Cross-Border Settlements: Island Morphological Evolution and Urban Development Characteristics in Hengqin
摘要
Hengqin, which is in rapid development, is an important area for strengthening of links between Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau in the Greater Bay AreaGreater Bay Area. Since the earliest record of Hengqin’s place name in the Jiajing-XiangshanXiangshan (Heungsan) County Record over 400 years ago, Hengqin has developed from a group of frontier islands into a strategic area. Its topography and urban morphologyUrban morphology have undergone tremendous changes, yet there is a gap in the field of research on urban morphology in Hengqin. In this paper, M. R. G. Conzen’sConzen, M. R. G. Urban MorphologyUrban morphology methodology, Town-Plan Analysis, is applied to the study of Hengqin. First, Hengqin’s urban development is divided into four morphological periods based on the history and morphological characteristics. Then, the relationship between the urban morphological characteristics of different periods and the contributions (e.g., social, political, cultural, historical, etc.) was analyzed in terms of town plan, building and land utilization, and building forms. The types of plan unitsTypes of plan units of each period also be shown. Finally, the connections with Macau are analyzed during different morphological periods.