Exploring the creation of ecological historic district through comparing and analyzing four typical revitalized historic districts

Abstract

The urbanization process in China resulted in a severe loss of traditional urban morphology. With the emergence of livability as an integral goal, preservation of “obsolete” historic districts has increasingly been taking a more radical vision on eco-cultural resilience and cultural evolution. The thriving notion of “ecological city”, with systemic and integral objectives, evaluation systems and practical technologies, holds potential for guiding sustainable development in communities, meanwhile supporting the dynamic involvement of cultures. The loss of sense of place in historic districts, the demand of livable communities, as well as the rise of territorialisation prompt us to explore planning methodologies, building on the assessment and comparison of four existing cases in order to create livable and ecological historic districts, i.e., eco-historic districts. The five drivers of livability, society, culture, nature, and economy, offer a classification to approach eco-historic district for assessing the four American historic districts of successfully redevelopment, including: Pearl district in Portland, OR, Pioneer square historic district in Seattle, WA, Oakland district in Pittsburgh, PA and Beacon Hill historic district in Boston, MA, the merits and demerits of ancient smart and preservation design guidelines, existing and future development plans and ecological plans were discussed into three layers, i.e., city scale, district scale and building scale. The potentially first and foremost ecological approaches will be excavated to illumine the following strategies for creating eco-historic district.