The intertidal zone and waterfront – A study on the morphological mechanism of the marshland zone in the south of Guangzhou city

Abstract

This paper analyzes the influence of urban elements on urban plots and their mutual transformation process in history and finds that the intertidal zone plays a key role in the cycle of urban expansion into the river. Historically, river canals and roads were both the transportation lines on which plots depended, while the ramparts fixed the city site, southern city became waterfront area and between the Pearl River was the intertidal zone. With the sedimentation and artificial filling, new levees, waterfront areas and new canals were born in intertidal zone, while old canals silted up into roads or eventually disappeared. However, the construction of the Long-Bund break the cycle, creating a stable hard boundary beside Pearl River and exhausting the scope for expansion of southern city. As a result, the Long-Bund turned to high-rise buildings, forming the financial and commercial center of Guangzhou at that time. On the other hand, it can be observed that the new types of buildings on the Long-Bund were still partly constrained by the logic of traditional plots. The Long-Bund area was the result of a series of historical mechanisms and events.