The evolution of residential buildings and urban tissues in Guangzhou, China: morphological and typological perspectives

Abstract

Based on the typological theories and methods of the Italian school, a fresh perspective on urban morphological studies in China is presented. A case study of the Guangfunan area – a suburb immediately west of the old city wall of Guangzhou, China – utilizes contemporary and historical cartographic sources, data collected during an extensive field survey, and secondary sources. The evolution of residential forms and urban tissues from 1840 onward is characterized. After distinguishing significant relationships between tissue configurations, inherited geomorphological conditions and old settlement patterns, and identifying architectural types and their variants, a morphogenetic process is revealed in which urbanization and densification give rise to a series of residential forms derived from one another. Spontaneous and purposeful building practices respond both to geographically bounded conditions and constraints and potential for change ingrained in the morphological system.