Impact of chinese culture and philosophy on the cityscape in China: decoding the urban environment for a better understanding of built spaceThe

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The aim of this research is to contribute to a better understanding of the urban complexity of Chinese cities by reading and decoding their urban texture through the lens of contextuality in urban design. Experiences of western professionals in China show how important the question of contextuality, and therefore the factor of cultural sustainability in planning and city building, has become for successful long-term urban development. They also prove how much room for improvement of knowledge of non-Chinese experts there still is even though the Chinese market has been explored quite successfully by architects, urban designers, and city planners within the rapid process of Chinese urbanisation. This research is in the realm of the overarching question ‘What makes Chinese cities different from the ones European and North American observers are accustomed to?’. The research offers a critical look at the repeated evaluation of Chinese cities declaring that the large – so called global – cities of China have lost their “Chinese-ness” in the process of becoming global metropolises. This thesis attempts to account for the complexity and subtlety of the cultural realm in which the present research is set and in the attempt to do so, selected elements of the physical environment in China are analysed in order to focus on the assumed withdrawal of Chinese contextuality in the rapid urbanisation process. Through that, selected part of the Chinese urban physical built environment is examined and processed in order to make it readable and accessible for non-Chinese observers. The basis of this research is a case study-based urban hermeneutic research approach used to analyse the specifically selected city components in the seven largest Chinese cities. The data for the research has been generated during the field-work (photos, videos, expert conversations, architectural drawings, marketing/presentation materials [videos, renderings, brochures]); complimentary to that, primary and secondary literature review forms a crucial part of the body of research data. The selected cities and city components (city halls, CBDs, railway stations, including their spatial context within their respective cities) are decoded, analysing the architectural and urban semiotics traditionally used in the Chinese context, which is closely connected to the Chinese philosophy, building traditions, and contextuality (cultural, geographical, topographical, historical, just to name a few). Space in this research is approached not merely as a collection of all the physical objects that surround us but, following the core notions of Chinese philosophy, rather as a great whole, of which the physical is a part. Beauty can only be achieved through harmony (two of the most sought-after qualities in the Chinese culture); this ancient, holistic Chinese concept embraces and connects human interaction with the natural and man-made environment as equally important components. These concepts, mirrored and manifested in the built environment, compose a layer of the built space that is invisible to an unfamiliar observer. The intangibles of space have been at the fundament of the Chinese city-building and architectural doctrines for millennia. The present research touches upon this deep cultural embeddedness and, since the built environment is a major vehicle for cultural messages and symbolism, tries to make these connections more legible for a non-Chinese observer. Moreover, by showing the links to ancient, rich culture, the dissertation challenges the notion of omnipresent globalisation that razes local contexts; a claim that is not only brought up in the context of Chinese urbanisation but across the world where rapid city development is taking place. The approaches and the selection of cases presented in this research can only be understood as a start of – or a contribution to – a significantly more advanced research in understanding Chinese cities. For a true understanding of the challenges and the complexity of the Chinese built environment, a bridge between the Chinese and the non-Chinese needs to be strengthened so that the vast knowledge gaps could be transgressed. This dissertation strives to provide not only a perspective for further future research approaches but also a different angle on conducting urban research in culturally significantly different spatial settings.