Research Projects |

Doctoral thesis research: Sustainable production of public spaces in small historic cities in China

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Keywords

Public space; Small historic city; Sustainable; Production of public space; Tourism

Introduction

Public space has been an essential part of Chinese cities in various types and forms throughout history. However, the turbulent 20th century has broken the long tradition of public space in urban China, bringing in new types, transforming existing types, and eliminating some old types. In contemporary Chinese cities, public spaces are facing problems, especially in small historic cities with valuable historic urban landscapes and typo-morphological characteristics but lacking sufficient funding and adequate professional design. They are more likely subject to damage by problematic public spaces.

Now the production of public spaces in small historic cities is dominated by capital and policy powers. Capital power, especially the tourism capital, is over-exploiting such cities for more profit, and tends to reduce the unique historical characteristic to simple stylistic elements, without paying due attention to the real authentic historical urban morphology and identity. Policy power, on the other hand, is aggravating the situation by cooperating with capital power to produce large, “modernized”, and symbolic public spaces as city marketing tools, which are not always suited to the urban context and the residents’ real demand on public life. Such an unsustainable way of producing public spaces is sabotaging the unique historic urban landscape of these small historic cities while costing a huge amount of funding.

This thesis intends to contribute to the effort of addressing these problems in the public spaces in small historic cities. The objective is to propose a possibility of reaching a balance among cultural heritage preservation, public life, and economic growth. The research started with an overview of the public spaces in the history of urban China, in order to figure out what inspirations they may offer to contemporary interventions, and lay a basic research framework for the following work. Then in the second phase, the research introduced the main case study, the city of Zhengding, and analyzed its typo-morphological characteristics both of the whole city and of the public spaces within the city. Next, the contemporary problems in public spaces in small historic cities were closely examined to find their causes and impacts so as to better tackle them. In the last part of the research, several principles and strategies were proposed as attempts to reach the balance mentioned above, by learning from the history and taking the city of Zhengding as the main case study.

My role

Qian Liu carried out this research project independently under the supervision of Prof. Laura Pezzetti.

Research on the morphological evolution of Zhengding

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Keywords

Urban morphology; Historical evolution; Small historic city; City walls; Zhengding

Introduction

Zhengding (正定) is a small historic city in Hebei Province in North China. This research provides a historical overview of the evolution of Zhengding and its public spaces, examined from morphological and typological perspectives. The research covers the period from the 7th century, when the city was first established on its current site, to the end of the 20th century.

This research addresses the challenge of limited documentation. Historical urban archives in China typically do not include many graphical records, unlike the cadastre in Europe. Therefore, this research extracts traces of morphological features from written accounts of the city’s history.

There are two critical factors that help mapping the texts into real geographical space. First, that the city’s structure, compromising the city walls, urban axes, and major street network, remained roughly unchanged throughout the historic evolution, which is evidenced in many other well-preserved Chinese ancient cities. Second, the preserved built heritages in the city, including the major temples, pagodas, monuments, and gate towers, remained where they were over centuries, like anchors fixed on the city’s structure. These two factors link the current urban form to the one in history.

Furthermore, existing archaeological studies have provided physical evidence to infer the city’s urban form throughout history. Excavated ruins of old city walls, streets, and buildings offer clues about the city’s extent and its architectural types. Moreover, military survey records from the early 20th century and subsequent satellite images provide valuable information on the city’s more recent evolution.

Based on the materials and methods mentioned above, this research initially determined that the city originated as a military fortress, strategically located for defence purposes and according to Fengshui principles in the 7th century. Subsequently, the study identified two expansions of the city, in the 8th and 15th centuries, undertaken to enhance its defensive capabilities. Additionally, the city’s decline in military and economic importance in the early 20th century and the subsequent shrinkage of its built-up areas were closely mapped. Finally, the research documented the rapid urban sprawl that has occurred since China’s economic reform in 1978.

My role

Qian Liu carried out this research project independently under the supervision of Prof. Laura Pezzetti.

