Local Cultures – Global Spaces

Abstract

Urban waterfront regeneration is a timeless activity. It represents a unique opportunity to transform the city both spatially and visually. The canal, as an essential category of water systems, has also undergone a fundamental transformation from the transportation system and navigation corridor towards focal points for sustainable city development by reusing heritage canal values. Some studies have investigated the ecological restoration and heritage conservation along the heritage canals. However, the place-making of the heritage canals should be further evaluated. This article explores the specific role of the Suzhou Canal of China in shaping historical city layout, creating everday daily life pattern, and reshaping the new public realm. It also analyses how these heritage canal values have been incorporated with the waterfront place-making process within the Chinese Context from the past to the present. Taking the Suzhou Canal system as a case study, this article applied space syntax with historical mapping to explore the capacity of the heritage canal values for place-making and its influence on city transformation. It concludes that: (1) The characteristics of Suzhou Canal have been directly affected by the formation of Suzhou City with spontaneous urban expansion. (2) Informal marketplaces first gathered along the Suzhou Canal during the Mid-Tang and Song Dynasties (960-1127). It resulted in the phenomenon of encroachment on waterfront open spaces. (3) The official and spontaneous renovations coexist along the Suzhou Canal. The results can inform further canal-oriented waterfront regeneration projects.