Abstract:
Since Pingyao city inscribed on the UNESCO world heritage site list in 1997, the tourism industry has impacted on the conservation of this ancient city. Issues resulting from the rapid increase of the local economy have recently been revealed. The deficiency of basic living facilities for locals and the absence of traditional activities make the city hardly relate to its authentic urban heritage. Although research has been conducted on the theoretical heritage conservation and development plans, it has focused on the individual heritage buildings without consideration of the cultural historical context and historic urban character. This thesis takes the opportunity of integrating the urban heritage management theories and the sustainable urban development into urban design. Particularly, the aim of this thesis is to provide a conceptual urban design solution based on morphological and typological methods and the UNESCO historic urban landscape (HUL) approach. By investigating urban heritage conservation through literature reviews and case studies, it creates the urban design strategy from the typomorphological analysis and the HUL method. With a thorough understanding of the historical context and the current challenge of Pingyao, the conceptual urban design solution provides the possibility of demonstrating Pingyao’s historic urban characters while satisfying the requirements of future sustainable development. As a result, the urban heritage of Pingyao will be constantly enriched and regenerated for future generations. This thesis offers an example of urban heritage management through the conceptual urban design in Pingyao, it can inspire future urban management and development proposal in other ancient cities in both China and elsewhere.