School buildings towards a new extraordinary

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Keywords

School building; COVID-19; Cooperative learning; Resilience; Wellbeing

Introduction

The lockdown caused by the COVID-19 emergency and the shortcomings of online teaching have emphasised why the school is a physical realm of learning spaces influencing cognitive, emotional and affective relationships that cannot be surrogated by distance learning technologies. Besides, the subsequent need of physical distancing has highlighted the lack of resilience of Italian school buildings. Given that Health is not only safety but also wellbeing, the quality of spaces is crucial for learning, wellbeing and inspiring behaviours. Yet, the pre-pandemic ‘ordinary’ of school buildings and debate in Italy was marked by endemic inadequacies and clichés respectively, which are discussed by the research in relation to their poor resilience to physical distancing and on the base of the fieldwork conducted for Milan Municipality. Considering the new requirements of health measures as a potential accelerating factor, this research delineate new principles of spatial setting and adaptive strategies for school buildings’ resilience to meet the new requirements while overcoming the endemic need of innovation and requalification of Italian schools, moving towards a ‘new extraordinary’.

The research proposes that in the ‘new extraodinary’ school buildings, people flows should be separated through architectural means, by reinventing communal spaces. In association with informal learning spaces and workspaces, classrooms can form a continuous fabric that has the complexity of a small city and landscape, being characterised by different depths of field and heights; degrees of partition and sharing; rooms, habitable recesses, squares or multifunctional theatres; shaded patios, ramps, paths and gardens. Learners could then experience architectural space in its full richness of space-places, meanings and symbols, metaphors and metonymies attributed to forms; in the play of different scales, heights and layouts, which predispose and stimulate different kinds of behaviour; and in the expression of tactile and aesthetic-perceptive values.

From the urban perspective, this research advocates that the schools of today should constitute again the beating heart of districts while providing a number of community functions and becoming hubs for lifelong learning connected with urban resources fifteen minutes walking. The school as a community centre, nonetheless, is a subject already emphasized by the Italian experience related to typological criticism, namely in the projects by Aymonino at Pesaro and Canella in the Milanese hinterland.

Shared outdoor spaces are also emphasised in this research. The pandemic has brought out the importance of outdoor spaces, which have been forgotten by contemporary pedagogy. Open-air education, instead, has a rich architectural tradition in the ‘open-air schools’ of the 1920s-30s and even before in Milan’s Rinnovata Pizzigoni (1911). They feature several issues that the pandemic calls for reconsideration: outdoor classrooms, equipped open air spaces, foldable and openable facades, and an active use of flat roofs. The author’s design for multifunctional open-air classrooms (2014) could be seen as an early prototype to extend safe and versatile teaching spaces into the districts’ parks.

My role

Qian Liu studied the classroom layout under social distancing rules, conducted investigation and statistics of school buildings in Milan, contributed to the final drawings and presentation.

Qian Liu also significantly contributed to the research-led design projects that encompassed the insights from this research project.

Research-led design projects:
- Redevelopment of Vimercate All-inclusive School Centre ( )
- Refurbishment of ‘Ruffini’ Primary School ( )

Master’s thesis research: Walking experience evaluation of urban three-dimensional commercial street

Wed, 29 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Keywords

Three-Dimensional Commercial Street; Walking experience; Analytic hierarchy process; Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation

Introduction

With the rapid process of urbanization and economic development, there is a common belief that urban space should be used more intensively, and that the three-dimensional development of urban space is a main approach to achieve this. Thus, Chinese cities are widely building three-dimensional urban systems, and the commercial three-dimensional system is one of the main types. However, new business models like e-commerce are leading to a decrease in the use rate of these systems. To slow down this decrease, improving the walking experience of these systems would be an effective approach, and accurately evaluating walking experience in these systems to figure out the defects is essential to take this approach.

This research focuses on walking experience in commercial three-dimensional systems. Taking Optics Valley Pedestrian Zone as the main case, this research aims to identify the indices and evaluation method of walking experience in commercial three-dimensional systems, and to determine how to improve walking experience using the evaluation results.

