Preservation in the Old City of Beijing: The "hutong-courtyard housing" system

The author is Professor of Urban Planning and Associate Dean of the School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, Beijing, People's Republic of China. He is also Deputy Director of the Center for Science of Human Settlements and of the Institute of Architectural and Urban Studies, Tsinghua University; Consultant, Rural and Urban Planning Consultative Committee, Ministry of Construction; and Vice Chairman, Beijing Urban Sciences Research Society. He is also currently Vice President of the World Society for Ekistics (WSE). The text that follows is a slightly revised and edited version of a paper presented by the authors at the international symposion on "Globalization and Local Identity," organized jointly by the World Society for Ekistics and the University of Shiga Prefecture in Hikone, Japan, 19-24 September, 2005.