Page 104 - JCAU-7-1

Journal of Chinese

Architecture and Urbanism

ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Spatial production and evolution of commercial

ports in the ocean shipping era: A case study of
modern Fuzhou and Xiamen in Fujian province,

China

Binglin Xue , Nobuo Aoki* , and Subin Xu*
International Research Centre for Chinese Cultural Heritage Conservation, School of Architecture,
Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Glocalization: Urban Planning and Its Legacy in Modern
Chinese Port Cities)

Abstract
Commercial ports are vital regional intersections in the era of globalization, relying
on maritime networks and local convergence to facilitate the movement of goods,
people, and ideas. The term “The Five Treaty Ports” marks the beginning of foreign
territorial leases for trade in China. During this period, the spatial planning and
*Corresponding authors: infrastructure development of commercial ports dynamically responded to the
Nobuo Aoki
(xusubin@tju.edu.cn) rapid progress of globalization. This article uses the commercial port cities of Fuzhou
Subin Xu (Foochow) and Xiamen (Amoy) as case studies, examining how advancements
(aoki@tju.edu.cn) in shipping technology influenced the evolution of port spaces. It traces the
Citation: Xue, B., Aoki, N., & Xu, S. transformation of urban port spatial landscapes through the “sailing ship era,”
(2025). Spatial production and “steamship era,” and “oil tanker era.” These eras not only carried the enlightenment
evolution of commercial ports in the
ocean shipping era: A case study of mercantilist ideas and featured characteristics of “industrialization for the nation,”
of modern Fuzhou and Xiamen in but also reflected the significant influence of capitalist “market expansion” ideas in
Fujian province, China. Journal of spatial configurations. Furthermore, the article argues that the spatial representation
Chinese Architecture and Urbanism,
7(1): 3495. of modern commercial ports embodies the collaborative forces of mercantilism,
https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.3495 colonialism, and capitalism, promoting globalization through trade. This research
Received: April 24, 2024 aims to explore the evolution of modern commercial port spaces, analyze the
progressive transition from mercantilism to capitalist production modes, and
Accepted: May 21, 2024 ultimately enhance understanding of the globalization process within port spaces.
Published online: November 27,
2024
Keywords: Commercial port; Modern Fuzhou; Modern Xiamen; Spatial production;
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s).
This is an open-access article Comparative study
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution-
Non-Commercial 4.0 International
(CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits all
non-commercial use, distribution, 1. Introduction
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is The ocean has long been a critical resource for sustaining the livelihoods of coastal
properly cited. residents in southeast China, where industries, such as fisheries and salt production
Publisher’s Note: AccScience depend significantly on ships and docks. These regions, functioning as trading ports, have
Publishing remains neutral with historically attracted interest from European navigators. Since the signing of the Treaty
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional of Nanjing on August 29, 1842, areas such as Nantai Island, Mawei Port, and Taijiang in
affiliations. Fuzhou (formerly spelled as Foochow), along with the inner and outer ports of Xiamen

Volume 7 Issue 1 (2025) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.3495