In the first and second parts, the research analyses concept and evaluation principles based on current research and theories. Meanwhile, the research thoroughly analyses the walking space system of Optics Valley Pedestrian Zone. On the basis of the first two parts, the research establishes an evaluation index system, and then calculates the weights of each index. Using this system, the research carries out a field study and collects pedestrian satisfaction evaluation data of walking experience in Optics Valley Pedestrian Zone. The next phase of the research identifies which indices require the most improvement, based on the collected data. In the final part of this research, the author puts forward recommendations to improve the indices that require the most improvement.

This research adopts a comprehensive methodology to fulfil the complex and multi-phase research objectives. First, the research sets participatory design as the basic principle and final goal. Post-occupancy evaluation provides the foundational methodology framework for this research. Specifically, space syntax analysis was used for the basic reading and understanding of the case study’s spatial configuration. Then, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is adopted to define the evaluation index system, and on this basis, questionnaires are compiled and sent out to collect evaluation data. Next, evaluation scores are calculated for each index item using Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation (FCE). Finally, to translate the evaluation results into practical suggestions and guidance, Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) is utilised.

This comprehensive methodology uses multiple software and tools, including SPSS for data statistics, Yaahp for the AHP method, and depthMap for space syntax analysis, along with other visualisation and graphic tools.

The research determines a complete index system for evaluation of walking experience in commercial three-dimensional systems. With the case study of Optics Valley Pedestrian Zone, the research finds that factors concerning ‘comfort’ and ‘convenience’ affect walking experience in commercial three-dimensional systems the most, and also finds that Optics Valley Pedestrian Zone exhibits some problems in these areas. These problems can be solved, and consequently, both walking experience and space use rate would improve.

My role

Qian Liu carried out this research project independently under the supervision of Prof. Hexuan Dong.

Research on the planning and design of micro-scale public spaces

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Keywords

Micro-scale public space; Embedding; Fixing; Public participation; Hanyang

Introduction

Micro-scale public space refers to small-scale public space containing daily life, which is an important tool of micro-generation. Firstly, the concept, categories and current situation of micro-scale public space are analysed. The principles of micro-scale public space planning are ’embedding’, ‘fixing’ and ‘public participation’, and the goal is ‘supplement and perfection of public space system’.

In this research project, ‘micro-scale public space’ is defined as: public spaces that are small in scale, large in number, evenly distributed, and located close to residents’ living or transit areas, serving basic daily life needs. They do not have absolutely strict size limits, but are defined relative to large public spaces in the city that are not always easily accessible for all residents. Their size is typically between approximately 300-5000m².

Micro-scale public spaces form the base level of the urban public space system, and are critical to urban equality as they offer equitable access to high-quality public spaces. Large urban parks and greenways serve as the core or axes of the urban public space system, while medium-sized public spaces, such as central green spaces and open sports facilities, constitute the main nodes of the urban spatial network. In contrast, small parks, squares, and green spaces are small in area, scattered in layout, and permeate every corner of the city. These are the spaces most easily accessed and used daily by ordinary citizens, especially vulnerable groups at the grassroots level, and they play a fundamental role. In other words, micro-scale public spaces solve the ’last mile’ problem of the urban public space system.

Based on the surrounding urban functions and the primary users they serve, micro-scale public spaces can be classified into five categories: community, commercial, transport, tourism, and public service. These five types of micro-scale public spaces each have distinct characteristics in terms of spatial form, function, and usage. Therefore, the planning of urban micro-scale public spaces must fully consider these characteristics and be carried out with a targeted approach.

With the improvement of living standards, citizens’ demand for urban public spaces is also increasing. However, for a long time, at the planning and management level, China’s current planning and architectural design system has not clearly defined the scope of responsibility for urban micro-scale public spaces. This has led to a ’no one’s responsibility’ situation in many cities regarding the planning, design, investment, construction, use, and management of micro-scale public spaces.

