Rehabilitating the Old City of Beijing: A Project in the Ju’er Hutong Neighbourhood

Review

Utilising his thorough knowledge of the unique street pattern, urban water and lake system, characteristic solid enclosure and internal openness of its cityscape, Professor Wu Liangyong has been able to reconstruct skilfully the city’s texture and grain in undertaking the Ju’er Hutong renewal project ... This book provides a fascinating insight into the project’s development and distils key lessons for future conservation and renewal programmes. -- Zou Deci ― Urban Studies, Vol. 37, No. 13, 2618, 2000

Product Description

In Rehabilitating the Old City of Beijing, renowned academic, architect, and urban planner Wu Liangyong argues eloquently for "organic renewal," in which the drive to raze the old city and build a new one is tempered by a respect for local and historical identity. As the project in the Ju'er Hutong ("Chrysanthemum Lane") neighbourhood shows, it is possible to achieve a balance between ancient values and modern concepts.
Rehabilitating the Old City of Beijing presents a fascinating account of Chinese residential design and planning and will interest urban historians, conservationists, planners, and architectural scholars and practitioners.

Book Description

A thoughtful analysis of how seventy years of revolution and turmoil have affected the miraculous ancient urban form of Beijing -- and an impassioned plea to turn the tide of demolition.

About the Author

Wu Liangyong is the director of the Institute of Architectural and Urban Studies at Tsinghua University of Beijing.