in East Jin Dynasty (Figure 5-4), City of Chang’An in Tang Dynasty (Figure 4-
9), Dongjing in Song Dynasty (Figure 5-5), and Beijing in Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasty
(Figure 4-1) were all apparent examples.

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Source: The Committee, History of Chinese Architecture (Beijing: Press of Chinese Construction Industry,
1986). P 42.

69

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Source: The Committee, History of Chinese Architecture (Beijing: Press of Chinese Construction Industry,
1986). P 48

On the contrary, while the imperial capital was considered the center of the cosmos,
regional and local cities, no matter how high the administration level, were all considered
the world of the populace and treated differently. The cosmolo 'cal implication in the
canonical capital plan doesn’t apply to these ordinary cities.2 Cooperating with the
variety of geographic conditions, freedom from the rigid rules brought regional and local
cities a great diversity in spatial and functional arrangements.

The physical growth of a non-capital city is more organic than planned, and normally
based on the existing structural frame. Transformation of socioeconomic role of a city in
its region determines the transformation of the spatial and functional structure of the city.
Natural landscape also greatly influenced the layout of a city. Because of the hilly
topography and higher density wetlands, cities in Southern China were normally shaped
to incorporate with the landform. Evidences can be seen in cities such as Shaoxing and
Chongqing in Qing Dynasty (Figure 5-6 and 5-7).

 

22 Xu. The Chinese City in Space and Time. 2000. p. 66.

70

 

  

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Figure 5-6: Organic Spatial Structure of Local Cities: City of ShaoXing (Zhejiang Province) in Qing
Dynasty
Source: Xu, The Chinese City in Space and Time (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000), p 63.

71

 

 

 

 

 

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Figure 5-7: Organic Spatial Structure of Local Cities: Chongqing (Sichuan Province) in Qing Dynasty
Source: The Committee, History of Chinese Architecture (Beijing: Press of Chinese Construction Industry,
1986). P 55.

Remarked as “an unparalleled masterpiece of city planning,”23 the city of Beijing is
the best existing model of the ancient Chinese capitals. The frame of spatial and
functional structures is well preserved, clearly showing the original design of the city as a
grand capital following the Canonical Plan. It is an integrate system, with strong
geometric interrelationship organizing all spatial elements and functional uses together.
Its 4.9-mile-long north-south central axis, 0.6 miles by 0.5 miles Forbidden City as the
central core, 1.6 miles by 1.7 miles Imperial City, 4.2 miles by 3.3 miles Inner City and
4.9 miles by 1.9 miles Outer City as southern expansion, establish an imposing three-
dimensional image of a great ancient capital. The series of concentric rectangles, the
overwhelming Central Axis processing from south to north, the symmetric layout of
entire city, the longitudinal-latitudinal road system, layers of great city walls, the grand
gateways and the watch towers, the majestic palaces and plazas, the huge and picturesque

 

23 Wu, 1999, p 7.

72

royal gardens, -- all of these make this city an unsurpassable demonstration of classic
Chinese capital planning art.

 

       
  
 
  
 

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Figure 5-8: Evolution of Beijing’s site since the twelfth century:
Zhongdu in the Jin Dynasty, Dadu in the Yuan Dynasty, and Beijing in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Source: Wu, Rehabilitating the Old City of Beijing (Vancouver: UBC Press, 1999), p 7.

73

 

Figure 5-9: the Physical Form and Urban Structure of Beijing
“Beijing is a planned entity Therefore we must first of all realize the value of the wonderful
structure which gives the city its intrinsic character. The system of architecture in Beijing as a whole could
be the most intact, the most extraordinary, and most precious piece of art that still retains its vitality in the
tradition [of planning classical Chinese capital cities]. This would be the pint of departure in any attempt to
understand the city.”
Source: Liang, Beijing - an Unparalleled Masterpiece of Urban Planning (Beijing: Press of Chinese
Construction Industry, 1987), p 55.

Besides the spatial plan, major functional uses of this capital city were also arranged
according to the rules in Zhou Li. The Emperor’s palaces are located in the fenced central
core (Forbidden City). South of the central core, on the east there is the Ancestor’s Hall,
on the west the Altar to the God of the Earth (the Altar to the State). In front of the
Imperial City, there are major governmental departments. Because of the increasing
significance of commerce in feudal socioeconomic life, market places expand from north
of the Imperial City to all the peripheral areas surrounding it.

In addition to the canonical plan, out of the City Wall there are four (temples) on four
sides of Beijing: the temple of Heaven on the south, the temple of Earth on the north, the
temple of the Sun on the east, and the temple of the Moon on the west. The Drum Tower
and Bell Tower are located on the northern section of the central axis, outside the

Imperial City.

74

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Figure 5-10: Spatial Structure and Land Use Analysis: City of Beijing in Ming and Qing Dynasty
Reproduced from: The Committee, History of Chinese Architecture (Beijing: Press of Chinese Construction
Industry, 1986), p 51.

Not only the main structure, but also the urban fabric of the historic Beijing is
delicately woven according to a certain order. Professor Wu’s research shows the

75

hierarchy of urban spaces in the Old City of Beijing (Figure 5-11).24 The Order
consistently exists in the city as a whole, and then branches down to the street blocks, the
neighborhoods, the lanes and alleys (HuTong), the courtyard compounds, the buildings,
and then the rooms. The spatial sequences, while approaching private places
(destinations) from public places (major streets), are mostly in a fish-bone-like structure,
the spaces dominated by these places are series of rectangles. Places with the higher
hierarchy are located on the central places and control larger area of surrounding spaces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 5-11: The hierarchy of urban spaces in the Old City of Beijing
Source: Wu, Rehabilitating the Old City of Beijing (Vancouver: UBC Press, 1999), p 75.

