1.1.            Topic and Background Information

In most cases, a city wall represents a city. Every city wall has a mission, not forgetting a meaning for some time, whether it is to protect the residents in the military conflict or demolish it for better urban planning and spatial development. For over 70 years, the topic of destroying the city wall of Beijing has been going on. At each historical time node, many scholars will study and understand the development of tourism, history and humanity, and the Beijing city wall’s urban changes (Wang et al., 2016).

 

In this paper, the demolition of the city wall of Beijing in the 70 years after the founding of new China, the city wall of xi’ an, and the city wall of Nanjing will get mentioned as well as became a case study to support and further rational discussion on the demolition of the city wall of Beijing. The main focus will be on development and urban history.

 

Qualitative research methods will be focused on this paper. Using the previous literature’s analysis, this paper will summarize and evaluate the Beijing city wall demolition (Chen, 2006; Suzhou, 2009; Jia, 2016). After the foundation of the people’s republic of china, Beijing’s city wall was demolished to “demolish four old buildings” and make the imperial city more comfortable for people to approach. This was to give the disappeared city wall its significance in the fields of history and culture. Later, with the city’s re-planning, the city wall was demolished to enable the Beijing city to develop better (Hu, 2014). This thesis will continue to analyze and evaluate the significance of the demolition of the Beijing city wall to Beijing’s urban development, mainly in the field of urban development, supplemented by the area of historical culture.

 

Fig1. Beijing’s City Wall Before demolished (Groat and Wang，David, 2017)

Fig2. Beijing’s City Wall in demolished Period (Groat and Wang，David, 2017)

 

 

 

1.2.            Research Aims and Objectives

Through the investigation and analysis, the purpose of this study is to answer what impact the demolition of the Beijing city wall will have on Beijing’s urban development.

 

• To critically examine the debates of demolishing or conserving Beijing’s City Wall.
• To analyze the impact of the demolition of Beijing’s City Wall,
• To investigate the literature of the demolishing of Beijing’s City Wall.
• To investigate how other city walls have been developed in China.
• To Evaluate the Impact of the Demolition of Beijing City Walls on Contemporary Beijing’s Urban Development

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.3.            Structure of the dissertation

This paper’s primary purpose is to investigate the influence of the city wall’s demolition on Beijing’s urban development.

The paper will start with the introduction part, and afterward, it will move to the second part, which will discuss the literature found based on the questions raised. This part will gradually narrow the search scope as there will also be reading through the question forms, and then there will be working out of the methodology for the next steps. The third part mainly introduces and demonstrates the methods used in this study. The fourth chapter is the central part of this research, which will give a more in-depth answer to the analysis of the city wall problem by the data and information obtained from the methodology mentioned above. Chapter five and chapter six rationally draw the results of problem research and put forward suggestions and research directions for further research through discussion and summary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.                  Chapter Two: Literature Review

1.4.            Introduction

In this chapter, there will be a review of the significant literature on the city wall and Beijing’s urban development. The idea of a given wall is more important than the written memory. The study will explore the history, examining the past barriers and cultural and social contexts to understand the city’s complex issues and its ever-changing walls. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, a lot of research was done on the pros and cons of dismantling the Beijing wall, and Liang Sicheng’s suggestion was studied. However, as the voices of the revival of traditional culture grow louder and Beijing will host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, there are calls for the restoration of Beijing’s convex city to recreate Beijing’s former capital and study the urban form.

 

While looking at city wall investigation and reading some of the literature before putting forward this topic, it is found that even after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, scholars have done a lot of research on it. Still, most of them stand in their position. For example, Liang Sicheng (1950) raised the issue of city wall reconstruction. There was a one-sided situation in the follow-up study; Later, after Beijing decided to demolish it, it turned into an opposite attitude towards Beijing’s demolition (Mu, 1998). Beijing city wall demolition’s significance and influence is still a hot topic because scholars’ views are influenced by the current political trends and public opinion. Therefore, data from the available literature will be rigorously compared and evaluated in this review to address this gap.

