Landscape planning for urban regeneration of historical and cultural district: Tanhualin in Wuhan, China

Abstract

With China's rapid economic development and continuously pushing forward the process of urbanization, the contradiction between its progressive civilization and the historical and cultural district of the city has become increasingly prominent. Excessive development has led to the monotony of the cities, which bring about a tendency of interest in the historical and cultural district regional characteristics. Consequently, China is achieving progress in regeneration of the historical and cultural district. Wuhan is the largest city in central China. It was formalised as a historical and cultural city officially announced by the State Council in February 1986. Tanhualin historical and cultural district was classed as one of the ten typical historical and cultural districts by Wuhan planning department in 2003. It is a part of the crucial areas that indicate the exchange between eastern and western culture of the modern Wuhan. Currently, protection and renewal projects related to Tanhualin historical and cultural district were put forward. However, these projects only focus on the surface, such as the restoration of buildings' surface, but lacks the holistic planning which can really reflect the historical and cultural characteristics of the district. Historical and cultural district, as a unique city image, reflects the history, culture and natural beauty of the city. However, the historic waterfront was occupied with new buildings and natural hills are occupied by illegal houses. The living culture and landscape are not regarded as an object of preservation. Therefore, its unique historical·cultural identity is gradually disappearing. In this paper, the objectives is to analyse the spatial features of Tanhualin district, to research on the historical and cultural background and environment, in addition to recognize the value of historical and cultural landscape and how it accord with modern society by proposing landscape planning base on the research. This paper suggests recovering the historic image through landscape planning. All the surrounding areas as well as the entire city will influence by this project. Moreover, it will raise awareness about the importance of the landscape for the urban planning afterwards.