Ancient and modern urban planning theory and its evolution

Urban planning is an ancient knowledge, and each nation has its own unique knowledge.

Urban planning, also known as urban planning or urban planning, refers to the pre-consideration of urban space and the formulation of test questions. It focuses on the physical form of the city, involving the regional layout of industries and buildings, the setting of roads and transportation facilities, and the arrangement of urban projects.

The knowledge structure of China's ancient urban planning is based on ancient philosophy, and it integrates hundred schools of thought such as Confucianism, Taoism and France. The most striking point is to emphasize the unity of man and nature, and Taoism is natural.

Cities are the product of the development of human society, economy and culture to a certain stage. The reason, time and function of urban origin are still inconclusive in academic circles. It is generally believed that the basic condition of a city's appearance is that social productive forces can meet people's basic survival needs and have surplus products. A city is a social, political, economic and cultural center within a certain geographical scope. The formation of cities is a leap in the history of human civilization.

The development of a city is a process of continuous evolution of human living environment, and it is also a process of consciously and unconsciously planning and arranging human living environment. In Jiangzhai Site, a Neolithic settlement in the north of Lintong County, Shaanxi Province, China, our ancestors skillfully created a living environment suitable for the social structure at that time in terms of village site selection, land use, building layout and orientation arrangement, development of public space and construction of defense facilities. It can be considered that this is the bud of living environment planning.

Development course of urban planning

With the development of social economy, the emergence of cities and the complexity of human living environment, urban planning ideas are constantly emerging and developing. Especially in the period of social change, when the old urban structure can not meet the requirements of new social life, the theory and practice of urban planning often leap forward.

China's ancient urban planning theory can be found in Kao, Shang Jun, Guan Zi and Mozi. "Examination of Gong Ji" determines the three-level urban system, land use functional zoning and road system of "Capital", "Wangcheng" and "Zhucheng". The book Shang Jun discusses the proper proportion of land distribution among hills, valleys, roads and farmland in a certain area, and the corresponding conditions for building cities, preparing for war, population, food and land.

China's ancient urban planning emphasized strategic thinking and holistic concept, the combination of city and nature, and strict hierarchical concept. These urban planning thoughts and the urban planning achievements of ancient China in various historical periods are all reflected in building the capital city into a "four-sided pole" and a "first-class area".

During the Warring States period, the capital cities of various countries adopted the system of large and small cities, which reflected the requirement of "building a city for the monarch and building a country for the people". Chang' an city in the western Han dynasty integrated the palace with the inner square; During the Three Kingdoms period, Yecheng in Cao Wei adopted the planning method of urban functional zoning; During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the overall planning of Luoyang City was strengthened, which played a leading role in the construction of Chang 'an City in Sui and Tang Dynasties, the peak of China's early urban construction.

The achievement of Chang 'an City is an important part of the splendid culture of Tang Dynasty, which affects the capital construction of Japan, Korea and other countries. The importance of Kaifeng City in the history of China capital construction in Song Dynasty lies in that it is an important example of planned expansion according to the imperial edict issued by Zhou Shizong and Chai Rong in the Five Dynasties. Later, with the development of commodity economy, the urban alley system, which lasted for thousands of years, was gradually abandoned. In the mid-Northern Song Dynasty, Kaifeng became a relatively open street system, forming the urban structure in the late feudal society of China.

The planning of metropolis in Yuan Dynasty absorbed the planning thought of utopia in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and handled it according to local conditions. The Ming Beijing, which evolved from a metropolis, can be said to be a fusion of the urban planning of the ancient capital of China. In the Qing Dynasty, Beijing vigorously managed gardens, leaving palaces and other museums in the far and near suburbs of Beijing, making Beijing the most brilliant model of planning and construction of the capital of China during the feudal period.

In the west, during the ancient Greek city-state, the Hippocratic planning model appeared. Ancient Roman architect Vitruwei's Ten Books on Architecture expounded the basic principles of urban site selection, environmental sanitation, workshop building and public building layout, and put forward the "ideal" urban model at that time. The development of medieval society was slow, and cities were mostly centered on churches. During the Renaissance, architects Alberti, Palladio, Scarmoxi and others also put forward some urban theories and models that reflected the commercial prosperity and the diversification of urban life at that time.

Before the industrial revolution, European cities, except a few cities such as Rome, were generally small in scale. Most cities are naturally formed, with simple urban functions and infrastructure and poor sanitary conditions. Urban planning focuses on defensive functions and political needs and is closed. The content of urban planning mainly focuses on the layout of road network and buildings, so it is an integral part of buildings.

The industrial revolution led to worldwide urbanization, and the establishment of large-scale industries and the concentration of rural population to cities promoted the expansion of urban scale. The blind development of cities, slums and chaotic social order have caused the deterioration of urban living environment and seriously affected the lives of residents. People began to study countermeasures from various aspects, and the modern urban planning discipline was formed under this situation.