 

7" Wu. Rehabilitating the Old City of Beijing. 1999. p 74-75.

76

Rooted deeply in ancient Chinese culture, the style of courtyard compounds spreads
all over the country and becomes Chinese vernacular architecture. A closer observation
on these urban space units shows that the prototype of courtyard houses was extendedly
adapted to a great variety of uses in the city, from residential to governmental, religious,
and commercial (Figure 4-32) .25 The application of processional central axis, symmetry,
high level of enclosure, and sense of sequence and hierarchy can be found in the
construction of various urban spaces. Noticeably, in courtyard compounds, equal
emphasis is given to buildings and spaces enclosed by these buildings. This is consistent
with the Chinese Buddhist philosophy that “the void is the mass, the mass is the void,”
which in architecture demonstrates the complimentary relationship between space and
entity.

However, though the historic Beijing is considered the best model of a classic
Chinese capital city, after years of wars and modernization in last two centuries it lost
many of its valuable assets. Except for the Forbidden City and the Imperial City, today in
most areas of the city its traditional characteristics have partially or completely
disappeared, such as city walls, classic architectures, lanes and alleys, courtyard
residential neighborhoods.

To treasure classic capital cities as the great heritage of Chinese culture, I suggest the
proposed neo-traditional Chinatown follow the spatial and land use pattern of the
canonical plan and the historic Beijing. Not only through the architectural features, but
also the entire urban structure, the Chinatown shall demonstrate the tradition and lifestyle
of a glorious Chinese city.

5.3 An Urban Design Alternative: Master Plan of the Conceptual Chinatown

Based on the above research on conditions and needs of Chinatowns, and the spatial
and architectural character of classic Chinese cities, I developed a nee-traditional master
plan for a conceptual Chinatown.

As addressed before, the neo-traditional Chinatown is designed to follow the spatial
and functional structure of the canonical plan in KaoGongJi and the historic city of
Beijing.

5.3.1 Layout of the Proposed Neo-Traditional Chinatown

A neo—traditional Chinatown is a Chinatown in the form of tradition and
accommodating contemporary urban life. The canonical Plan of the royal Zhou capital
described in Zhou Li is an ideal template for establishing a city disseminating ancient
Chinese philosophies and cosmology. However, it is easy to find out that throughout all
of these the monarchism dominated every aspect of the social and economic activities,
and the right of common people were always put behind. The humble position of markets

 

25 Wu. Rehabilitating the Old City of Beijing. 1999. p 80-82.

77

and the obvious absence of open public spaces (parks, civic plaza etc) were all the
evidences of the ignorance of the right of common people.

To develop a conceptual design for a neo-traditional Chinatown, the spirit of
democracy, freedom and equality should be weaved into all the spaces and images as the
predominant design principles. This is a Chinese community where people are the
leading role of all the social and economic activities. Therefore, urban design for a
Chinatown is to create a series of stages for Chinese American people, presenting the
great Chinese heritage to the general American public.

Based on the canonical plan and the thoughts above, my design alternative for the
ideal conceptual Chinatown applies the spatial and land use structure shown below.

The city is in form of a square, and partitioned into nine divisions by four traffic
arteries: two longitudinal, two latitudinal. There are three gateways on each side of the
city, corresponded with the entrances to the center core area from the two traffic arteries
and one pedestrian main street on the axis. Of the nine divisions, the central core serves
as the civic center of the city, administratively, culturally, and economically. Commercial
corridors are in the four divisions along with the main pedestrian streets, and lead to the
very center of the city. The other four divisions located on the four corners of the city
square are residential dominated neighborhoods.

The nine sections are not evenly divided. Considering the proper ratio between land
dedicated to commercial use and that to residential use, divisions for the central civic
core and commercial corridors are smaller and narrower than the residential areas on the
four comers.

Nine gateways define the symbolic boundary of the entire area. However, the
geographic boundaries of the city stop at the alleys next to the four traffic arteries outside
of the gated square. The outside ring serves as mixed use development areas for housing
and light industries. On one hand, this layout brings about three concentric squares with
metaphoric meanings described in KaoGongJi, which have now converted to signify that
the continuation and prosperity of the Chinese culture and Chinese communities will
extend from the Central Kingdom (the Original meaning of the name of state of China) in
all the directions to the world. On the other hand, it prevents the inconsistency of
streetscape style caused by putting the geographic boundaries of two ethnic communities
on the centerline of major roads.

As portrayed in KaoGongJi, the processing axis starts from the south and heads to the
north. On the pivot the topography of the city going higher from the south to the north.
On the southern part of the pivot there are more water features, and on north part of it
there is a hill terminating the visual sequence and holding the positive spirit (Yang)
southwards to the city core.

Four primary gateways of the four pedestrian main streets on the south-north and
east-west axis are named after the four guardian spirits for four directions in Taoism:

78

Black Turtle Gate for the south, Red Bird Gate for the north, Green Dragon Gate for the
east, and White Tiger Gate for the west.

South of the center core, on the east there is the Ancestor’s Hall, and on the west the
Altar to the State. Outside the four major gateways there are the Temple of the Sun on
the east, the Temple of the Moon on the west, the temple of Heaven down the south, and
the Temple of Earth up the north.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 5-12: The conceptual plan of a neo-traditional Chinatown

79

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

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Figure 5-13: Land Use Planning for the Conceptual Chinatown

80

5.3.2 The Master Plan

This is a design for a neo-traditional Chinatown. The master plan visualizes an
example of a neo-traditional urban design approach, with classic Chinese architectural
styles and spatial characteristics reflecting Chinese spirit and land uses accommodating
contemporary urban life in Chinatowns.

