Urban Landmark Protection And Urban Context Continue

Generally the contemporary Chinese understanding of the urban landmark remains tied to American landmark cognition theory,which was developed in the 1960s.This theory proposed a definition of the landmark based on external morphology and location,with the result that many grandiose-in both design and mass-architectures have been designated as landmarks which has meant that many are employed by developers for their own benefit.There is,therefore,a pressing need to establish a proper system of landmark definition and identification.A good reference for such a system are the landmark preservation processes and relevant regulations employed in the United States,where such regulations cover individual building preservation,external environmental preservation,urban growth,historical areas and revitalized spaces.This breadth of process illustrates a shift from spontaneous preservation(e.g.small scale campaigns for individual building or wild spaces)to a regulated,professional and market-orientated system of regulation.Such a system embodies the necessary departure from an educational and memorial orientated view to one which recognizes,and is able to respond to,continuously changing developments within the life of community.First,this paper analyzes the roots of the chaos in the construction of urban landmarks in China,and the concurrent reasons for the lagging situation of Chinese academic research in the related fields.Second,the paper gives an overall review of the origin and the development of the concept of the landmark in the United States,and points out the cultural connotation and social recognition of the landmark.Third,through analyzing four case studies,this paper describes the process of landmark preservation and the shift in public values in the United States.In the fourth section,the paper highlights the form,function,attributes,and connotations of the urban landmark,particularly the dialectical relation between urban landmark and the city context,comprehensively examining the territory of the urban landmark from a multi-disciplinary perspective.Finally,the paper concludes that preservation legislation and professional specification are integral to the healthy development of the urban landmark in China and that it is critical to address the issues of the urban landmark within urban growth in order to enhance the citizens' sense of ownership of,and cultural identification with,urban space.This paper adopts a multidisciplinary methodology that combines literature research and field investigation while trying to make innovations within the research into the definition and preservation of the urban landmark.