Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of California, Los Angeles, 2002. / Chair: Richard Von Glahn. Includes bibliographical references.

As a city that has played an important part in the industrialization process of the country, Wuxi owns many abandoned and dilapidated industrial plants in the inner city. The successful conservation cases of Shanghai’s industrial heritages really enlightened the Wuxi Municipal Government, which was also searching for ways to push forward economic restructuring while facing a land shortage in the city. Founded in 1919 by the well-known Chinese entrepreneurs the Rong brothers, the original No.3 Shenxin Factory used to be the biggest spinnery manufacturer in Wuxi. Then, in 2005, as the factory was transferred to industrial estate in suburban area, the original site became abandoned. Two years later, the original factory site was listed as industrial heritage of Wuxi and leased to the Hong Kong developer SPGland at the same time. The urban redevelopment project of Xi Shui Dong Factory (former No.3 Shenxin Factory) started in 2008. Kokaistudios was appointed by SPGland to lead the architectural conservation part. As a typical property developer-led conservation project in the heart of a redevelopment area including a number of high density residential towers and commercial centres, the Xi Shui Dong Factory project offers a challenge to the designers. The problem is which approach of conservation they should take and how they should deal with the relationship between the old buildings and the newly built ones. The dissertation focuses on the detailed study of a factory complex in the site and tries to analyze issues concerning the conservation of the factory complex in the context of the urban regeneration. At the same time it also brings to light the relative merits between property developer-led and culture-led conservation efforts. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

My idiolect, a Xin’an idiolect, belongs to the Wuxi dialect, which is the northern Wu dialect. It carries most of the characteristics of the Wuxi dialect, such as the tripartite division of the manner of articulation of initial stop consonants. However, with the special geographic position, on the bounty of Wuxi dialect from the northwest area to southeast area and connected with Suzhou city, my idiolect shows its unique features, such as the condition of the retroflex. This study analyzes the phonological system of the idiolect and discusses the features. Since the dialect of the suburban area of the Wuxi is rare, it was only documented in the local chronicles; therefore the study is a good supplemental material to the Wuxi dialect. Moreover, using the idiolect is like to use the phonological material with the specific area and social identity. It is well known that the variation of the language is related to the area, to the speaker’s social identity and to the situation, therefore the specific idiolect definitely will benefit researchers to analyze the dialect. Furthermore, idiolect is also a good sample to study the language diversity among the different social classes, which need to get more attention from scholars. With the influence of the Mandarin and the surrounding dialects, some phonological features of my idiolect are in the variation, such as the sharp and rounded sounds. In the thesis, the theory of the language contact is applied to explain my idiolect.

This paper adopts a geographical perspective to understand the conceptual and theoretical issues of resort morphology. Resort morphology refers to “the forms and associated functions of a destination area and their development”. Resort towns are differentiated from other urban areas in terms of morphology because of their functional emphasis on tourism. The literature reflects the significant interest of European geographers in the morphological study of coastal resort towns. However, limited attention has been given to resort morphology in developing countries. It is argued that the complex of contextual factors that influence the morphological character of resorts needs to be considered and, furthermore, there is a great need to develop a systematic approach for investigating resort morphology. Based on a review of literature, this paper first introduces the contributions and implications of related research to the understanding of resort morphology: study of resort evolution, the Recreational Business District, urban morphology, and Geographic Information System (GIS) applications. Then, the situation of China is addressed because there is a striking contrast between the rate of change and increasing complexity of Chinese resorts and the very limited amount of studies from either western or Chinese scholars. A quantitative-qualitative mixed research approach is introduced to understand transitional resort morphology in China. It involves classifying land uses, building a descriptive and explanatory framework, creating form-function maps, and the analysis of morphological characteristics. Two study areas are selected for detailed examination: a coastal resort town, Sanya and a lake-based resort town, Wuxi. Morphological changes associated with key contextual factors influencing tourism and recreational development are analyzed in these places. A comparative discussion of Sanya and Wuxi indicates similarities between their development patterns of resort morphology and their present morphological features but significant differences in terms of history, evolutionary process, tourism resources, location and level of economic development. It is less helpful simply to define models applicable to distinct Chinese water-based resort towns than to identify similarities among them. Rules for resort study in the Chinese context are recommended and the characteristics of morphological transformation in a typical water-based resort town are summarized in view of resort development patterns. It is indicated that the morphology of a typical water-based resort cluster can be in large part a function of its recreational hinterlands (urban areas), and whether it is well-planned or more naturally developed. Finally, the relationships between contextual factors, tourism development, and resort evolution and resort morphology are interpreted in the context of Chinese water-based resort towns. The significance of morphological research on current as well as past resort structure for future planning and conservation activities is indicated. A systematic approach, which combines the morphological method, the functional method and the evolutionary method, is suggested to study resort morphology. By using resort evolution theory, it is indicated that resort morphology can be clearly identified and explored within a conceptual framework. This study also shows that GIS techniques are highly applicable in the study of resort morphology. This study indicates that water-based resort morphology in China is presently characterized by intensive land use and dense development, fast settlement expansion associated with growing vacation property development, and a generally clustered pattern of accommodation. Tourism planning in China has developed procedures and strategies with little consideration for the historical process. Therefore, this study has implications for making reasonable development strategies and efficiently implemented policies and plans. Academically, resort morphology is clarified in both Chinese and Western contexts. Also, common characteristics of Chinese water-based resort towns are summarized and phenomena generated from western studies are tested in the Chinese cases.