Modern urban planning discipline is mainly composed of urban planning theory, urban planning practice and urban construction legislation.

Modern urban planning theory began with people exploring and solving urban problems from the perspective of social change. /kloc-In the first half of the 9th century, some utopian socialists put forward various ideas after Moore, the founder of utopian socialism, and regarded improving housing and urban planning as one of the measures to cure urban social diseases. Their theory and practice had a great influence on the later urban planning theory.

/kloc-at the turn of the 9th century, Howard advocated "garden city". 1915 years later, Geddes put forward the regional principle and advocated the theory of combining urban planning with regional planning. Their academic thoughts have had a far-reaching impact on the development of urban planning thoughts. Contemporary En Wen's book "Urban Planning Practice —— Concept of Urban and Suburban Design Art" summarizes the history of urban development and his own planning practice experience, which can be regarded as the development of an architect in the field of urban planning. Subsequently, more and more architects, sociologists, geographers and economists devoted themselves to the study of urban planning theory.

/kloc-In the 9th century, the most influential urban planning practice was 1853, the Paris planning initiated by French official Osman. Although the reconstruction of Paris has the political purpose of suppressing the urban people's uprising and showing off the majesty and power of those in power, the reconstruction plan of Paris has made comprehensive arrangements for roads, housing, municipal construction and land management, which has made a useful exploration for urban reconstruction. As far as influence is concerned, cities such as Cologne and Vienna have followed suit.

During this period, another construction practice appeared: some advanced industrialists in Britain built new workers' towns while building factories. For example, in 185 1 year, industrialist salter built a workers' town in Saitl, and in 1887, Huoer built a workers' town in Sunshine Harbor, forming a so-called "enterprise town". These practices undoubtedly promoted the formation of Howard's "Garden City" and other urban planning theories. So far, urban planning still adopts the two basic forms mentioned above: old city reconstruction and new city construction. From 65438 to 1990s, western European countries gradually formed the strategic concept of urban development, combining public investment with improving municipal construction and controlling private land. Germany has a tradition of urban development planning and a preliminary zoning planning method. All these provide useful experience for urban planning.

The original intention of formulating urban construction laws and regulations is to maintain a neat, clean and stable urban environment and protect the health of residents. Britain promulgated the Public Health Law in 1848, which stipulated the hygienic standards of houses, and the Housing and Urban Planning Law in 1906. Sweden promulgated the urban planning and land use law on 1907. New york, USA, promulgated zoning laws and regulations to control land use and building height in 19 16, and later revised them into zoning resolutions in 196 1 to adapt to the new situation. Practice has proved that urban construction and management should have a corresponding legal system, and strict urban construction laws and regulations can improve the quality of urban planning and construction.

Since the 20th century, human beings have experienced two world wars. Great changes have taken place in the international political, economic and social structure, rapid development of science and technology, increasing progress in humanities and changes in values, all of which have had a profound impact on urban planning. The Athens Charter (1933) outlines the problems faced by modern cities and puts forward the measures and tasks that should be taken in urban planning, which is a milestone in the development of modern urban planning theory.

After World War II, urban planners did not abandon the basic principles of the Athens Charter, but updated and supplemented some major issues, resulting in the Machu Picchu Charter of 1977. These two charters are the summaries of urban planning theories in two different historical periods, which have exerted considerable influence on urban planning in all countries of the world.

After the industrial revolution, the internal structure of the city has undergone fundamental changes, prompting people to study the structure and form of the city theoretically and seek the best model.

Some people think that cities should be built in the center. In 1922 "City of Tomorrow", French architect Le corbusier advocated making full use of technological achievements to build high-rise and high-density buildings to make the city develop towards the center, so as to obtain the best living environment and the highest working efficiency. This idea is called urban centralism. Some people advocate that cities should be decentralized. The "wide-acre city" proposed by American architect Wright thinks that the city should be combined with the surrounding countryside, with an average of 2.5 people living per hectare. This is the so-called decentralization of the city. These two urban models have a wide influence.

In addition, some people put forward various pattern of city layout from the requirements of urban functions, such as "belt city", concentric ring city, wedge-shaped structure city, multi-core city and so on. Others study the relationship between the spatial structure of the urban area and the urban form from the perspective of the organization of various systems in the city. Some people also analyze the unit cells that make up a city from a microscopic point of view to study the shape of the city. In recent years, more and more scholars have studied the structure and form of cities from the concept of system.

Main contents of urban planning

Housing and its environmental problems are one of the basic problems in cities. Perry, an American sociologist, proposed in the 1920s that there should be green spaces, primary schools, public centers and shops in residential areas, and the transportation system should be well arranged. He first put forward the concept of "neighborhood unit" and was called the pioneer of community planning theory.