This research has found that this management situation has caused significant problems in the current development of urban micro-scale public spaces. Firstly, the quality of facilities and greening in existing micro-scale public spaces are unsatisfactory. Secondly, the hierarchy of urban public spaces is incomplete. Large and medium-sized public spaces dominate, while micro-scale public spaces, for various reasons, have not fully played their due urban functions, resulting in a serious lack of the ’last mile’ in the urban public space system. Finally, the functional facilities of urban micro-scale public spaces are monotonous, and the facilities, layout, functions, and landscape are all very similar. They fail to fully explore the city’s unique cultural and natural characteristics, making it difficult for citizens to feel a sense of belonging and identity.

However, despite these problems, there are relatively abundant existing spatial resources available for micro-scale public space, such as front space of stores, spaces between buildings, and community green spaces. With reasonable and appropriate planning and development, these can be transformed into high-quality micro-scale public spaces that meet the daily needs of citizens.

This research proposes ’embedding,’ ‘repairing,’ and ‘public participation’ as three key methodological principles for micro-scale public space planning. The ’embedding’ principle requires, based on a full understanding of the unique role of micro-scale public spaces, analysing the existing public space system and ’embedding’ micro-scale public spaces in appropriate locations within the existing system. This ensures that they neither conflict with nor overlap with existing large and medium-sized public spaces, forming a complete hierarchical public space system.

The ‘repairing’ principle requires replacing ‘adding’ with ‘repairing’ as much as possible to sustainably develop the potential of urban spaces. This means making efforts to identify potential and undeveloped spatial resources, such as spaces between buildings, wider pavements, and spaces under elevated roads, and transforming them into high-quality micro-scale public spaces by improving their spatial quality, rather than deliberately creating new spaces by demolishing buildings.

The ‘public participation’ principle is the most important one, requiring the inclusion of community residents in the planning and design process, and fully collecting and respecting their opinions. Urban micro-scale public spaces are widely distributed, scattered, and deeply integrated into the city. Relying solely on a limited number of planning and design personnel makes it difficult to conduct comprehensive surveys and in-depth experiential research. As the high-frequency users of urban micro-scale public spaces, community residents are the authoritative judges of their quality. Their participation will greatly improve the efficiency and accuracy of micro-scale public space planning. In addition to traditional methods such as questionnaires and in-depth interviews, the digital age allows for the use of digital platforms, enabling space users to directly express practical suggestions and needs. During the planning implementation process, these users of micro-scale public spaces can also directly participate in the development of planning and design schemes.

To translate micro-scale public space planning outcomes into practical action guidelines, this research also discusses how to develop a planning implementation control system, including implementation regulations and management, implementation entities and methods, and phased action plans. Furthermore, this research points out the necessity of conducting detailed designs for a few representative micro-scale public spaces, serving as design guidelines to complement the planning scheme.

Finally, the research results are applied to the Hanyang District micro-scale public space planning project ( ), putting into practice the planning principles and methods proposed in the research.

My role

Qian Liu conducted thorough participatory investigation on the Hanyang District, carried out comparative case studies and literature review, contributed to analysing and proposing design strategies, and co-authored research papers.

Cross-Scale Production and Integration of Public Space: Insights from the Boston Experience

Mon, 27 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Keywords

Urban Design; Boston Experience; Public Space; Grey-Green Infrastructure; Architectural Intervention; Cross-Scale Integration

Introduction

This research project establishes Boston (including the Greater Boston area) as its core empirical subject, offering a deep analysis of the city’s spatial governance strategies in response to the challenges of high-density modernization. As one of the oldest and most dynamic cities in the United States, Boston has accumulated extensive historical experience in the renewal of urban stock and the systematic construction of public space. By interpreting a series of landmark urban design and architectural cases across different scales, this project aims to reveal the underlying logic of macroscopic infrastructure integration and microscopic architectural repair, providing a theoretical reference for spatial production in contemporary high-density cities.

The Macro Dimension:
At the macro level, the project focuses on the integration of “grey and green infrastructure.” It provides an in-depth analysis of Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace, the Charles River Park, and the renowned Big Dig (Central Artery/Tunnel Project). Through these three cases spanning different historical periods, the study reveals how Boston synergized municipal “grey infrastructure” (transportation, flood control) with ecological “green infrastructure.” This multidimensional coordination successfully transformed fragmented engineering lands into large-scale linear public spaces with high ecological performance and social service functions, achieving the secondary development and stitching of large-scale urban stock resources.