This paper adopts a geographical perspective to understand the conceptual and theoretical issues of resort morphology. Resort morphology refers to “the forms and associated functions of a destination area and their development”. Resort towns are differentiated from other urban areas in terms of morphology because of their functional emphasis on tourism. The literature reflects the significant interest of European geographers in the morphological study of coastal resort towns. However, limited attention has been given to resort morphology in developing countries. It is argued that the complex of contextual factors that influence the morphological character of resorts needs to be considered and, furthermore, there is a great need to develop a systematic approach for investigating resort morphology. Based on a review of literature, this paper first introduces the contributions and implications of related research to the understanding of resort morphology: study of resort evolution, the Recreational Business District, urban morphology, and Geographic Information System (GIS) applications. Then, the situation of China is addressed because there is a striking contrast between the rate of change and increasing complexity of Chinese resorts and the very limited amount of studies from either western or Chinese scholars. A quantitative-qualitative mixed research approach is introduced to understand transitional resort morphology in China. It involves classifying land uses, building a descriptive and explanatory framework, creating form-function maps, and the analysis of morphological characteristics. Two study areas are selected for detailed examination: a coastal resort town, Sanya and a lake-based resort town, Wuxi. Morphological changes associated with key contextual factors influencing tourism and recreational development are analyzed in these places. A comparative discussion of Sanya and Wuxi indicates similarities between their development patterns of resort morphology and their present morphological features but significant differences in terms of history, evolutionary process, tourism resources, location and level of economic development. It is less helpful simply to define models applicable to distinct Chinese water-based resort towns than to identify similarities among them. Rules for resort study in the Chinese context are recommended and the characteristics of morphological transformation in a typical water-based resort town are summarized in view of resort development patterns. It is indicated that the morphology of a typical water-based resort cluster can be in large part a function of its recreational hinterlands (urban areas), and whether it is well-planned or more naturally developed. Finally, the relationships between contextual factors, tourism development, and resort evolution and resort morphology are interpreted in the context of Chinese water-based resort towns. The significance of morphological research on current as well as past resort structure for future planning and conservation activities is indicated. A systematic approach, which combines the morphological method, the functional method and the evolutionary method, is suggested to study resort morphology. By using resort evolution theory, it is indicated that resort morphology can be clearly identified and explored within a conceptual framework. This study also shows that GIS techniques are highly applicable in the study of resort morphology. This study indicates that water-based resort morphology in China is presently characterized by intensive land use and dense development, fast settlement expansion associated with growing vacation property development, and a generally clustered pattern of accommodation. Tourism planning in China has developed procedures and strategies with little consideration for the historical process. Therefore, this study has implications for making reasonable development strategies and efficiently implemented policies and plans. Academically, resort morphology is clarified in both Chinese and Western contexts. Also, common characteristics of Chinese water-based resort towns are summarized and phenomena generated from western studies are tested in the Chinese cases.

This research examines the intellectuals’ reform activities in local society at the turn of twentieth century. Focusing on Wuxi, a city in south China, this study seeks to shed light on two major issues. First, it studies the reform activities in the areas of education and print media in such a transformative era. I come to argue that differences existed between reforms at a national level and the circumstances in local society. These reformers in Wuxi provided the common people more choices besides Chinese learning, rather than following the ti-yong formula. They connected their reform proposals with the common people. Second, this study scrutinizes the complexity of their local endeavors. The most profound challenge these reformers encountered, I argue, was whether they could compete in the urban space, which had become a site of conflict and contestation.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, many powerful lineages appeared in the Jiangnan area. In this thesis, I take the Hua lineage of Wuxi county as an example, to study the emergence and transformation of these institutions, as well as the change of local society in the period. / In the Hua lineage, the word "lineage" includes two kinds of meanings: one is continued by blood, the other is constructed by special means. The former is implied in the the Hua Zhengu story in early Ming dynasty, which described when the family arrived at the bank of Lake E, reclaimed land, and, in time, became a lineage having many descendants. The latter was performed in ceremonies by many people surnamed Hua who lived in Wuxi county, including Hua Zhengu's descendants, who, through the ceremonies, designated themselves members of a large lineage. The ceremonies were supported by the building of ancestral halls, by compiling genealogies, and recalling stories of their connections to the ancestors. In the middle of the Ming dynasty, people of the Hua surname at Dangkou, where Hua Zhengu had settled, came to be known as a great lineage in Wuxi County. / My focus is not on building a "lineage society" . In the Jiangnan area, lineages were actively built only by a small number of people, while most of their members kept only a loose connection with their lineage. So the lineage exerted little authority on its members. In fact, the importance of the lineage lies in its economic function. Under the process of economic development, by building a charitable estate, lineage became a corporation, which in turn further accelerated the economic development of local society. Through the study of the impact the lineage and the town it settled had on each other, this thesis describes the specificity of the Jiangnan lineage in the Ming and Qing dynasties. / 余艶. / Adviser: David Faure. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-04, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 138-148). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Yu Yan.