The Railway And Zhengzhou City Geography Change(1904-1954)

Railway is an important driving force for the changes of the urban geography in Zhengzhou City in modern times. At the end of19th century, Zhengzhou was just a decaying traditional feudal city. Since20th century, with the Beijing-Hankou and the Longhai railways open to traffic, tremendous changes have taken place in Zhengzhou. On one hand, the layouts of railways affect the changes of urban morphology of Zhengzhou. The area between the railway station and the old town became a new development area which expanded to north and south along the railways. After the founding of P.R.C., the development area broke the restrictions of the railways and expanded in full swing. On the other hand, whether the railways are unblocked or not affects the changes of city size of Zhengzhou. When the railways were unblocked, Zhengzhou developed very fast in its city size. During wartime, the railways were disrupted and the development of city size of Zhengzhou was at a standstill and even experienced backset. Making a thorough inquiry into the law of development of Zhengzhou city not only indicates the direction for urban development, but also provide reference and advice for the urban development of the cities of the same type.