Study on the Impact of the Revolution of Ancient Wuchang City Wall to the Urban Development of Wuhan

Abstract

As the gateway of Chinese traditional city, Ancient city walls profoundly reflect the comprehensive development level of the city in fields of economy, culture and politics. On the other hand, working as the urban boundary, city walls clearly define the scope of city, vividly showing the volume and form of the city. As well, the development of city has also led to changes in the size, technology and facilities of the wall. Wuchang City, as an important political and commercial port in central China, is selected as the research object in the paper. The mutual effect between the changes of city wall and urban development is discussed in the process of its gradual evolution from Shakou Fort, a military castle, to Wuchang City, a regional political, economic and cultural center. The development of Wuchang city has promoted the outward expansion of the city wall and the organic integration with the surrounding mountains and rivers. The shape of city wall also had a profound impact on the layout of the city space, with the streets extending from the city gates forming the backbone of the urban space, and streets running through or inside the city still existing as the main arteries of the city for the present. In addition, the continuous development of urban economy and functions is also a main factor leading to the changes of Wuchang city wall; to put it another way, the existence of city wall reflects the overall strength of urban economy and society to some extent. After the demolition of Wuchang city wall, a road around the city was built on the foundation of city wall, which realized the integration and development to the space of modern cities.