Hybridizing old downtown Suwon City: how new urban fabric may save the past

In response to paradigm shifts of environmental, social and economic methods at the local and global scales, new approaches are required for creating alternative urban models which emphasize sustainability and landscape productivity. The Old Downtown of Suwon City, South Korea, which is encompassed by the Hwaseong Fortress and designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, is currently experiencing challenges between preservation and development – past and future. This thesis investigates sustainable and productive urban tactics to mediate this conflict. The primary focus of these tactics is the re-organization of land use towards more efficient and productive models born of contemporary science, technology, and culture, while simultaneously embracing and preserving key aspects of the city’s heritage