DISCOVERING THE SPATIAL PROPERTIES OF CHINESE HISTORIC TOWNS THROUGH MATHEMATICAL MEANS 

An evidence-based approach 

用数学方法研究中国历史城镇的空间属性

基于实证的方法

PAN LIAO; NING GU; CHRIS BRISBIN; MATTHEW ROFE

KEYWORDS：Chinese historic towns, heritage conservation, spatial properties, space syntax

关键词：中国历史城镇、遗产保护、空间属性、空间句法

本文来自于第十二届空间句法北京会议，文件夹“ Space Value ”，序号123

论文下载链接 http://www.12sssbeijing.com/proceedings/

【浙江工业大学理论课作业线上提交】

ABSTRACT 

摘要

Heritage conservation is an important topic in China. Due to the country’s extensive history, vast and diverse territory Chinese historic towns have evolved with unique geometric, cultural, social, and spatial differences. 

遗产保护是中国的一个重要课题。由于中国历史悠久，幅员辽阔、地域多样的中国历史城镇形成了独特的几何、文化、社会和空间差异。

More recently, new sites such as Kulangsu were added to the World Heritage (WH) list, which has accelerated the demand by local governments across China to add their own sites to the WH list. 

最近，鼓浪屿等新遗址被列入世界遗产名录，这加速了中国各地地方政府将自己的遗址列入世界遗产名录的要求。

However, in this process conflicts can occur often due to poorly managed heritage tourism development, which in some cases impacts upon the original and intended spatial properties of historic towns. In addition, the criteria by which historic towns in China are identified and valued, in terms of their unique spatial patterns, has not been extensively discussed or analysed in academic literature. 

然而，在这一过程中，由于遗产旅游开发管理不善，常常会发生冲突，这在某些情况下会影响历史城镇的原始和预期空间属性。此外，中国历史城镇在其独特的空间格局方面的识别和评价标准在学术文献中还没有得到广泛的讨论和分析。

Therefore, it is an urgent necessity to explore the innate spatial patterns of Chinese historic towns, providing evidence-based guidelines on heritage conservation, especially regarding various spatial properties. 

因此，迫切需要探索中国历史城镇的内在空间格局，为遗产保护，尤其是各种空间属性的保护提供依据。

In this paper, four typical Chinese historic towns are selected to capture their similarities and differences, each of which reflects a typical set of spatial properties. 

本文选取了四个典型的中国历史城镇作为研究对象，分析了它们的异同，每一个都反映了一组典型的空间属性。

These cases are the Ancient City of Pingyao (WH site, 1997), Old Town of Lijiang (WH site, 1997), Kulangsu (WH site, 2017), and Wuzhen Waterfront Town (tentative WH list, 2008). 

这些案例包括平遥古城（WH遗址，1997年）、丽江古城（WH遗址，1997年）、鼓浪屿（WH遗址，2017年）和乌镇海滨小镇（暂定WH名录，2008年）。

Five spatial features – axiality, curvature, intelligibility, synergy, and organic spatial layout – are examined and evaluated at both an overall (of the entire town) and a smaller (of specific areas) scale. 

在整体（整个城镇）和较小的（特定区域）尺度上，对五个空间特征（同轴度、曲率、可理解性、协同性和有机空间布局）进行了检查和评估。

A set of space syntax techniques are selected as mathematical means for analysing spatial configuration and its connection to social effects on historic towns. The results of space syntax analyses of various properties are then mapped on a computational model to reveal and compare their spatial patterns. 

选取一套空间句法技术作为分析历史城镇空间形态及其与社会效应关系的数学手段。然后将各种性质的空间句法分析结果映射到一个计算模型上，以揭示和比较它们的空间模式。

This model interprets the spatial relationships among these heritage towns in a mathematical sense and will be further associated with their functional patterns from a heritage tourism perspective. 

该模型从数学意义上解释了这些遗产城镇之间的空间关系，并从遗产旅游的角度进一步与它们的功能模式联系起来。

This paper demonstrates that the computational model can provide an insightful evidence-based approach to optimising heritage conservation in Chinese historic town. 

该计算模型为中国历史城镇遗产保护的优化提供了一种有见地的循证方法。

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Proceedings of the 12th Space Syntax Symposium 

第十二届空间句法研讨会论文集

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