Extending the compass of plan analysis: a Chinese exploration

Abstract

Research on Chinese urban form has hitherto been descriptive rather than analytical and it is handicapped by the lack of major sources of information used in the West. This paper explores M. R. G. Conzen's method of plan analysis, as developed by him largely in Europe, in the very different cultural conditions existing in China. Components and stages in the genesis of the layout of the ancient city of Pingyao are established or inferred using Conzen's method and concepts. Most components in the street plan of Pingyao and many of those in its plot pattern are products of a series of planned schemes. The historico-geographical structure of the city's plan can be understood in terms of fixation lines (mainly lines of former and extant city fortifications), consequent and occupation streets, fringe belts, present and former axial streets, the recurrence of an ancient street-grid module, rectilinear street systems in areas created since the fourteenth century, the influence of fengshui (especially on plot orientations), varying degrees of plot metamorphosis and repletion, and the incidence of communal residential work units. Because of the limited historical record, especially in the form of true plans, some findings are more tentative than those of comparable studies in Europe. However, the successful application of the method in an environment so different from that of its previous, largely Euro-American, testing grounds justifies confidence in its worldwide applicability, with major implications for urban landscape management.