Analysis Of Evolution Mechnism Of Traditional Settlement Space Based On Ecological Adaptability

Shuyuan Village is one kilometer east of Hongfan Pool town and surrounded by Tian Shan Mountains. The village is named after Dongliu School built in Ming Dynasty. Its natural features match the advocates of Chinese Feng-Shui philosophy. With its clear hierarchical road system, interwoven springs network, and water-oriented spatial form and variety forms of utilizing the spring water use, Shuyuan Village becomes a typical example of a Chinese northern settlement. During the 400-year history of the village, the residents have maintained the settlement of single-surname, Huang. Influenced by both Farming-Reading Culture and Clan Culture, the village shows a strict organizational order and strong historical heritage, making the village a perfect material carrier of ancestors’ pristine ecological wisdom.The research starts from the theoretical analysis of the ecological adaptability of Chinese traditional settlements. The settlement space forms based on and grow beyond the natural environment. Spring Settlement, as a settlement with clear spring water features, especially reflects this featured thinking process of the ancestors. The traditional form of settlement space is a materialization of Chinese ancient ecological thoughts. The overall process of selecting locations, constructing and developing reflects the spontaneous adaption to ecological characteristics.Shuyuan Village’s settlement space is studied on three levels based on horizontal analysis. The three levels are the settlement level domain space, the space within the settlement level, and residence space level. Based on the unique space-framing system and plant-filling system, the study reveals that the village appears the spatial form under the combined effects of natural environmental factors and historical and cultural factors, thus showing a high degree of orderliness.The study on Shuyuan Village combined the results of first site visits with the researches on County journals, genealogy, inscriptions and other historical documents. Then the vertical and horizontal methods are combined to analyze the dynamic, slow, gradual process of settlement evolution. Introducing the characteristics of the variable developing phases, the study horizontally breaks down the characteristics into five categories of space between the settlement, settlement domain space, the space within the settlement, residence tour space and spring space.Through vertical and horizontal analysis, the study explained that driven by fundamental internal productivity, the evolution of the settlement is powered by resident’s initiatives. The study also extracts the corresponding relationship between the macro form, meso form, and micro form of settlement space and following, optimization and selection. Furthermore, the study explains the evolution of benign settlement space, which should reflect the comprehensive integration of human ecology and natural ecology, and develops harmoniously under both factors.At the end, the study, aiming at the sustainable development of Shuyuan Village, assures the historical, cultural and ecological values of the village and raises a natural-and-human-ecology-based solution of environmental protection for future tourism development. During the process of protecting and developing the traditional villages, it is important to synchronously protect both the physical appearance and the intangible assets of the settlements so that the villages can achieve dynamic harmony in the longer term.