Regeneration of Shangxiajiu Historic District in Guangzhou Based on Urban Acupuncture

With the rapid advancement of China's urbanization process, the arrival of the stock era has made the old town areas the main target for renewal and development. Among them, the historic districts not only constitute a significant part of the old town areas but also embody a rich historical and cultural heritage and folk customs, deserving attention and revitalization. Due to limited construction funds and the contemporary requirements of urban health, further in-depth research is necessary for the theories and practices of micro-renovation. Against this backdrop, the article introduces "urban acupuncture". Drawing upon research into the theoretical development and practical exploration of urban acupuncture in Western and Chinese, it establishes connections between foundation for development, functional regions, corridors, and vitality points, and the concepts of vitality, viscera, meridians, and acupoints in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Then the eight core principles of urban acupuncture are summarized and the planning methodology is organized into five steps: "diagnosing", "injecting vitality", "harmonizing viscera", "dredging meridians", and "stimulating acupoints". Compared to other micro-renovation approaches, urban acupuncture offers the advantages of precise and impactful transformations in small scales. The article further analyzes two different cases of urban regeneration in Barcelona, regeneration of the old town and surroundings and regeneration of Superblock, using the planning methodology as a logical framework. By grasping systematic and detailed acupuncture regeneration strategies, including selecting and stimulating acupoints related to distinctive districts, parks and plazas, streets, buildings, and intangible factors, the study provides insights. Then the urban acupuncture cases in China are analyzed and summarized, leading to the proposal of a comprehensive practical framework that encompasses both material and intangible elements. And subsequently, the applicability analysis of urban acupuncture in the context of old town renewal and development in Guangzhou is conducted. Furthermore, the practical framework of "urban acupuncture" is applied to a typical historic district in Guangzhou, which is called Shangxiajiu Historical District. Above all, the site is diagnosed by analyzing aspects such as historical evolution, renovation retrospection, roads and streets, plazas and nodes, buildings and its functions, historical elements, and neighborhood public opinion. Four major dilemmas are identified: depleted vitality, imbalanced viscera, obstructed meridians, and inactive acupoints. These dilemmas are systematically addressed through four regeneration strategies: aligning with higher-level planning, utilizing development advantages, seizing opportunities to inject vitality; establishing spatial structures, integrating functional layouts, and controlling overall style to harmonize viscera; optimizing road networks, organizing roaming pathways, and expanding publicity to dredge meridians; and creating distinctive districts, enhancing parks and plazas, embellishing streets, revitalizing buildings, and utilizing intangible factors to stimulate acupoints. Finally, a blueprint for the regeneration of the Shangxiajiu Historical District is depicted, supplemented with relevant implementation mechanisms to achieve the envisioned goal of becoming a "showcase for Lingnan culture and a model area for the integrated development of cultural tourism and commerce".