Dynamics of the functional-planning development of the Chinese city of Anyang (mid 20th - beginning of the 21st century)

Dynamics of the functional and planning development of the city of Anyang, the former capital of China, is considered. Based on the analysis of the stages of the city’s development, several master plans and the main historical urban development situations, the logic of the historical development of the functional-planning structure of Anyang is revealed. The identification and consideration of this logic in urban planning policy is one of the important conditions for the sustainable development of any historic city, including Anyang. The unconditional relevance of the topic of the article is also due to the fact that under conditions of the activity of the construction complex that has grown in the last five years, the process of transformation of the historical planning structure has begun, which negatively affects the possibility of preserving the identity of the image of the former capital of China. A high degree of detail in the analysis of interrelated factors in the formation of the city planning structure of Anyang is new in the scientific literature about this city, whose focus is limited to local lore and generalized urban planning aspects. This research approach has made it possible to identify sustainable urban development nodes and development axes, which must be taken into account in the development of modern urban planning documentation. The text and graphical illustrations of the article approve a promising methodical approach to research of the dynamics of development of historical cities. Subject: the main regularities of the interconnected development of the planning structure of Anyang in specific landscape, historical, social and economic conditions. Research objectives: by means of a comparative analysis of the parameters of the original landscape, historical plans and data for the dynamics of economic development, we reveal the main patterns of the development of the planning structure of Anyang. Materials and methods: the nature and parameters of the original landscape were studied using cartographic material by calculating the difference in the altitude of the earth along the latitudinal and meridional directions, and by making sections along the site, including river valleys. All data is in metric system of measurement. With a qualitative assessment of individual sites and zones, we took into account the seasonality, direction and power of the wind according to the data of reference books [1, 2]. The historical and social characteristics of the identified periods of development of Anyang were compiled on the basis of demographic data on the composition and size of population [3, 4], as well as according to the official reports of the governmental structures of Anyang [5, 6]. Stages of economic development of the city were determined on the basis of official sources [7, 8]. A comparative analysis of city plans and master plans was carried out by layer-by-layer overlapping of the developed planning schemes, reduced to the same scale in the metric system of measurement. We particularly focused on separate urban development nodes and directions of highways and roads which steadily maintained their position. Results: the study revealed the main regularities of the interrelated development of the planning structure of Anyang in specific landscape, historical, social and economic conditions. Conclusions: the conducted research made it possible to identify basic regularities of the historical development of the planning structure of Anyang, induced by landscape, historical, social and economic factors, such as the stage-by-stage enrichment of the initially basic orthogonal planning structure by more free layouts and the formation of the cruciform system of the main planning axes.