2025 Vol.4

Shanghai Rural Landscape—The Construction of Shanghai-style Jiangnan

Planning Methodologies and Innovative Construction Practices for the Protection and Inheritance of "Shanghai-style Jiangnan" Characteristic Village Landscapes from a Metropolitan Area Perspective

Abstract: Rural areas of Shanghai, as integral components of building Shanghai into an international metropolis, have unique social, economic, cultural, and ecological values. These areas contain abundant landscape genes of the Jiangnan water-town landscape, yet face challenges in preserving and transmitting rural landscape character amid accelerating urbanization. Focusing on the inheritance of traditional Chinese culture and the conservation of Shanghai's distinctive water-town cultural heritage. A value cognition framework for the holistic conservation and transmission of Shanghai's characteristic village landscapes is established, conceptualized under the vision of "Shanghai-style Jiangnan". Through delineating landscape conservation units, integrating principle-based and plot-specific regulatory guidelines, and implementing planning transmission mechanisms, the protection and inheritance of distinctive villages and rural landscape features are strengthened. The study further explores a rural value discovery methodology featuring comprehensive element cognition, multidisciplinary collaboration, and ongoing exploration; an innovative planning pathway of "Tri-professional Co-creation" (urban planners, architects, and landscape designers) and "Five Planning Linkage" (integrated planning, functional programming, spatial planning, character shaping, and implementation planning); and an accompaniment-based implementation model under the "Rural Tri-professional" system. These approaches provide practical experience integrating localized characteristics with innovation for rural landscape conservation and revitalization in megacities.

Types of Rural Dwellings in Metropolitan Suburbs and Their Preservation and Development: A Study Based on Shanghai-style Jiangnan

Abstract: Based on the practice of Shanghai-style Jiangnan construction, this paper explores the types and characteristics of rural residential buildings in metropolitan suburbs. Field surveys reveal that before Shanghai opened as a port, there existed cultural heritage and residential forms for thousands of years, including "Luoshe House", "Jiaoquan House", "Ditch-surrounded Courtyard House", and mixed courtyard houses. Shanghai-style residential buildings were born by water, and under the spatial structure of "Six Regions, Eight Veins, and Twelve Imageries", they constitute an important part of Shanghai's traditional residential architecture. By studying the above traditional architectural system from the perspectives of time, space, and social structure, and deeply exploring their historical values, cultural connotations, causes, and distinctive architectural elements, this paper further discusses strategies and paths for revitalizing and developing traditional architecture, aiming to inject new vitality into rural revitalization and achieve cultural inheritance.

Rural Landscape Preservation and Inheritance of Shanghai-style Jiangnan from the Perspective of Evolution-Activation: A Case Study of Coastal Area in Shanghai Pudong

Abstract: The evolution-activation perspective provides theoretical analysis tools and public policy directions for in-depth research on the preservation and inheritance of rural landscapes in Shanghai-style Jiangnan. This paper takes the coastal area of Pudong as an example. First, from an evolutionary perspective, the characteristics and formation mechanisms of rural settlement landscapes are analyzed: the horizontal and vertical water systems originating from salt production; the plain rural landscape interwoven with agriculture, forestry, and water; local characteristic dwellings that combine production and life; and diverse historical and cultural landscapes. Secondly, using the activation approach, this paper coordinates complex factors and multiple values to explore the path of preservation and inheritance, including the Shanghai-style Jiangnan brand, near-natural solutions, refined design techniques, and project-based operation models. Furthermore, comprehensive spatial planning and design techniques are applied to propose several implementation strategies and policy recommendations, including comprehensive land consolidation, exploring collective commercial land entry into the market, establishing negative access project lists, and building a platform for collaborative creation by three types of professionals.

Exploration of Value-oriented Method for Cultural Revitalization in Metro-politan Rural Areas: A Case Study of the "Shanghai-style Jiangnan" Jianghai Unit and Xinle Unit

Abstract: The revitalization of rural culture is the soul of rural revitalization, and the "Shanghai-style Jiangnan" action is a rural revitalization work in Shanghai to protect and inherit local culture and shape the soul of rural areas. This article takes the "Shanghai-style Jiangnan" Jianghai unit and Xinle unit as examples to explore the practical difficulties, innovative methods, and theoretical construction of cultural revitalization in metropolitan rural areas. In the context of cultural integration between urban and rural areas, metropolitan rural areas face structural challenges such as ontology, subjectivity, and carrier challenges. Based on the action, Shanghai rural areas explore and practice the construction methods and paths of "cultural ontology value awakening - cultural community activation - cultural carrier polymorphic innovation". Oriented by value, a three-in-one theoretical model of cultural value "ontology - subject - carrier" is constructed to provide innovative exploration in the cultural dimension for rural revitalization in metropolitan areas.

Study on the Evolution Mechanism and Value of Shanghai-style Jiangnan Agricultural Cultural Heritage: A Case Study of Xicen Polder Field and Louzhao

Abstract: Under the dual challenges of global climate change and rapid urbanization, the ecological value and sustainable use of the traditional polder field system, as an important agricultural cultural heritage, still require exploration. In this paper, we take the typical representative of Shanghai-style polder fields in the Yangtze River Delta, the Xicen Polder Field and Breeding Marsh, as an example, and systematically examine its evolution from the Tang and Song dynasties to modern times from the perspective of agricultural cultural heritage preservation, so as to reveal its three-fold resilience mechanism of "ecology-culture-space". Through the analysis of historical documents, multi-source spatial and temporal data, and the cross-validation of landscape resilience theory, it is found that the Xicen polder field has realized flood tide resilience control through the hierarchical drainage structure of "polder field - Louzhao". Its composite pattern of "island field - polder field - woodland" provides a good environment for 87 species of birds, and at the same time serves as a carbon sink for peat and a cultural heritage. The historical wisdom of Xicen polder provides a localised paradigm for nature-based solutions (NbS) in Shanghai, and will contribute to the Chinese experience in the preservation and innovative use of global agricultural cultural heritage.