This conceptual Chinatown is designed for about 12,000 residents, with a
development density of 50 persons per acre in average. The boundaries of this ethnic area
are set further beyond the traffic arteries encircling the major part of the community, in
order to keep the ethnic style streetscapes consistent. The major part of it, a 298-acre
square (3600 feet by 3600 feet), is the downtown area where major social and economic
activities take place. The core of the downtown is a 19-acre (900 feet by 900 feet) city
block accommodating the Culture and Business Center and other major public facilities.

81

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 5-14: Master Plan for the Conceptual Chinatown

5.3.3 Circulation and parking

Figure 5-15 shows the circulation systems of the proposed Chinatown. Major roads,
in longitudinal-latitudinal grids, defined the structural flame of this Chinatown. Major

82

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pedestrian streets are located on the north-south and east-west axes running through the
entire downtown quad. In all commercial and institutional areas as well as most of the
residential neighborhoods, vehicular circulation and pedestrian circulation are separated
systems. The main pedestrian streets on the two axes are paralleled with the major
thoroughfares nearby. At the intersections of the pedestrian axis and major roads,
vehicular traflfic flows underneath the street-level pedestrian decks. The boating loop,
accompanied with walkways, cross under the vehicular traffic through arch bridges.
Major fimctions are positioned between vehicular system and pedestrian system for
convenience of service loading and customers.

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Figure 5-15: Circulation System of the Conceptual Chinatown

Four traflic arteries bonding the downtown quad are four-lane two-way drives. Four
major thoroughfares passing through the downtown quad are two-lane two-way drives.
All these major roads have additional space for parallel parking, in order to slow down
the traffic and encourage street activities. Sidewalks are 15 feet minimum in width, and
the pedestrian boulevards on axes are 45~60 feet in width. Canopy trees are planted along
the streets, and all sidewalks are landscaped with planting and decorative elements. In

83

major conjunctions, roads are paved with bricks or tiles to emphasize pedestrian’s
priority.

Parallel parking, bay parking and deck parking are combined together to serve the
community and its visitors. Major parking decks located at the four great gateways are
for general visitors; those at four corners of the downtown quad are for the 'residential
neighborhoods; those in the central quad are for the Culture and Business Center.
Considering the intensive customer flow, a few places allow bay parking. Bay parking is
not encouraged because of it negative impact on the quality of the urban environment.
The parking lots are located in the backyards enclosed by buildings to keep the continuity
of the streetscapes.

There are many transportation options in the downtown area. Care as well as
pedestrians have great access to all the places. Bus services run through the longitudinal
and latitudinal thoroughfares near the central core. Tourist motor-carts can be rented and
allowed running through all the pedestrian streets in commercial districts. Boating is
good for a scene- and fun-hunting tour.

Five fitness trails are available in the downtown quad. One is running along the
boating waterway, through all the tourist attractions. The other four are within the four
residential divisions respectively, cooperating with parks and neighborhood green spaces.

Variety and efficiency of the circulation systems will bring this proposed Chinatown
vitality. Not only convenience, but also excitements are interlaced into the tours,
attracting residents, businesses, and tourists. This lays down the base of a dynamic and
thriving local economy, and opens a window for the Chinese American community
towards the outside society.

5.3.4 Places and Sequences
(l). The central core

As described in the introduction, the Grand Plaza of the Culture and Business Center
is located at the center of the city on the intersection of the north-south axis and east-west
axis. Irnplicating the replacement of monarchy with civil right, this civic center quad now
occupies the central area, which was the official location for the imperial palace city
within the capital city.

As a core of the city’s social and economic life, the central quad is a place that
accommodates various activities for both the community and visitors. Irnitating the
concentric rectangular structure of ancient capitals, the central quad is a double-layer
courtyard, with governmental and institutional uses in the inner court, and commercial
uses in the outer layer. A grand building complex hosting the Culture Center and the City
Hall with exhibition, conference and performance facilities is placed on the south-north
axis, facing south and dominating the entire central plaza. It is at the spot that was used to

84

place the royal palace. At the east and west side of the grand complex there are two wing
buildings serving accessory functions, including receiving centers, offices, hotels, and
secondary conference rooms. On the southern part of the grand plaza, the Museum of
Chinese Art and History and the Library of Chinese Culture are located on two sides of
the main axis. The outer layer of this central quad serves as the business center of the
city, where major businesses and business organizations anchored. The Central Plaza is
designed in a monumental scale to uphold large public activities. It also provides a broad
prospect for the Grand Complex, complementing the supremacy of the entire central core.

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1. THE CULTURE CENTER COWLH

2. THE AERIDIAN GATE

3. THE CHINESE LIBRARY

4.THE WSEUM OF CHINESE CULTURE

Figure 5-16: Plan Detail of the Central Plaza

85

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Traditional architectural features are applied in this area as in the entire Chinatown.
To emphasize the central and dominant position, buildings in this area are endowed with
highest hierarchy in both form and scale. More like gate towers than palaces, they are
three- to six-story structures with giant golden roofs and one or two-story stone terraces.
The reason of choosing a gate tower template for major public architectures is to utilize
the multi-story structure for contemporary urban programs. At the same time, the castle
style image can help creating a sublime manner for the center of the Chinese community.
The giant roofs, the building walls with exposed structural frame, and the terraces in form
of a city wall with battlements serve as a strong symbolic implication of a classic
imperial city, while the entire place is physically open, full of civic spirit, and allows free
flow of pedestrians. The lower floors that take forms of city walls can also serve as long-
term parking ramps for the central area.

The plaza is paved with tiles and patterns that reflect Chinese tradition. The canal
flows through the north part of the plaza, with five small stone bridges leading to the
main entrance of the Grand Complex, which is mirroring the scene of the entry plaza of
the Imperial City in Beijing. Two decorative columns are lined symmetrically in front of
the building. A celebration platform is placed at the geometric center of the plaza, with a
great bronze incense burner burning all year around. Trees and flowerbeds are delicately
planted in order to bring natural elements to the place without disturbing pedestrian
flows. Decorative elements such as Chinese style sculptures, archways, reliefs are
situated wherever detailed visual attractions are needed. Street furniture such as benches
and lights are located around the rim of the plaza and in the commercial strips for
pedestrian comfort.

