Page 46 - JCAU-5-4

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Learning from the countryside

establishment of a buffer area of 25 meters surrounding the to the northwest, intersecting the urbanized area. This
building, excluding agricultural land (Huiyang Bureau of green space includes a central “parkway” and a segment
Housing and Urban-Rural Development, 2009). of the Danshui River. It is surrounded by urban parks and
Our proposal , based on a survey of 43 cases of single agricultural areas, encompassing a significant number
8
residences in the Qiuchang commune territory, used the of Hakka residences along with their agricultural land.
geographical distribution of villages in the areas specified Within this scheme, the areas subject to more restrictive
for future urbanization as the foundational structure for conservation rules are situated in Tie Men Shan and Zhou
the city’s future development. Tian villages, which collect agricultural lands containing
the most important Hakka residences (A and B). Similar
The proposed scheme (Figure 5, left panel) features a conservation rules are recommended for the natural
substantial green belt that stretches from the southeast areas along the Danshui River Valley on the east side (E).
Additional satellite zones (C) have fewer restrictions on
8 The School of Civil Architecture at Politecnico di Milano the conservation of the rural landscape. As for the densely
organized a team of professors and PhD students (nearly 25 urbanized industrial sectors on the west side of the city(D),
researchers) with expertise in Architectural Composition, it is proposed to shape the buffer zones surrounding the
Architectural and Landscape Restoration, Urban Planning, residences in a way that forms a continuous green corridor
and Interior Design. Several field trips and surveys were with integrated public facilities in the historical residences
conducted in Huiyang territory during 2010–2011, involving
the analysis of nearly 50 Hakka residences. These efforts and villages.
resulted in the formulation of guidelines for adjustments to Considering the significant number of residences
the Masterplan presented in Huizhou on 10.03.2011 (see: in Huiyang territory with notable heritage value, a
Milan Polytechnic University – School of Civil Architecture conservation strategy that would turn any of them into a
– Department of Architectural Design, 2011), along with an museum was impractical, meaning that relying solely on
additional report in 2013 (see: Milan Polytechnic University
– School of Civil Architecture – Department of Architectural tourism to support their conservation was not feasible.
Design, 2013a). The research were presented in two In addition, almost all Huiyang residences had been
exhibitions: one at the School of Civil Architecture in 2012 abandoned by the original Hakka communities. What
and another at the Milan “Urban Center” in 2013. Details of appears to be a more realistic approach is to conserve the
the project, concluded in 2016, are presented in the book by Hakka residences and their rural surrounding as part of
Chen, Meriggi, and Tan, published in October 2023. the public facilities outlined in the Master Plan.

Figure 5. Left panel: Scheme of Huiyang’s conservation plan for Hakka heritage, including the proposal of the “parkway” connecting the historical and
natural areas of Qiuchang commune and Danshui commune. Right panel: Huiyang Master Plan 2021 – 2035 (Huiyang Bureau of Housing and Urban-
Rural Development, 2021). Within the frame, the villages of the Qiuchang commune are highlighted in black (based on the 1979 Qiuchang Commune
map), with the letters (A-E) corresponding to the areas of the plan proposed by our team from Politecnico di Milano. Source: Chen et al. 2023, p. 95

Volume 5 Issue 4 (2023) 7 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.0981