Later, architect Stan designed the residential area of RedBoone near new york according to the neighborhood unit theory, and achieved great success. The red Boone-style block is regarded as the "grass-roots cell" of the urban structure in the automobile age. After World War II, western countries took neighborhood units as the standard of post-war housing construction and urban reconstruction.

Neighborhood unit theory is the product of the combination of sociology and architecture. Since the 1960s, some sociologists think that it does not meet the requirements of real social life, because urban life is diversified and people's activities are not limited to blocks. Neighborhood unit theory has gradually developed into community planning theory.

The increase of people's freedom of movement reflects the progress of society. Urban planners should consider the ever-changing traffic demand. After the industrial revolution, the scale of cities has become larger and larger, and the traffic problem in cities has become one of the biggest problems in urban development. The contradiction between the progress of traffic technology and the structure of the old city is becoming more and more obvious.

The book "Urban Planning and Road Traffic" by British Police Commissioner Tripp puts forward many practical suggestions. His "zoning" planning idea is to establish a secondary traffic system in the road section to reduce the interference of local branches. This traffic planning thought was later combined with the block unit planning thought, and developed into the concept of "extended block", which was tried out in Coventry and directly affected the planning of Greater London after World War II.

Since then, scholars have proposed a variety of urban traffic network models, such as dendritic road system and hierarchical road system. The principle of developing public transport has been widely accepted. Urban traffic planning is closely related to urban planning issues such as urban structure, and has become a basic content in urban planning. People's understanding of traffic starts from understanding its simple traffic function, and then realizes its significance to spatial organization and spatial connection, and understands that urban traffic is a function of land use. The research on urban traffic has also developed to discuss traffic from various requirements of urban environment.

/kloc-in the 0/9th century, due to the mess of the city, the problem of improving the city appearance was put forward. 1893, in order to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America, the World Expo was held in Chicago, and magnificent classical buildings, wide boulevards and beautiful playgrounds were built in the lakeside area of Chicago, which made people see the role of grand planning in beautifying the urban landscape and set off the "urban beautification movement" in the United States.

Sha Lining put forward "Urban Design Theory" on the basis of the analysis and study of urban image by Austrian architect Sidi, which requires the design of physical environment. We should consider social, economic, cultural, technological and natural conditions to create a good environment to meet the basic needs of residents. In view of formalism at that time, he also put forward some basic principles, such as free and flexible design, mutual coordination between building units, spatial composition of buildings, and coordination between architecture and nature. In this way, the beautification of the city is organically combined with the functional requirements of the city, which further deepens the urban planning thought.

Since the 1950s, urban design has not only been explored from the perspective of visual art, but also conducted more in-depth and extensive theoretical and applied research from the perspectives of psychology, sociology, ecology and anthropology. The theory and practice of urban design have developed from the pursuit of beautiful cities to the pursuit of efficient cities-cities that are more suitable for people to work and live healthily and happily.

Related to urban design is the planning and construction of urban parks. Olmsted, an American landscape architect, designed new york Central Park in 1858, and then designed parks in Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago and Boston, which was the beginning of the planning and construction of urban garden green space system. Practice has proved that the planning of urban gardens and green space systems should be incorporated into urban planning from the beginning.

With the rapid development of cities and the destruction of natural environment by artificial buildings, people pay more and more attention to maintaining the balance between natural and artificial environment and the coordinated development of urban and rural areas. The concept of "earth landscape" began to attract people's attention. Some urban planners have systematically expounded this and extended the concept of treating metropolitan areas as a part of human ecosystem. Nowadays, the protection of the natural environment is considered in the urban planning of all countries.

Historical sites are not only the cultural treasures of a country and a nation, but also the common cultural wealth of all mankind. Since ancient times, people with foresight have attached great importance to the protection of cultural heritage. However, due to the rapid development of modern cities, many ancient buildings and historical cities are not only eroded by nature, but also destroyed by human beings. 1933 Athens Charter put forward the protection of ancient buildings from the perspective of urban planning earlier.

These works make people deeply realize the long-term value of old buildings and old residential areas in practicality, economy and artistry, and begin to study the transformation of old cities, old districts and old buildings from a new perspective. Through comprehensive investigation and careful planning, the old city, old district and old building can be used rationally to meet new demands, while maintaining the cultural characteristics of the city and the continuity of local culture, so that the concept and procedure of urban planning will also change.

With the development of cities and the increasingly serious urban problems, people gradually realize that we can't just talk about cities, but we must study the problems related to cities from a wider scope-regional and even national territory. Since Geddes put forward the regional principle, the practice of regional planning and land planning has achieved the most outstanding results in the regional planning of Tennessee, USA, which was implemented in 1933. The regional planning of metropolitan areas is earlier and more representative in new york and its surrounding areas. The Greater London Plan formulated in the 1940s has made creative progress in this respect. Later, some cities engaged in the study of the influence areas of big cities from the aspects of commerce and transportation, and regional science appeared.

