The Fragile Zhuting Historical City. Proposals for Preservation and Valorisation: From the Territorial to the Urban Scale

Zhuting was an ancient city before the Southern Song dynasty called PuWan. It is located in Hunan Province, south of Zhuzhou, and is the main prefecture-level town. The whole city is 88 km2, and in ancient times, it was a crucial military land in front of the Xiangjiang River and the Shizi Mountain in the back. Zhuting is part of the “Changzhutan Golden Triangle” (comprising the cities of Changsha, Zhuzhou, and Xiangtan). Since the Han dynasty, Zhuting has been a port town for business and trade. It is an area rich in material and cultural heritage, with the old dock, the Longtan Academy, and others. A lot of vernacular dwellings are kept in the old wharf. Their modelling is simple, and most are two-storeys with brick wood structures. The paper will present project preservation and valorisation proposals performed during a summer onsite workshop concentrated on the end part of the main historical road of the city’s historical centre.