Research On The Spatial Structures And Morphological Types Of Shanghai's "One City And Nine Towns"

In the early 21st century, Shanghai launched an urban-planning pilot project called "One City and Nine Towns." The project attracted participation from various international and Chinese planners and architects who helped produce a range of plans. At the same time, the pilot project's "directional style" attracted controversy and criticism from various professionals. Taken as a first step that was broadcast relatively widely and that put into practice large-scale city-and-town construction under the present-day conditions of rapid urban development, the urban morphology of the "One City and Nine Towns" project became a noteworthy research topic.This dissertation attempts to view the "One City and Nine Towns" project as an integrated research program by discussing its spatial structure and the morphology of its public spaces.This dissertation is divided into two main parts. The first part undertakes "instance analysis," reading and analyzing the chief morphological characteristics of the ten new towns to determine how "archetype" is used in urban design. The second part compares the urban designs of the ten new towns' spatial structures, public squares, thoroughfares, parks, etc. to derive morphological typologies.By means of the two parts' discussions, this dissertation reaches the following main conclusions: First, the urban designs of "One City and Nine Towns" employ topographical elements, referencing both traditional urban design and theories of new town planning. In technique, they give expression to diversified typologies, using manifold archetypes as references. Second, all have discernible, compact, and multifaceted morphologically enhanced suburban new towns and have been supplied morphologically with the possibility of continued urban growth. Third, based on the "archetype" concept of renewal, "One City and Nine Towns" is a reference-able method of urban design. The transferability of the "directional style" should provide lessons for the establishment of future suburban new towns.