Research on Housing Planning Development Design in Mountainous Area: Difference between China and Hawaii

Abstract

With the rapid development of urbanization in China, more and more houses are being put up; however, the land resources available are quite limited. As a result, the problem of residential development has become a contradiction between man and land. Owing to the feature of this development situation, and the fact that the majority of land resources are in the form of mountains or hills, people have to consider how to develop mountainous areas to increase the living space. However, in the process of building mountainous residential buildings, the protection of land and environmental resources is often neglected due to the pursuit of the maximization of commodity interests and the large demolition and construction of land resources in mountainous areas, which result in the loss of land resources and the occurrence of various consequent natural disasters.

Therefore, the author of this dissertation takes the opportunity of this dualdegree training program between Tongji University and the University of Hawaii, compares the similarities and differences of the development of residential house between China and Hawaii, and draws vantages and advantages from mountainous or hillside residential development in Hawaii to explore how to solve and improve the development of China’s domestic mountainous residential houses and the contradiction between man and land to provide guidance for the sustainable construction of new rural housing in mountainous areas by examining the characteristics and ideas of mountainous and hillside houses of development in Hawaii.

This present thesis is divided into eight chapters. Chapter One serves as the introduction, which mainly introduces the background, purpose and significance of the research. Chapter Two presents the related theoretical research, which mainly discusses related domestic and foreign theoretical research on the use and development of mountainous areas and mountain cities from all ages, and makes a detailed introduction to the contents of theoretical research based on the theories of mountainous residential settlements. Chapter Three, the Historical Development of the Mountainous Residences in Hawaii and Mainland China, focuses on and compares the characteristics of the historical development of the mountainous residential areas and the historical process of the use of mountainous areas in the United States and China, and compares the differences between the two regions through the perspectives of residential layout model, courtyard and public space as well as road development, and concludes that there is a fundamental similarity between them, namely, mountainous areas were by no means easy to reach before there emerged powered means of transport. Chapter Four, the Modern Planning Development of the Mountainous Residences in Hawaii and the Development of Domestic Modern Mountainous Residences, focuses on and compares the planning characteristics and mountain utilization features in the development of modern mountainous residential areas in Hawaii, the United States and in China to find out the differences and draw the surface similarities in the use of cluster layout model in mountainous areas by means of progressive land use mechanism and planned construction modes. Chapter Five, a Comparison of the Design Norms for Mountain Residential Buildings in Hawaii and in China, mainly studies the classification as well as planning and designing norms of the residential lands in Hawaii and China, summarizes several typical directions to compare their difference and reaches the conclusion that China can learn and benefit from some norms in Hawaii. Chapter Six, A Case Study of the Practices and Characteristics of Sloping Land and Mountainous Residences in Oahu Region, Hawaii, summarizes the characteristics and features of the planning and construction of the two categories of mountainous and hillside residential areas in Hawaii. Chapter Seven, the Planning and Design of Mountainous Residential Buildings in FengGang Township, completes the design of renewal, mainly targeted at Mainland China’s current mountainous residential situation to provide innovative tips and renewal programs for the planning and design of China’s mountainous and hillside residential areas. Chapter Eight, Conclusion and Prospects, puts forward three guiding opinions for the sustainable development planning model of the new type of mountainous and hillside residences in China, looking forward to further and more detailed research in the future.

The whole thesis illustrates the author’s reflections on the comparison of mountainous and hillside residential buildings between Hawaii and Mainland China and the consequent conclusions. Due to the limit of time and the limited vision of the author, there is still some room to be desired.