The second floor of all the buildings in the central quad is connected by climate-
controlled skywalks in Chinese colonnade style. Not only will they provide a higher level
of visual integrity and enclosure, these connections will also greatly increase the
pedestrian flow for the businesses on the second floors. The walking tour through these
connected walkways around the central quad is also a pleasant and explorative
experience, especially the sequential change of birds’ eye level viewpoints.

(2). The pedestrian boulevards

Following the plan of the canonical capital city, the main processional axis is from
the south heading to the north. It is a pedestrian boulevard, starting with the major
gateway on the south, passing through the major business corridor, then the altar and the
temple, then arriving at the business and culture plaza, which is the center of the city.
Heading further north, the sequence continues to experience the memorial water palace
and the office park, the scenic hill, the health care center and day care center, and then
ends at the northern gateway of the downtown quad.

Being less important and less processional, the east-west axis of the city was laid out
symmetrically on each side of the north-south axis. Similar to the main pivot, it is the
tree-lined pedestrian commercial corridor starting with the east and west gateways and
leading to the central plaza.

86

The major pedestrian walkways on the axis are all started from the parking decks at
four gateways leading to the central core. Applying the city wall and watch tower image
of the ancient capital cities, the lower levels of the gateway buildings in the form of stone
battlement are used as parking decks serving shoppers and tourists, and the upper parts of
them in the form of classic Chinese buildings are used as multifamily housing. Similar
structures are also applied on the four comers of the downtown quad, to create an
integrated spatial structure as an enclosed city with city walls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Figure 5-17: Axial Sequences on the Pedestrian Boulevards
A. The Gate of Black Turtle; B. The Gate of Red Bird; C. The Gate of Green Dragon; D. The Gate of
White Tiger

Longitudinal Sequence: 1. The Temple of Heaven; 2. The parking decks on the southern gate; 3. The
wholesale markets; 4. The Food Market; 5. The Antique Market and Teahouse; 6. The Altar to the State; 7.
The Ancestor’s Hall; 8. The Meridian Gate; 9. The Grant Plaza; 10. The Cultural Center Complex; 11. The

Water Palace; 12. The Scenic Hill; 13. Heath Care Center; 14. Day Care Center; 15. The parking decks on
the northern gate; 16. The Temple of Earth.

Latitudinal Sequence: 17. The East Market Plaza; 18. The parking decks on the eastern gate; 19. The

Temple of the Sun; 20. The West Market Plaza; 21. The parking decks on the western gate; 21. The Temple
of the Moon.

87

The boating route, with pedestrian walkways accompanying aside, is a loop for
leisure and recreation. It chains various attractions including Chinese style boating docks,
waterfront markets and recreation centers, major commercial corridors, Chinese Gardens,
demonstrative Chinese residential neighborhoods, the memorial water palace, and the
central civic plaza. It creates a circular spatial sequence that may begin and end at any
point on the loop. Curvilinear in form and intersectant with the axial sequences, this loop
offers an experience in a series of spaces with rhythmic changes in scales, enclosure,
characteristics and functions. In season of the Dragon Boat Festival, the waterway and
the lakes attached will be an ideal place for upholding boat racing and other aquatic
events.

Complementing with each other, the axial and circular sequences bring diversity to
the city’s spatial structure and maximize the exploitation of the city as a tourist resource.

 

 

 

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Figure 5-18: The Circular Sequence on the Loop ofBoating Waterway
TheGateofBlackTurtle;B.TheGateofRedBird; C. TheGateofGreenDragon;D.TheGateofWhite
Tiger
1. The Boarding Center; 2. The Antique Market and the Teahouse; 3. The Waterfront Residential
Neighborhood; 4. The Tourist Hotel in southern style; 5. Elementary School; 6. The Buddhist Temple; 7.

88

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The East Market Plaza; 8. The Tourist Hotel in northern style; 9. Courtyard Residential Neighborhood in
Lanes and Alleys; 10. The Water Palace; 11. The Cultural Center Complex; 12. The Grand Plaza; 13. The
Meridian Gate; 14. The Scenic Hill; 15. Northern Style Housing Demonstration; 16. The North Lake; 17.
High School; 18. The West Market Plaza; 19. The South Lake; 20. The Chinese Garden; 21. the Wholesale
Market; 22. Southern Style Housing Demonstration; 23. The Food Market.

Inside the southern gateway, which is the starting point of the processional axis,
adjacent to the parking decks are the wholesale markets. This location has easy access for
both pedestrians from the meridian boulevard and automobiles from three major
thoroughfares. A mix of deck parking, surface parking and parallel parking provides a
great convenience to the wholesale customers. Surface parking lots are accessible from
the major thoroughfares, enclosed by building complexes in order to preserve the
continuity of the streetscape for both pedestrian and vehicular routes.

North of the wholesale markets, the canal with boating route crosses the meridian
boulevard, with a landscaped green buffer area and the boarding center on the southern
bank, and one of the many boating docks on the northern bank. Across the arch bridge, a
decorative archway symbolizes the secondary entrance to the meridian commercial
corridor. On the east side there are the Chinese antique market and the teahouse, with
colonnades open to the waterfront. On the west side there is the Chinese gourmet market,
with Chinese restaurants of various local delicacies from different regions of China.
Spatial patterns of this area encourage the free flow of pedestrians through out the
corridors and courtyards defined by the commercial buildings. To solve the conflict
between pedestrian environment and vehicular accessibility, surface parking is handled in
the same way as in the wholesale district.

