Journal of Contemporary Urban Affairs
Vol. 3 No. 1 (2019): Journal of Contemporary Urban Affairs

Urban Planning as an Extension of War Planning: The Case of Shenyang, China, 1898-1966

HUAQING WANG (Department of Landscape and Urban Planning, Texas A&M University, USA)
GALEN NEWMAN (Department of Landscape and Urban Planning, Texas A&M University, USA)
ZHIFANG WANG (College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Peking University, China)



Article Info

Publish Date
01 Jun 2019

Abstract

War-city relationships had long been studied by scholars regarding wars’ sudden impact on cities. Studies typically focused on one specific event’s impact on urban military, politics, economy, or society. This approach, however, treated war’s impact on cities as only temporary, hindered opportunities to reveal multiple political regimes’ spatial competition through war-oriented city planning and construction, which is crucial for city development, and their resultant urban form changes through time. In response, this study has examined city planning and construction activities during the short time gaps between multiple military conflicts, with various military objectives, and conducted by different political regimes in Shenyang, China. In accordance with archival research, a space syntax axis analysis has been used to quantify spatial dynamics throughout war-peace-war cycles to explore the impact of military-oriented planning on city-scaled development. We have found these planning strategies, initiated by specific military goals, acted as extensions of war planning, segregating the city and causing urban fragmentation. They also acted as a driving factor which promoted modernization of the city in the early 20th century. We conclude that wars oriented planning can alter a city’s development track and impact its structure and form through the creation of internally connected but isolated urban districts. Copyright © 2018 Journal Of Contemporary Urban Affairs.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

ijcua

Publisher

Subject

Description

The International Journal of Contemporary Urban Affairs (IJCUA) is the interdisciplinary academic, refereed journal which publishes two times a year by Anglo-American Publications LLC. IJCUA brings together all the theories, manifestoes and methodologies on contemporary urban spaces to raise the ...