Study On The Morphology Evolution Of Chinese Cities Since 1990s

Since 1990s, there are new economic and social backgrounds in China. Due to the new mechanism and dynamic characteristics of urban morphology evolution, it is very important to get some new conclusion for the amendment of city theories. The research on urban morphology evolution is highly related to the scale of urban development, direction of urban expansion, city function, traffic organization, urban open space system, etc. This kind of research is highly valued for planning administration and planning practicality, especially on such a high speed of urban expansion and well-developed city planning.This thesis is based on the review of urban morphology researches both in China and aboard. In the thesis, human beings have been taken as the foundation of all values, plus the consideration of practicality.First, the characteristics of urban morphology evolution since 1990s in China have been summarized from two aspects: urban inner configuration, urban the outer shape. And a mutual relation and dynamic process have been identified in this analysis.Second, the interrelations between urban morphology evolution and informationzation, globalization, knowledge economy and rapid urbanizing have been developed based on a new social economic background since 1990s. The inner drive forces for urban morphology evolution are economical increases, function adaptation and new consuming requirement. The outer drive forces include rapid traffic conditions, adjustment of administrative division, etc. The urban morphology evolution is the results of both inner and outer drive forces, indicating the complexity of urban morphology evolution. Four incorporeal parts control the function of urban morphology evolution: marketing, industrial evolution mechanism, and investment mechanism and regulating mechanism.The function of urban morphology evolution is not a clearly linear law of causation but a nonlinear process caused by various mechanisms, which have feedbacks to each other. The major way of urban morphology evolution is the extension transit, and the new space focused on industrial location is the most important factor for the urban morphology evolution. The author also concludes that humanitarianism and harmony between human beings and nature play a vital role in urban morphology evolution, which is not only the Chinese characteristic during the transformation, but also adapted for the urban development in developing countries.The author also proposed a new index system for assessing the urban morphology, which is based on harmonization, growth degree, ecology and economy. Such a index system is also useful for planning practicality and planning administration. Moreover, the open questions in this field and the trends in future are also discussed.