The meridian commercial corridor continues heading north, across a latitudinal
pedestrian street, and comes to the religious-commercial district. The Altar to the State is
on the west, and the Ancestors’ Hall on the east. Because of the processional requirement
of religious places, the entrances of the altar and the temple are all on the latitudinal
street, facing to the south. Along the meridian boulevard, there are folk custom and
religion related businesses on both sides.

The commercial corridor then ends at a large receiving plaza in front of the Meridian
Gate, the gateway to the Culture and Business Center. The plaza is incorporated with a
grand pedestrian deck over passing a latitudinal thoroughfare. The Meridian Gate is an
imitation of the gate of the same name in the Old City of Beijing, a U—shape building with
monumental scale and superior dignity. It terminates this section of the main axis with a
strong statement, both spatially and visually. To bring variety and interest, the bell tower
and the drum tower are placed on the comers of the giant platform, instead of the two
watchtowers.

89

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Figure 5-19: The Meridian Boulevard Commercial Corridor
1. The Temple of Heaven; 2. The Gate of Black Turtle; 3. The Wholesale Market; 4. The Boat Boarding Center; 5.
The Archway; 6. The Food Market; 7. The Antique Market and Teahouse; 8. The Altar to the State; 9. The
Ancestor’s Hall; 10. The Pedestrian Deck and Receiving Plaza of Meridian Gate; 1 1. The Meridian Gate; 12. The
Grant Plaza.

90

 

Figure 5-20: The Meridian Gate, the Old City of Beijing
Source: Chinese Academy of Architecture, Classic Chinese Architecture (Hong Kong, Joint Publishing
Co., 1986), p 138.

Crossing through the Grand Plaza in the central quad, which is the climax of the
south-to-north sequence, the axis then leads further north to the memorial water palace on
the next city block via another pedestrian deck. The water palace is a grand memorial
pavilion at the center of a 250-foot-diameter round-shape water body. Four narrow paths
on four directions bridge the pavilion with the pedestrian spaces surrounding the water.
Stone tablets with inscriptions are placed in the grand pavilion, in memory of the great
achievement of the traditional Chinese culture. Not only serving the memorial purposes,
this place can also be used for celebration of various events, such as weddings and
commencements. The entire place is in the shape of a square, concentric with the round
water body and enclosed by the two-story buildings of official or institutional uses. Fairly
large amounts of trees are planted surrounding this area to help create a serene
atmosphere. For the same reason, the boating loop detours to avoid disturbing the round

water body.

91

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Figure 5-21: The Northern Section of the Pivot
1. The Grand Plaza; 2. The Cultural Center Complex; 3. The Water Palace; 4. The Scenic Hill; 5. The
Health Care Center; 6. The Day Care Center; 7. The Gate of Red Bird; 8. The Temple of Earth.

92

The scenic hill is located north of the square of water palace. The hilltop, with a small
sightseeing gazebo, is positioned on the main axis and designed as the highest point of
the entire city. Two straight step ways on the main axis lead to the hilltop from the
southern and northern base, and two winding hiking trails from the east and west sides.
The presence of the hill fulfills FengShui requirements for the city structure, and the
gazebo on the hilltop provides a perfect viewpoint for the perspective of the entire city,
especially the spatial sequence on the main axis. Groves, lawns, trails and resting shelters
congregate the place as a leisure and recreational attraction as well.

North of the hill, on the west side of the axis there is the neighborhood health care
center, carrying both western and Chinese treatments. On the east side there is the day
care center. Both of the two institutions apply building form of courtyard compounds, in
which enclosed spaces can be available for safe outdoor activities. Main entrances are
located on the southern side facing the small hill, and service entrances are on the
northern side facing the parking decks of the northern gateway, which is the northern end
of this pedestrian axis in the downtown area.

As the processional sequence on the pivot, this spatial series absorbs the essences
from the structural and functional patterns of both the canonical plan and the Old City of
Beijing. The sequence starts from the general market places inside the southern gate,
leads to the climax at culture-dominated city core through a smooth transition, then heads
further north to institutional and recreational uses, and finally ends at the northern side of
the highest point. The design has further enhanced the place’s quality and capacity for
contemporary urban life and tourist attraction.

The spatial sequences on the east-west axis are relatively straightforward. In the
sections closer to the major gateways, simple linear spaces are applied for strip malls,
with multifamily housing courtyards inside the blocks. In the sections closer to the civic
center, series of courtyards are applied to obtain expanded spaces for commercial or
residential activities. On the east side of the civic center, dual courtyards are used for
commercial spaces to accomplish the separation and cooperation between pedestrian flow
and parking. On the west side of the civic center, multifamily housing courtyards are
woven into the downtown commercial spaces, encouraging downtown residents to
participate in urban economic activities and providing visual access to the traditional
housing patterns from the spatial sequence. At the intersections with the waterway,
boating docks are positioned for the convenience of altering the ways and routes of
circulation, and images of broad decorative bridges are used to vary and continue the
pedestrian boulevards.

(3) The boating loop

Accompanied with waterfront walkways, the sequence on the boating loop offers
visitors an opportunity to explore this Chinatown in full-range. The tour can be started
from any of the boating docks; here as an example, the tour starts with the boarding
center and heads counterclockwise. The boarding center is adjacent to the Meridian
Boulevard, a commercial corridor with various Chinese businesses and traditional

93

activities. The strong visual axis passing through the giant archway of the Meridian Gate
and terminated by the Grand Complex of the central quad, the clusters of various
buildings and spaces in Chinese styles, and the semi-open winding colonnades at the
waterfront with people enjoying tea and sightseeing — these are all images of a thriving
downtown in a traditional Chinese community. Following the loop and moving towards
the east, the waterway crosses underneath the major traffic through a Chinese-style arch
bridge. Entering the residence-dominated blocks on the southeast division of the town, a
hotel of southern Chinese garden style and the Buddhist temple are on the left bank. On
the right bank, there are the waterfront residential neighborhoods and an elementary
school, all in traditional Southeast Chinese style. A boating dock with shelter is placed at
the intersection of the waterway and the pedestrian alley between the temple and the
hotel. The waterway then makes a turn and heads north to the commercial corridor on the
east-west axis, crossing underneath another major thoroughfare.

