LAUSR

ABSTRACT Urban space is the carrier of human social life, and its form plays an important role in urban development. We here employ space syntax model to analyse the urban morphology of Nanfeng in the city of Fuzhou, China during five time periods: the late Qing Dynasty, 1960, 2004, 2014, and 2021. Results show that the spatial form of Nanfeng has gone through three stages: concentrated development, axial development, and decentralized development. The spatial development of Nanfeng is concentrated in the south and dispersed in the north. The direction of the urban spatial form is consistent with the development direction of the integrated core centre, and the transfer of the urban center is synchronized with the evolution of the spatial form. The ancient city is centred on a ‘cross’ street structure with a relatively dense and complex internal spatial texture, and the overall space of the new city is sparse and has a grid-like form. Here, we reveal the development patterns of urban spatial forms under urbanization, and provide guidance for the protection of ancient cities and the sustainable development of new cities as well as for urban spatial optimization.