 

A brief description of the topic introduces this chapter as it also gives some information about the research. Afterward, there is a discussion of the various demolition forms, especially those of the Beijing city wall, their history and information, the citizens and the Beijing City Wall, the previous arguments about the demolition of the Beijing City Wall, the evolution of the urban form and the discussion of Xi ‘an. And the appearance of the city wall of Nanjing. Finally, based on a detailed explanation of the rationale and content of the demolition of the Beijing city wall, I evaluate the available evidence in the existing literature to analyze the demolition’s impact on Beijing’s urban development.

 

1.5.            What is City Wall?

In Groat, Wang, and David (2017), Pederson notes and analyses that the strategic objective of the wall of Halicarnassus was used for defense. This is considered the function that most of the city walls had (Groat, Wang, and David, 2017). The city wall’s space function has become the core function from military defense to the historical and cultural landscape and tourism function. In discussions of the city wall’s definition and process, most of the city walls in the world are used for military defense purposes from the previous point of view. With the development of city wall culture and urban culture, city walls’ function is gradually changing. Aiming at this article’s subject-demolishing the city wall, the city wall’s meaning and function affect whether the city wall needs to be demolished. From the literature of the predecessors, it can be concluded from the discussion that the role of the city wall in modern cities has become only for tourism and for providing convenience to the citizens, unlike the former military defense. This article’s research will study the research gap to explore why the city wall’s role has changed like this.

 

1.6.            What is a city wall in the context of China-Chinese cities?

As the main symbol of ancient Chinese cities, the city wall represents the essence of old Chinese city construction ideas. The city wall is not an isolated form of existence. The construction method of the city wall is related to the ancient urban space structure. Simultaneously, the city wall of the agricultural society and the traditional industry and commerce Matching is characteristic of the city’s closed and conservative image.

 

People think of the great wall first when it comes to China’s city walls. Its magnificent charm, aesthetic value, defensive function, and military strategy are rare in the world’s cultural heritage. This is a miracle of the world and a great miracle because it is highly respected and praised by all countries’ people. Standing on the Great Wall, whether it’s spring flowers and autumn moon, winter snow in Xia Yun, or the boundless mountains and sky-worn grass inside and outside the Great Wall, there is a strong feeling of nostalgia and serenity. Perhaps, we have forgotten the flying Hu Jia Jie drums and the flickering swords and swords on the ancient battlefield, but we will remember the ancestors who built the Great Wall for more than two thousand years. The great wall is considered a representative wall of China, and since ancient times, the construction of the wall has lasted over two years. It has witnessed the development of China and the changes in urban development. With the evolution and settlement of human life, villages, small towns, and cities have gradually formed in the history and culture of more than two thousand years. Aggression and pre-emption are inevitable in human development, which leads to the appearance of city walls between cities and towns, and plays a defensive and protective role in space function. Later, according to their own urban development needs and the political and military environment, each city built its city walls. In other words, every wall is a symbol of the city.

 

According to most of the academia’s current writings, they focus on the city wall itself. This part of the primary research mainly organizes and describes the city wall’s generation and development, the shape, production, and scale of the city wall, and the relationship between the city wall and the moat and moat. “History of Ancient Chinese Capital System” starts with the capital city as a unique urban group object. It discusses the origin and development of the closed capital system from the pre-Qin to the Tang Dynasty (Yang, 2016). The capital that opened after the Song Dynasty made a detailed analysis. “Chinese City Walls” selected Beijing, Xi’an, Nanjing, and more than ten other historical sites with outstanding historical and cultural value in China and described the city walls’ historical evolution and current status. Still, the selection of documents is relatively superficial, which can be regarded as a general introduction to my country’s city walls (Luo, 2020). “History of Ancient Chinese Capital System” (K. Yang, 2016), “History of Chinese Urban Construction (Third Edition)” (Dong, 2004), “History of Chinese Urban Development” (Fu and Cao, n.d.) and He Yeju’s “History of Chinese Urban Planning” “(He, 1996) provides very detailed information for this article to solve the planning, construction, and background of the city.