Being in the business district again, on both banks of the waterway are retail
businesses, with multifamily housing on the upper stories of the buildings. The three to
four-story continuous streetscape following along the canal accentuates the narrowness
and curviness of the waterway space. Again at the conjunction with the east-west main
pedestrian boulevard, the boating dock is located to provide convenience and add special
features to the place. This is also a point to pause the meandering tour and join the crowd
heading straight to the grand Central Plaza.

Heading further north, the waterway enters the northeast residential division of the
town and makes another left turn at the southwest corner of the division. In this division,
courtyard styles of Northern China are applied to all the buildings, including the tourist
hotel located on the comer left of the waterway, and an elementary school in the
residential neighborhoods.

Crossing another major thoroughfare, the waterway then enters the memorial water
palace’s city block from the east. After the office complexes on the edge of the block, the
waterway turns down to the south, heading to the grand Central Plaza and leaves the
round water body of the palace undisturbed. Passengers can disembark here and walk into
the serenity between lines of canopy trees, with the splendid pavilion amidst vast water in

sight.

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Figure: 5-22. The Water Palace

The waterway comes into the grand Central Plaza through the alley between the
Grand Complex and its east wing. This is a slim linear space with no pedestrian
walkways coming along; the immediate edges of the canal are steep walls of the giant
terraces of the two buildings. However, instead of bringing about suppression through the
non-human scale, this section of the waterway is designed exclusively for the boating
tourists to enjoy a monumental exhibiting space with reliefs, sculptures and inscriptions
on the stone walls. All these artworks are of Chinese folk art style, delineating major
legends and events in Chinese history. The waterway then flows into the northern part of
the grand Central Plaza from the east side, crossing five decorative stone arch bridges in
front of the Grand Complex. Then it makes another turn on the west side of the plaza,
heading back northwards through the alley on the west wing. As other parts of the central
quad, the waterway within this area is also laid out symmetrically. The memorial wall
along the banks on the east side is mirrored to the west side, with different contents but
the same style.

Back to the west wing of the memorial water plaza, the boating tour gives passengers
one more chance to review the broad and peaceful scene of the area. The waterway then

95

turns left towards the west, crossing a major thoroughfare, and entering the northwest
division of the downtown area. Also residence-dominated, this is an urban division
mainly planned for middle- and upper-income residents. Its southeast corner, which the
waterway flows through, is a designated tourist zone for demonstrative Chinese housing.
Various housing styles of Northwest China are demonstrated here, with introductions of
the traditions and customs of the regions they originated from. Real families can live in
the upper floors of these houses, taking care of the small businesses on the ground floor
and in the courtyards. The west part of the division is a single-family residential
neighborhood, applying larger courtyard houses with lower density. The northeast corner
of the division is a 15.5-acre (750 feet by 900 feet) park, with a 2-acre (90000 sq. ft) lake
connected to the boating waterway. The existence of the park ensures this neighborhood a
high quality environment for residence, and provides a large green open space for
residents of the entire city.

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Figure 5-23: Diversity of Chinese Housing Styles
Source: Liu, A Brief History of Chinese Residential Architecture (Beijing: Press of Chinese Construction
Industry, 1990), p 206

The boating route continues, turns back to the south and then again runs into the
commercial corridor on the east-west axis. The spatial and functional characteristics

96

along the waterway are similar to the eastern section of it within the commercial district.
Heading further south, the waterway enters the southwest division of the downtown,
joining in a scenic lake with a picturesque peninsula. This is a lake that serves both the
residents and the tourists, and is part of the boating route. 1.8 acres (80000 sq ft) in scale,
the lake allows not only fi'ee boating but also other water-related recreational activities.
The waterfront of this lake is developed in style of a Chinese royal garden, with a
Buddhist tower on the island, a winding corridor along the lakeshore, several delicate
sightseeing gazebos, and a buoyant arch bridge. Willow trees dominate the entire
waterfront, with other landscaping elements such as rockeries, trails, groves, sculptures
and garden furniture, demonstrating the gracefulness of the royal gardens in North China.
On the east side of the lake there are the southern style Chinese Garden and a small block
demonstrating housing styles in Southwest China. The garden can be an imitation of
famous Chinese gardens in SuZhou, or a new design following traditional garden
construction rules. In either way, the form, materials and color schemes should all respect
the Chinese tradition. On the west side of the lake, there is another middle-class single-
family residential neighborhood. Similar to the one in the northwest division, courtyard
compounds are applied to reflect the tradition, and the scale, density and the street
patterns are modified to accommodate contemporary urban lifestyles.

 

Figure 5-24: Rockery Art in Liuyuan Garden, SuZhou
Source: Liu, Chinese Architecture (London: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 1989), p 208.

97

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Figure 5-25: Chinese garden in Portland
Source: Hall Christopher, “A Serene Garden in Portland Draw Crowds,” The New York Times, 17
December 2000, see. TR 3.

Flowing further east, the waterway leads back to the boarding center on the Meridian
Boulevard. A boating tour is complete, with a full-range display of various excitements
the Chinatown offers.

