City profile: Suzhou, China—The interaction of water and city: Fid-Bau Portal

City profile: Suzhou, China—The interaction of water and city

Wang, Yan / Wu, Wei / Boelens, Luuk

Abstract Urban development has always been related to water systems throughout history. Suzhou is a city with a proud past that is mostly built out of Chinese ingenuity in making water management a development factor. Its parallel pattern of land and water not only gave rise to the first water city model that displays the unique features of the south of Yangtze River Delta, but is also an active reflection of the planning and management of ancient Chinese cities when dealing with natural, urban development and human activities. The paper tells Suzhou's story about the interaction of water and city from urban morphology and urban governance perspectives. Through re-mapping, it will go into the distinguished periods to explore how the specific urban features (distinguished in natural and artificial waterways) have influenced urban development. Along with the prosperity of the water-cities, massive urban construction and environmental issues are enormous challenges in human process. In the rapid urbanization today, how to balance the historical city conservation and sustainable development? Learning from successful historical experiences, the paper sets the scene for more resilient approaches, to integrate and renovate resources for future developments, enhancing the adaptability and sustainability of cities in response to development-conservation challenges.

Highlights • The city and water: in space and time • Construction of the ‘water and city’ research framework • The feature of water management and urban development in Suzhou • The urban governance in Suzhou • Learning from historical experiences for future sustainable development