Space Configuration and Movement Pattern of Chinese Traditional Settlement A case study of Wangkou, Wuyuan County

While most research on Chinese traditional settlements has predominantly focused on interpretation and re-interpretation of Confucian cultural ideas, syntactic analysis revealed that these settlements were configured with variability to social and economic processes of settlement growth and evolution. A centrality process similar to the one described by Hillier was observed, in which communal buildings like ancestral halls and shops tended to be concentrated on the integration structure as well as certain strategically vantage locations of a settlement. This raises a question of whether the spatial structure may have a social implication on settlement growth and evolution. This paper reports a case study of Wangkou, a quasi-market town in Wuyuan county, China. Space syntax theories and methods are applied to the modeling of pedestrian movement pattern of the settlement. Pedestrian movement data were observed on weekdays by using gate count method from randomly sampled street segments. Statistical correlations are explored between configurational measures of settlement layout and movement densities in order to find out how far the spatial structure per se can impact or determine pedestrian movement, and which spatial variable gives the best correlation with movement rate. Research findings reveal that movement densities in Wangkou are largely correlated with the global properties of space configuration in general, and the choice measure of the shortest routes in particular, rather than the location of particular attractors like shops and institutional buildings. The case study also suggests when the "practical choice" of space for through movement largely agrees with the "theoretical" choice structure of a settlement whose pedestrian is mainly composed by local residents, the choice measure would be likely to produce a better correlation with pedestrian movement in that settlement. 1. The Study of Social Cultural Aspects of Chinese Traditional Settlements A key issue on research of Chinese traditional settlement forms is to investigate spatial patterns of settlements in relation to social cultural context in which space was created. Although it is generally acknowledged that space and society are impacted on each other, thus creating our perception of human aspects or the quality of "placeness" of traditional built environments, few study could be able to show the ways in which spatial forms and social processes of traditional settlements are actually interrelated with each other to give rise to settlement growth and evolution. While most research on Chinese traditional settlement forms has predominantly focused on interpretation and re-interpretation of Confucian cultural ideas, syntactic analysis revealed that these settlements were configured with variability to social and economic processes of settlement growth and evolution. A centrality process similar to the one described by Hillier was observed (Hillier, 1999), in which communal buildings like ancestral halls and shops tended to be concentrated on the integration structure as well as certain strategically vantage locations of a settlement (figure 1). It has been argued that the evolutionary process of these settlements were