The Future of a Chinese Water Village. Alternative Design Practices Aimed to Provide New Life for Traditional Water Villages in the Pearl River Delta

摘要

Chinese cities have experienced unprecedented growth and transformation in the recent decades. Urban expansion into former agricultural land and the incorporation of villages into urbanized areas are commonly observed. This paper focuses on the current city extension of Foshan into the river landscape of the Pearl River Delta. The authors examine a group of water villages that will become part of Foshan's new city centre. A morphological analysis of settlement forms is used in combination with a fluvial morphological analysis of the water system. Through direct observation, select interviews with villagers, mapping and measurements, an international design team developed proposals demonstrating how social and ecological conditions can be incorporated into the design of Foshan's new urban centre, producing a transformation that has roots in the village's essential spatial structure and the functioning of its water system.