The Micro Dimension:
At the micro level, the project explores the unique pathways of architectural intervention in urban micro-renewal within Boston and its surrounding areas. The research selects the controversial Boston City Hall Plaza, Le Corbusier’s only building in North America—the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University, and the Harvard Square Subway Kiosk as key case studies. Through the analysis of these cases, the project posits that “the production of mini-type public space is the other half of architectural design’s mission.” It elucidates how, in Boston’s high-density neighborhoods, architecture actively repairs urban fabric and activates neighborhood life through morphological replacement, structural reconfiguration, and functional coupling, rather than existing merely as isolated entities.

Conclusion:
In summary, this project constructs a cross-scale research framework of “Infrastructure-Urban-Architecture” based on the Boston experience. It aims to distill the dual strategies of “Grey-Green Integration” and “Architectural Intervention” from Boston’s century of practice, offering practical strategies and valuable insights for cities transitioning through stock renewal to address the scarcity of public space and enhance spatial performance.

Survey of modern heritage between 1949-1978 in Wuchang District, Wuhan

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Keywords

Wuchang District; Wuhan; Value composition; Evaluation criteria; Modern heritage

Introduction

As a valuable part of tangible cultural heritage, historical buildings are indelible marks that humanity has left throughout history. Historical buildings from different periods are material objects from specific historical times, carrying significant historical, social, cultural, and economic value.

The three decades from the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 to the reform and opening up in 1978 were a unique historical period for the young nation. Under the circumstances of collectivity, urban construction saw the emergence of many remarkable buildings, whose forms, originality, and context evoked considerable responses. These buildings possess significant artistic value. Some represent breakthroughs in architectural technology, demonstrating bold attempts to use new materials and technologies. Others preserve memories of continuous development in infrastructure construction and modernisation during the early years of the People’s Republic of China, embodying the characteristics of modern cities. Furthermore, some buildings, still inhabited by original residents, offer a genuine portrayal of production activities and life experiences. They carry important social emotions related to people’s life experiences and the collective construction of new China, and are crucial to understanding a city’s cultural deposits.

Despite these values, the buildings between 1949 and 1978 are usually absent from the preserving plans in most cities in China. This research aims to provide a pioneering example for identifying and protecting such valuable modern built heritages.

Therefore, this research develops a set of widely applicable and effective value evaluation criteria for historical buildings constructed after the founding of the People’s Republic of China (1949-1978). It uses Wuchang District (in Wuhan city) as an example, aiming to both meet the need for protecting architectural heritage and provide a theoretical foundation for the value evaluation and protection of historical buildings in Wuhan city and China, constructed after 1949.

This research begins with a review of the basic theories of value evaluation and the protection of historical buildings, both domestically and internationally. It then analyses the components of value in historical buildings constructed after the founding of the People’s Republic of China (1949-1978). Using Wuchang District of Wuhan city as a case study, this research proposes a preliminary value evaluation framework suitable for these buildings. Through several site investigations and discussions with experts, this framework is refined.

Finally, this research develops a value evaluation method that combines rapid recording with hierarchical evaluation, and applies it to select a list of notable historical buildings in Wuchang District from this period.

My role

Qian Liu carried out survey and archival research on Luojiashan Community and Jiyuqiao Community, contributed to preparing the final report and presentation.

Research Projects |

Doctoral thesis research: Sustainable production of public spaces in small historic cities in China

Keywords

Introduction

My role

Research on the morphological evolution of Zhengding

Keywords

Introduction

My role

School buildings towards a new extraordinary

Keywords

Introduction

My role

Related output

Master’s thesis research: Walking experience evaluation of urban three-dimensional commercial street

Keywords

Introduction

My role

Research on the planning and design of micro-scale public spaces

Keywords

Introduction

My role

Cross-Scale Production and Integration of Public Space: Insights from the Boston Experience

Keywords

Introduction

Survey of modern heritage between 1949-1978 in Wuchang District, Wuhan

Keywords

Introduction

My role