5.3.5 Residential Neighborhoods

The four residential divisions on the comers of the downtown quad, as mentioned
earlier, are residential neighborhoods where traditional courtyard compounds are
modified for Chinese American urban dwellers. Single-family housing is a more
traditional use of courtyard compounds. A courtyard compound was originally designed
to serve one family, though very often an extended one that might include three or four
generations of family members and their servants. Multifamily housing became an
adapted land use for courtyard compounds later because of the increasing demand for
urban land and the emergence of the urban working class. Professor Wu’s book had
shown some design options of multi-story courtyard compounds for apartments.

98

 

Figure 5-26: New courtyard house for modern urban life
Source: Wu, Rehabilitating the Old City of Beijing (Vancouver: UBC Press, 1999), p 135.

The most challenging part of redesigning traditional courtyard neighborhood for
American urban dwellers is to cooperate the traditional spatial patterns with the vehicular
circulation and parking requirements. In these neighborhoods, not only the courtyard
compounds, but also the lanes and alleys should be laid out with traditional
characteristics. In order to preserve the intimate scale, the sense of enclosure and the
peacefulness of these lanes and alleys, the vehicular circulation system is designed
paralleled to these narrow pedestrian pathways, to provide automobile access from the
other sides of the courtyard compounds (see figure 5-27). Parallel parking and surface
parking are highly restricted in these neighborhoods. Private parking garages are
accommodated in the ground floors of courtyard buildings, with direct access from
mobile roads. In some areas of single-family neighborhoods, garages may be located in a
distance to the housing courtyards, if the landscaping and pedestrian priority requires
doing this way. It is important that pedestrian circulation sustains continuity of the
walkways and their interfaces, and the interestingness and the safety of the walking
journey. Figure 5—28 shows a design intention to weave pedestrian walkway network
with small open spaces as nodes and marks. The network is in the form of traditional
lanes and alleys, and with the convenience of both pedestrian and vehicular movement.

99

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100

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 5-28: Street and Spatial patterns in the four residential neighborhoods: demonstrate the traditional
Chinese alleys, waterfronts, gardening, courtyard houses, and urban life styles.

5.3.6. Outer Layer of the City

The outer layer of the city, i.e. the peripheral area beyond the downtown quad defined
by the four great gateways, is area of residential and light industrial mixed-use
development. Traditional Chinese architectural forms are applied to the streetscape facing
the downtown quad, in order to maintain the consistency of styles on both sides of the
major thoroughfares. Architecture in this area should show the smooth transition from
the typical Chinese styles near the edge of the downtown quad to the general American
styles in blocks further away. Light industries provide job opportunities and retain the
variety of the local economy. Residential neighborhoods in this area are still more or less
applying Chinese features in architectural styles, but they are mostly individual buildings

101

instead of courtyard compounds. They provide Options to the Chinatown dwellers who
intend to live in western lifestyles.

5.3.7. Future expansion

The concentric square structure of the proposed Chinatown determines future expansion
of the city will be in a radial form. Major functions of the city, such as commercial
corridors, residential neighborhoods and tourist routes, can all be extended basing on the
spatial and functional structure of the present design. Axis can be extended to prolong the
commercial corridors, and then residential areas outside these corridors will expand
accordingly. A second tourist loop can be added if necessary.

102

VI. Conclusion: Merging Neo-Traditional Chinatown into the American Urban Context

Except for the special cultural and ethnic component it carries, Chinatown is just
another typical American downtown that faces various urban problems and needs
revitalization. General urban design and economic development strategies that suitable
for a typical downtown can also strongly enhance the physical, social, and economic
condition of a Chinatown.

Locality development, as one of the major components of downtown economic
development strategies, targets planning and development controls, townscape
improvement, household services and housing. These are important approaches leading to
the attractiveness of the location and higher quality of life for the Chinatown dwellers.

The following three major aspects frame up the locality development strategies.

First of all, land management and land deals are forming an important component of
any economic development program.

Secondly, livability is an extremely important component of economic development.
An attractive entrance and exit for a city shows the pride and community spirit of its
residents. Pleasant physical environment can help build local business, either by retaining
local spending or by attracting customers from outside the region.

The third is image management. It comes to be found increasingly important in the
face of regional competition for corporate location. It calls for the development of a
visual theme that:

1. Creates a sense of identity,

2. Improves the amenity base or livability of the community, and

3. Improves the attractiveness of the civic center in an effort to improve local
businesses.26

We see very clearly that urban design strategies directly serve the purpose of locality
development. Also, from American downtown development cases we get the same
experiences that well-developed commercial district design strategies based on local need
and circumstances will help attract population and encourage investment and business
anchor in the downtown area. These will all lead to the successfulness of economic
development.

 

26 Edward J Blakely, Planning Local Economic Development: Theory and Practice (California: Sage Publication,
1994), 155.

103

Urban design strategies emphasize the importance of the quality of the Chinatown’s
physical setting as a place. “Streets, sidewalks, buildings, and open spaces are the
primary components that shape downtown’s urban design character. ...Downtown can be
designed to encourage pedestrian movement, to provide for special activities, and to
promote social interaction. If these objectives are pursued, even if they are not perfectly
accomplished, downtown can become a more successful place for people and a more
attractive focus for investments in new development and renovation.”2

Besides the land uses, activities, and attractions, Chinatown’s character as a place
also plays an important role in its economic success. The appearance and perception of a
downtown, and the space uses and activities could “be integrated to create a smoothly
functioning whole [and] help determine whether people will chose downtown over other
locations and whether they will keep coming back to support an expanding range of
economic functions.” If the physical environment of Chinatown welcomes people and
promotes their enjoyment, it will serve as a catalyst for creating a multiple-use market
and sustain the market’s growth and vitality.28

With high uniqueness of physical and cultural appearance, a neo-traditional
Chinatown may still be viewed as an ethnic enclave that is isolated from the general
American society. The isolation problem might not be a problem that can be solved
solely by urban design or economic development strategies — for historic reasons, there
are Chinese Americans living their entire lives here and not being able to merge into the
American mainstream. However, urban design efforts can greatly help introduce the
Chinese culture and open the community to the general American public. America is a
multicultural society itself, and Chinese American culture is part of it, ever since the day
the first Chinese settled on this new continent. A tourism-oriented neo-traditional
Chinatown presenting Chinese lifestyle and cultural spirit will bring different cultures
closer to each other, improve mutual understanding, and help the dwellers in Chinatown
get fully involved in the social and economic activities of the community.

