Nanjing City Wall: embodied heritage in wallscape

Nanjing City Wall is one of the largest city walls in China. As the capital of Ming Dynasty between 1368-1420 CE, the wall was built to protect the city. A four-wall system separated the royal palace in the city from the countryside. After approximately six hundred years of damage by humans and nature, the importance of this ancient heritage was realized. However, as the wall has been nominated to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the government is implementing its preservation policy to sanitize the surrounding neighborhoods which are in poor condition. The preservation plan puts too much emphasis on picturesque landscapes. As such, by reviewing the history and representations of the City Wall, the thesis studies the important relationship between the wall, adjacent landscape and the entire city. Mapping and analysis of city wall is done to critique the current conservation policy. Design strategy is proposed to envision potential of the wall as heritagescape