Planning industrial and mining areas from a regional perspective is a part of regional planning. Typical examples are the urban planning of Tunc in Britain and the planning of Donbass mining area in the Soviet Union. Planning scenic spots and rest areas also belong to the field of regional planning. For example, the regional planning of the Soviet Black Sea coastal area and the Caucasus mineral spring area.

Another content of regional planning is the study of rural areas. American Personality Root's Social Analysis of Rural Communities is the earliest achievement in this field. 1933, German geographer Christaller analyzed the market center and service scope of villages in this area in his book "Regional Center in Southern Germany" and put forward the famous "central place theory". Based on this theory, he explored the distribution of rural centers, urban commerce and service industries, and the urban system in regional planning.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Geddes put forward the "life schema", which comprehensively analyzed the relationship among people, land and work from the perspectives of geography, economics and anthropology. His famous saying "investigation precedes planning, diagnosis precedes treatment" has become the motto of urban planning. This working procedure of investigation-analysis-planning has been widely adopted.

The methods of urban planning in different countries are different, such as the development planning in Britain, the land use planning (also known as master planning) and regional detailed planning in the Federal Republic of Germany, and the master planning, recent construction planning and detailed planning in the Soviet Union. Since 1950s, China has basically adopted the methods popular abroad before and after World War II: First, demonstrate the nature of urban development and estimate the population size; Then determine the land use mode, organize the spatial structure of buildings, and determine major municipal engineering systems such as road traffic system; Then the overall urban planning and detailed urban planning are compiled. This kind of planning is basically a kind of physical environment planning, which arranges the spatial structure for a city's future activities. It is a blueprint of urban material environment to be realized in a specific period (such as 20 ~ 30 years) to guide urban construction.

After years of practice, people increasingly realize that the above planning methods can no longer adapt to the rapid development of social economy. Based on the understanding of the openness of cities-the endless development and renewal of cities, urban planning circles put forward the planning ideas of "continuous planning" and "rolling development", that is, focusing on recent development and construction, constantly modifying, supplementing and adjusting long-term goals and implementing dynamic balance, thus abandoning the old concept of taking urban planning as the ultimate state of future cities. Under this understanding, some urban planning methods have emerged. For example, in 1968, Britain replaced the original development plan or master plan with a new two-stage planning method of structural planning and local planning. In addition to the physical environment planning, economic planning and social planning have been added to achieve the social and economic goals of the city, so it has become a multi-objective and multi-faceted more comprehensive planning. This planning method is still developing.

Development trend of urban planning

In different times and regions, there are different requirements for the development level and construction of cities, so the research focus of urban planning is not consistent and changes with the development of the times.

Multi-disciplinary participation in urban research has a long history and has recently become more active. The achievements of studying urban problems from geography, sociology, economics, environmental engineering, ecology, behavioral psychology, history and archaeology have greatly enriched the market planning theory. This trend will continue, and more disciplines will penetrate and open up the research field of urban problems in the future.

The application of mathematical methods such as system engineering, engineering cybernetics and new technical means such as computer remote sensing in the field of market planning will gradually promote the methods and means they provide in data collection and processing, prediction and evaluation, and help improve the quality of urban planning.

The understanding of cities and urban planning is deepening. Based on the fact that the city is a comprehensive dynamic system, the study of urban planning not only focuses on the division of land use on the plane, but also is not limited to the layout of three-dimensional space. Instead, it introduces a "comprehensive study" on various requirements of time, economy and society. In urban planning, we will consider the foreseeable and unpredictable situations to the greatest extent, provide as much freedom of choice as possible, and leave enough space and possibilities for future development.

Because urban problems are all-encompassing, some people propose to establish urbanism on the basis of related disciplines to study urban nature, urban model, urban system and development strategy; It is also proposed to establish the science of human settlements, with the aim of systematically studying various human settlements in villages, market towns and cities. The achievements of this new discipline may help to deepen the macro-understanding of the city, but its progress needs to be based on the completion of a large number of urban research work.

The task of urban research is arduous and complex, which also shows its rich vitality. Cities are always developing, and urban problems are always accompanied, but human beings will consciously use extensive knowledge and rich imagination and creativity to develop the science of urban environmental planning, construction and management. From the initial study of social and economic development strategy, urban planning will eventually be implemented in material construction, forming a material environment for people to live and work.

Urban planning is the premise of architecture and landscape construction, which prepares the conditions for the required space. The progress of urban planning research has also provided an unprecedented vast world for the development of architecture and landscape architecture. Planners have the same goals as architects and landscape designers. With the development of human society, the organic combination and collaborative creation of these three disciplines will surely push the construction of physical environment to a higher level.