Studies On Underground Spaces In Contemporary Beijing Old City

Beijing old city is a masterpiece during construction of ancient cities, and the most important urban space with special significance in Beijing. Over years, the old city has been facing a great contradiction between development and conservation, and there are a lot of problems that have restricted the old city from becoming a city with better living environment. After varieties of different urban renewal practice, the Beijing old city is still exploring new directions for conservation. Among these directions, underground space would be a new perspective, with possibilities of providing a good way out for those problems.Underground space is an accompanying product for cities during their development, when they reach a certain economic level. From the early exploring in19 th century and the large-scale construction in many European and American cities and cities in Japan during the 1960 s to 1970 s, to the exploration today for future cities through underground space, people recognized that underground space can play a positive role in old cities’ environment preservation and vitality revival. For Beijing old city, underground space has many advantages in solving old city problems and optimizing urban spaces. Underground space might bring new balance between development and conservation to the old city, and there would be a unique significance studying on it.The dissertation is based on the status quo and developing potential of underground spaces in Beijing old city, and by means of conservation theories of old cities and theories of underground architecture. After brief case studies on conservation practice in domestic and international old cities, the dissertation analyzes the problems of Beijing old city, and extracts five space-related issues, which are problems of overcrowded spaces, lack of functions, parking difficulties, low quality, and destroy of old city style. To answer the five issues, the dissertation summaries five underground space strategies, among which, underground space capacity is for the problem of overcrowded spaces, underground space function is for the problem of lack of functions,underground parking space is for the problem of parking difficulties, underground space culture is for the problem of low quality, and underground architecture design is for theproblem of destroy of old city style. The dissertation analyzes the possibilities from different levels of solving problems by underground space, studies advanced experience of underground space in old cities all over the world, and tries to put forward some ideals patterns from view of architecture and urban design. Lastly, the dissertation presents some suggestions, and put forward long term goals of underground spaces in the Beijing old city.This dissertation is a basic study on Beijing old city, trying to show the general situation of underground space and exploring its close relationship with the old city conservation, from this special view. The dissertation expects further studies on how underground space could make positive progress for redeveloping of the old city and improving the quality of its urban spaces, to provide a theoretical reference for the conservation of the beautiful Beijing old city.