A Study Of The Suzhou City Moat Landscaping

Renowned as a historical and cultural city, Suzhou has already launched a citymoat protection project, an attempt to maintain the ancient city’s style and features.Three phases of the project have been completed since2002, and the moat has taken ona brand-new look. A field study, however, reveals that deficiencies in its landscapingand later maintenance can still be found. This paper, therefore, aims to make a detailedanalysis of the existing problems, and provide some improvement advice accordingly.Based on a survey of the city moat’s history and function, the paper, by means ofnumerous investigations and interviews, points out various problems with the currentmoat landscaping, including its architectural environment, water affinity, lack ofpopularity and historicity, etc. Some improvement advice, after an in-depth analysis ofthe existing problems and the successful cases of city moat landscaping both at homeand abroad, is then provided.The paper is concluded with a number of problem-solving strategies, such as themaximum height limit for the buildings nearby, water markets, water buses, etc, in thehope that it can be of considerable use for the future city moat landscaping.