Regeneration Strategies for Guangzhou Shangxiajiu-Dishifu Historic District through Urban Catalyst Theory

Historic districts are an important part of urban cultural heritage and areas for urban regeneration. In China's rapid urbanization, the regeneration of historic districts has generally focused on spatial and functional dimensions while paying insufficient attention to cultural dimensions. The original large-scale development and restructuring are no longer applicable to them. The purpose of the urban catalyst theory is to activate the original elements in the parcel without completely changing them and to activate the vitality of the whole area through appropriate guidance, from point to network, utilizing the linkage reaction between the elements to drive progressive development. This concept provides strategic guidance for the regeneration of historic districts, and its concept of "micro-regeneration" is suitable for the current urban development needs of stock optimization, which is conducive to the spatial and functional regeneration process of "use for preservation" and the realization of cultural renaissance. Taking the Shangxiajiu-Dishifu Historic District in Guangzhou as an example, this paper explores the historic district's cultural value and practical regeneration strategies by combining relevant theories, cases and practical experiences. The thesis is divided into five chapters. Firstly, the origin and concept of catalyst theory and its development history in Europe are sorted out, combined with the current research status and typical cases in China and abroad, to find out the combination point between urban catalyst theory and historic district regeneration to analyze the continuous regeneration mechanism of historic districts as the catalyst of urban regeneration, and to construct the strategy for the regeneration of historic districts in the view of catalysts, including four key steps, namely, selection of catalytic effect perspective, screening and determination of catalyst carriers, reconstruction and activation of the material catalyst carriers, and control and guidance of the non-material catalyst carriers. The selection of catalytic effect perspective includes three dimensions: space, function, and culture; the screening and classification mechanism of catalyst carriers includes material catalysts in the spatial dimensions of points, lines and surfaces, as well as non-material catalysts in the cultural dimensions of traditional historical and cultural resources and daily life customs; reconstruction and activation strategy focuses on the elaboration of the operation methods of the material catalysts, including space remodeling and renovation, functional substituton and integration, the control and guidance of the non-material catalyst carriers focuses on the guidance of non-material catalysts to the catalytic process, including construction, event, and policy guidance. After that, the Shangxiajiu-Dishifu Historic District in Guangzhou is taken as an empirical case, and a detailed site analysis is carried out to select and categorize the potential catalyst carriers such as architectural monoliths, streets and alleys, public spaces, traditional cultural resources, and so on, to formulate a regeneration strategy and application plan under the viewpoint of urban catalyst, and to present the expected effects. The research's results show that urban catalyst, as a micro-regeneration theory, attaches importance to synergistic development within the city and meets the dual needs of conservation and development of historic districts with sustainable development ideas.