Physical communication bridges cultural communication and stimulates social-
economic interactions. To geographically build up the linkage to other adjacent
American cities, a Chinatown should locate near the downtown of a metropolitan
American city, have easy access from both downtown commercial core and suburban
middle-class neighborhoods, and be set in a multicultural environment.

Considering the social and economic relationship between American cities and the
Chinatown community, I would like to reiterate that a neo-traditional Chinatown is a
community with cultural and economic integrity, and an open system to the outside
world. It carries the traditional and contemporary Chinese culture in a vigorous and
legendary Chinese urban lifestyle. The meaning of a neo-traditional Chinatown, to
Chinese Americans is a spiritual homeland; to other Americans it is a window to the real
China.

 

Z Cyril B. Paumier, Designing the Successfill Downtown (Washinton D.C.: ULI, 1988), 47-48.
Ibid.

104

The implementation process of urban design strategies is crucial for the successful
downtown development. Implementation strategy with private and public cooperation
should recognize and capitalize on the following characteristics of a Chinatown:

o A strong financial, service, corporate head-quarters, and government center
that will continue as the dominant office center of the Chinatown;

o A stabilized or expanding retail function, restructured to meet changing
market demands generated by continued expansion of the employment base,
improved quality of the inner city markets, and an expanded visitor base;

0 A greater dependence on convention and conference marketing to support
hotels, entertainment facilities, and restaurants;

Improved transportation systems both into and within the Chinatown;

An increased demand for high quality housing;

An existing system of entertainment facilities, including sports centers,
theaters, museums, arts centers, and urban parks.29

 

29 Urban Land Institute, Downtown Development Handbook (Washington, D.C.:Urban Land Institute, 1980), 15.

105

APPENDIX I

CLASSIC CHINESE ARCHITECTURE: ROOF STYLES

 

Source: The Committee, History of Chinese Architecture (Beijing: Press of Chinese
Construction Industry, 1986), p157.

106

APPENDIX II

CLASSIC CHINESE ARCHITECTURE: BUILDING COMPLEXES

     
  
 

  

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Source: The Committee, History of Chinese Architecture (Beijing: Press of Chinese
Construction Industry, 1986), p158.

107

APPENDIX III

CLASSIC CHINESE ARCHITECTURE: COURTYARD COMPLEXES

      
     

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Source: The Committee, History of Chinese Architecture (Beijing: Press of Chinese
Construction Industry, 1986), p159.

108

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112

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113

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disparities: also increased between central cities and their suburbs. These contrasting
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marginalized. In some cities, these concerns often were articulated by African-American,
Latino, and blue-collar communities and their activist supporters. They led to new
development strategies designed to balance more equitably the costs and benefits of local
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114

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business district. In addition to site and locational considerations, the use and condition of
the building and type of tenant are included in the models. The predicted occupancy is
then used to analyze demand. The models are discussed in terms of price impacts,
economic influences, and the effects of competing markets. These models are applied to
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A healthy downtown is an essential element of the prosperity of most non-suburban
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land values, and the market shares of cars and transit. The three main features of the
model are: (1) agglomeration economies increase continuously with labor market size;
(2) congestion arises from auto use only; transit is noncongestible; and (3) locational
equilibrium is maintained in the sense that firms and individuals cannot reduce costs or
increase utility by moving, given equilibrium prices and city size. The author derives the
conditions under which parking taxes can be levied and used to subsidize transit and
increase equilibrium CBD size and land values. The authot computes an optimal parking
tax that maximizes CBD size and land values and derive relationships among parking

115

taxes, transit use, and congestion. The author finds nonmonotonic relationships among
parking taxes, land values, and transit use.

Wolshon and Wahl. “Novi's Main Street: Neotraditional neighborhood planning and
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16.

Recently, there has been interest in many suburban communities around the
United States to revive traditional styles of commercial and residential land development.
These neotraditional developments are characterized by a land use intensive style of
zoning in which densely spaced residential neighborhoods are integrated with
commercial areas. One of the primary objectives of these districts is to form self-
sufficient neighborhood communities. Although such land use is common in many large
urban areas and rural cities, this type of combined land use is rarely seen in suburban
communities. One effort to revive this traditional urban style of land development within
a suburban community is the Main Street project in the city of Novi, Mich. This paper
highlights some of the factors that impacted the planning and design process of the
project and how these factors and decisions influenced the final appearance and function
of Novi's neotraditional downtown district. The lessons learned from the Main Street
project can serve as a model for engineers and planners who may be contemplating the
implementation of similar projects in their own communities.

Zhang, Wb. “An Urban Pattern Dynamics with Capital and Knowledge Accumulation.”
Environment and Planning A 25 no.3 (1993): 357-370.

In this paper a dynamic model of urban pattern formation with endogenous
knowledge and capital accumulation is proposed. The Alonso model is extended to
include two of the most important dynamic forces for urban development-capital
accumulation and technological progress. The standard assumption of the existence of the
central business district (CBD) is still accepted in this approach. It is assumed that two
production sectors (industry and service) and one knowledge production sector (research
institutions and university) are located at the CBD. First, a compact framework for
analyzing dynamic interactions of the three sectors and urban pattern formation is
suggested. Then, the existence of stationary urban patterns is guaranteed and the stability
conditions provided. Last, the effects of changes in government's research policy and
some other parameters upon the system are examined.

116

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