Customer Reviews

Chinese Imperial City Planning

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Chinese Imperial City Planning is an excellent historical account of the spatial development of China's ancient cities. Extremely well researched, Steinhardt does a nice job of chronicling the impacts each empire had on urban form in China.

As a scholar interested in Japanese and other East Asian cities, the author's chapter discussing China's historical legacy to urban form in Ancient Japan, was especially interesting. This chapter clearly illustrates how necessary the study of Chinese cities is to the understanding of other Asian cities. It also demonstrates the care Steinhardt took in her research.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in the historical origins of urban planning and spatial form in China and Japan.

A classic book -- the paperback version is less intimidating (much lighter in weight and also cheaper in price) than the hardback, so this is a must-have for those interested in Chinese historical studies.

The tradition of Chinese imperial cities is one of the longest and best-documented traditions of preindustrial urbanism. Steinhardt identifies the principles that structured traditional Chinese city planning, construction, and use. The book is well written with many good plans and illustrations. A major contribution to urban history.