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Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Residential urban heritage space study

Gusu District boasts five World Cultural Heritage organization formed by the Phoenix Hall of Byodo-in
Sites, including Pingjiang Historic District, Shantang and traditional living spaces known as “Machiya” from
Street, Canglang Pavilion, Lion Grove Garden, and the the Japanese Heian period. It has become a tourist hub
Grand Canal, along with 174 cultural relic protection pivoting around cultural relics and traditional living
units. This study focused on the Pingjiang Historic spaces.
District located in the northeastern corner of historic
Suzhou, as illustrated in Figure 1A. The Pingjiang Historic The primary distinction between the two cities lies in
District serves as the epicenter for the preservation of their overall spatial topology and individual architectural
the historic city’s appearance. Spanning 2500 years, it structures. The Pingjiang Historic District is organized
has maintained a dual grid pattern characterized by around Pingjiang Road, featuring a grid-like spatial
“streets adjacent to waterways, roads parallel to rivers.” structure comprising traditional Chinese courtyard
Preserving large-scale traditional Suzhou-style living houses interconnected by alleys. In contrast, the Nakauji
scenes, it currently stands as China’s quintessential Historic District radiates from the southwest side of Uji
Residential Urban Heritage space, primarily serving Bridge, distinguished by “Machiya” residences lining the
residential functions. main streets, serving both commercial and residential

Uji City boasts two World Cultural Heritage Sites: purposes. Through this comparison, our aim was to
Byodo-in Phoenix Hall and Ujigami Shrine. The Nakauji explore the characteristics and variations of residential
Historic District, nestled in the core area of Uji City, is urban heritage spaces under different spatial structures,
illustrated in Figure 1B. Serving as the core cultural focusing on street space and architectural composition.
heritage area of Uji City, the Nakauji Historic District This approach enabled us to derive more comprehensive
embodies a city layout, architectural styles, and social research findings.

A B

C

Figure 1. Research sites. (A) Location map of Pingjiang historic district. (B) Location map of Nakauji district. (C) World location map of the research area.
Source: Drawings by the authors

Volume 6 Issue 2 (2024) 4 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.1732