City: Regional Landscape System and Urban Zoning—The Yangzhou City on Shugang Hill and the Water Network

This Chapter investigates the urban structure of Yangzhou City during the Sui-Tang Period (581–907 CE) from the perspective of a regional landscape system, focusing on how the combined framework of the Shugang Hill and the engineered water network structured urban zoning and spatial organization. Located at the junction of hills, alluvial plains, the Yangtze River, and the Grand Canal system, Yangzhou City developed a city form in which natural landforms and hydraulic infrastructures together constituted a stable landscape structure for urban construction. From a landscape architectural and urban morphological perspective, this chapter analyzes how mountain barriers, canal systems, reservoirs, and inner-city waterways collectively shaped the distribution and evolution of major urban zones, including the government precinct, market and commercial areas, ward-based residential districts, gardens, and suburban extensions. Methodologically, the study integrates historical landscape interpretation with spatial analysis to examine the interaction between natural terrain, water management, and urban zoning processes. The analysis demonstrates that Yangzhou's urban development was not driven solely by political or economic factors, but by the long-term coordination between urban construction and a persistent regional landscape system. The city exemplifies a landscape-led model of urban zoning, in which water networks and topography functioned as formative mechanisms in shaping spatial order, offering an important reference for understanding landscape-based urban form in traditional Chinese cities.