A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE CHANGE IN TOWNSCAPE IN HISTORICAL BLOCKS OF XI’AN, CHINA, AND KYOTO, JAPAN

Abstract

This paper uses space syntax to analyze discrepancies in the urban spatial structures of two historical cities during the modernization process. Axial line maps of the main urban areas of Xi'an, China, and Kyoto, Japan, are compared from the beginning of their modernization periods to the present day. Changes in the cities’ topological centers are analyzed, and the global and local relationships in their main urban areas are explored. The primary outcomes of the study are as follows:  1) With the expansion, the topological centers of the main two urban areas have changed. From (1902-2020), Kyoto's topological centers expanded simultaneously horizontally and vertically. Similarly, Xian’s center expanded from one (bell tower) in 1949 to two in 2019. For both cities, Global Integration Value (Int. V global) grew, notably in Kyoto, during the modernization era. Long-distance accessibility also increased, showing the two cities' drive toward motorization. 2) Average Int. V global change rates for the local historical blocks of Old Xi'an city were different across local and global growth rates of urban space, emphasizing the local development feature of the block evolution. In Kyoto's three wards, Int. V global change rates were close to the global change rate, showing a consistent change in Kyoto's global integration with a higher consistency in global street construction. 3) The correlation of global integration and local integration, as represented by intelligibility (R2), increased in both Xi’an and Kyoto, indicating that the solidarity of the respective regions increased during the modernization process. This is especially true for Kyoto.