The Communicability Of Historical And Cultural Spaces:A Study On The Production Of Space In The Bell And Drum Tower Area In Beijing

Since the late 20 th century,China has been comprehensively entering the period of socialist modernization construction,during which the material level and overall efficiency of urban life have been significantly improved.However,accompanying this progress,many urban problems have arisen,which have had a negative impact on people’s living experience in cities.The issue of how to make urban life happier has always been an important concern of both urban managers and academia.In modern Chinese cities,the existence of historical and cultural spaces,such as the Bell and Drum Tower area in Beijing,has its special significance.In the collision of local and global,tradition and modernity,historical and cultural spaces are connected,linking the imagined space and physical space,and playing a unique role in linking time,communicating people and the city.The Bell and Drum Tower area is taken as the research object in this article,and field research is conducted using methods such as participatory observation,interviews,and media textual analysis is also a method used here.Guided by the "communicative city" theory and the theory of production of space,the "communicability" of the Bell and Drum Tower area in Beijing is analyzed from three aspects: spatial practice,representations of space,and representational space.The aim is to explore the impact of the "communicability" of the Bell and Drum Tower area in Beijing and how to exert the impact on the "communicability" of Beijing,and to enrich the "communicative city" theory.At the same time,new ideas are attempted to be provided for building a more livable city.It is found in the research that the "communicability" of the Bell and Drum Tower area in Beijing is mainly reflected in three aspects: carrying daily interactions,transmitting power and identity,and bridging virtual and real worlds.Perception spaces such as commercial spaces,squares,and streets create rich daily interaction scenes,creating conditions for diverse communication in the city.Conceptual spaces shaped by spatial practices of ruling power,the public,and capital influence,shape,or strengthen the identity of city participants,while globalization and consumerism challenge local urban traditional cultural customs and lifestyles,causing significant harm to “communicability”.Representational spaces generated by "exploring shops”and " ticking off internet-famouse places” activities reflect the characteristics of the interweaving of virtual and real space production,and new media technologies expand the boundaries of communication,bringing new dimensions to urban communication from individual and interpersonal interaction levels.Based on the "communicability" exhibited by historical and cultural spaces,the protection and development of them are complementary to building more livable "communicative cities".On the one hand,historical and cultural spaces provide unique and important places for improving the "communicability" of the city.As a space that communicates the past,present,and future,the spatial production practices of the Drum and Bell Tower area in Beijing can provide new action perspectives for many cities in China that have historical and cultural spaces to develop "communicability" at various levels,and this study argues that this is mainly reflected in four aspects: balancing time and space to sustain the core of the city,becoming more open to stimulate a sense of identity and participation,promoting collisions between heterogeneous elements through greater inclusivity,and balancing the advantages and disadvantages of mediatization in a rational manner.On the other hand,research and practice of “communicability” in cities provide guidance for the protection and development of historical and cultural spaces.However,the problems faced by historical and cultural spaces in the modernization construction of cities also sound the alarm for their protection and development.