Under the dual pressures of global urbanization and cultural heritage conservation,
historic urban quarters commonly face structural challenges such as fragmented spatial
form, the weakening of local culture, and rigid governance mechanisms. Existing
...
Under the dual pressures of global urbanization and cultural heritage conservation,
historic urban quarters commonly face structural challenges such as fragmented spatial
form, the weakening of local culture, and rigid governance mechanisms. Existing
studies tend to focus on physical environmental rehabilitation, while systematic
analyses of the continuity of cultural mechanisms remain insufficient and theoretical
support is relatively limited. Against this backdrop, this study selects Shudian Street in
Kaifeng, China, and Insadong in Seoul, South Korea, as representative cases. Through
a comparative study of historic urban quarters in China and South Korea, the research
aims to explore how historic urban quarters can maintain cultural continuity and local
identity in the process of modern urban renewal.
To address these issues, this study introduces Contextualism as its theoretical
foundation. Contextualism emphasizes the coordinated continuity of explicit context—
such as spatial form and urban texture—and implicit context, including social memory,
lifestyles, and cultural values. Its core principles closely align with the coupling
requirements of the “physical–cultural” dual dimensions in the renewal of historic urban
quarters. On this basis, the study integrates contextualism with urban renewal theory
and constructs a four-dimensional analytical framework comprising spatial
reconstruction, functional layout, cultural inheritance, and governance model. These
dimensions correspond respectively to explicit and implicit contexts, forming a
comprehensive analytical tool for the comparative study of historic urban quarters in
China and South Korea.
This research adopts a combination of literature review, policy analysis, field
investigation, and case comparison, following a research trajectory of “theoretical
construction–process analysis–structured comparison–comprehensive conclusion.”
Chapter One, as the introduction, clarifies the research background, research questions,
objects, scope, and methods, systematically explains the research significance and
technical route, and establishes the overall research framework, thereby providing the
problem awareness and logical starting point for the entire study.
Chapter Two focuses on conceptual and theoretical dimensions, systematically
reviewing the concepts of historic urban quarters, historical regions, and cultural
regions, and tracing the development of urban renewal theory and contextualism. On
this basis, a comprehensive analytical framework linking the “four dimensions of urban
renewal” with the elements of contextualism is constructed, providing a unified
theoretical coordinate system and analytical dimensions for subsequent research.
Guided by the theoretical framework established above, Chapter Three reviews the
evolution of renewal and conservation practices of historic urban quarters at the global
scale, as well as in China and South Korea. Focusing on Shudian Street in Kaifeng and
Insadong in Seoul, this chapter analyzes the phased shifts in policy orientation, spatial
rehabilitation priorities, and governance logic during their renewal processes. This
analysis verifies the applicability of the framework constructed in Chapter Two under
different historical stages and institutional contexts, and demonstrates the
comparability of the two cases, thereby establishing the comparative premises and
analytical coordinates for the cross-sectional, dimension-based comparison in Chapter
Four.
Chapter Four employs the “four dimensions of urban renewal–elements of
contextualism” framework as an analytical tool to conduct a structured empirical
comparison between Shudian Street and Insadong in terms of spatial reconstruction,
functional layout, cultural inheritance, and governance models. It reveals the
differentiated mechanisms of renewal pathways for historic urban quarters under
varying institutional and cultural backgrounds, providing empirical evidence for the
comprehensive conclusions and renewal strategies proposed in Chapter Five.
The research findings indicate that: (1) renewal pathways of historic urban quarters
are highly correlated with the structure of leading actors; government-led models tend
to emphasize image reshaping and spatial rehabilitation, whereas institutionalized
collaborative governance is more conducive to sustaining cultural ecology; (2)
coordination mechanisms between explicit and implicit contexts are critical to the
sustainable inheritance of culture; (3) the flexibility of governance structures
determines the adaptive capacity of historic urban quarters under pressures of tourism
development, commercialization, and gentrification; and (4) sustainable renewal of
historic urban quarters should shift from a “spatial rehabilitation-oriented” approach to
a “culture-driven” approach. Based on these findings, Chapter Five proposes strategies
including the repositioning of cultural functions, the construction of collaborative
governance mechanisms, progressive spatial optimization, and digital governance
support, providing transferable references for the renewal of historic urban quarters in
small and medium-sized cities in China.
The innovation of this study lies in constructing a comparative framework between
China and South Korea based on contextualism as a theoretical entry point, thereby
addressing the limitations of existing research in the coupled analysis of “cultural
mechanisms–spatial renewal.” Furthermore, through cross-national case comparisons,
the study reveals the structural differences in renewal models of historic urban quarters
under different institutional environments, offering theoretical support and practical
insights for regional cultural heritage conservation and urban renewal policy-making.