Cultural Values and Urban Planning in China: Evidence of Constraints and Agency in the Development of the Historic City of Yangzhou

Abstract

Yangzhou, once a capital city of China, has been transformed into a post-Socialist city. This narrative of its urban development explains its evolution from “a city for the royal family to build its temporary palace” in Imperial China, through “a city as a tool to develop manufacturing industries” during the Socialist regime, to “an ecological garden and a city with an attractive living environment” in Transitional China. Changing value systems interact with economic and political constraints to explain the course of its urban history. The explanation rests on the premise that urban development ultimately depends on the investment potential of the local economy and local power constraints impinging upon adopted plans. This case study explores how political and economic constraints shape the ambitions of local policy makers and planners, thereby reflecting the evolution of those Chinese cultural values that as development imperatives have shaped urban planning practice in China.