A Comparison Study Of Northeast China And Korea’s Modern Railway Cities And Architecture

Chinese Eastern railway southern line of China and Gyeongbu railway of Korea were the main railway lines of Northeast China and Korea during the modern period( 1895-1945). Railway terminal and hub cities became the major cities along these lines, which developed more rapid than other regular cities along the line. Furthermore, the administrative and economic structure of the nation began to reorganize around these major cities.The main subject of this study are the major cities of Chinese Eastern railway southern line cities, which are Haerbin, Changchun, Shenyang, Dalian, and the major cities of Gyeongbu railway, which are Seoul, Daejeon, Daegu, Busan.This study is carried out in the following five steps.First, we analyze the formation of western and colonial railways and its influence on western and colonial cities, and examine the thesis of the relationship between transportation development and spatial development of cities. Second, we study the formation and development of the two main lines, and also compare the characteristics of these lines. Third, we examine each railway by the period division of railway network development. Also, we analyze the spatial relationship between railway and the city. Fourth, we divide the railway cities into three categories by their characteristics. In each category, we compare the cities’ development, structure and city planning, etc. At last, we study the influence of the railway on cities’ architecture by comparing the features of architectural style, technology, and architects.This study uses “railway transportation” as a tool for city and architecture comparison, which provides a new perspective of understanding northeast China and Korea’s modern cities and architecture.As a result, by analyzing and comparing cities in the perspective of railway formation and expansion, we found out how cities developed along the railway network, and its dual characteristics; modernity and coloniality. The similarities of geography and construction purpose of the two lines were reflected on the major cities, which had similarities in the city development process, city structure and cityscape. Also, we noticed that during the formation of railway network, not only new modern railway facilities were built, but also standardization of these architecture occurred. Furthermore, railway facilities were built near the railway station considering the geographical location, reflecting the modernity of functionalism planning. Due to the fact that these two lines were exploited as Japanese colonial railways, cities’ architecture was directly influenced by the Japanese main land’s architecture style and technology. The usage of architecture style and technology had strong political and military purpose, demonstrating the coloniality of architectural culture during this period.