Mapping Wuhan: historical morphological research

This paper presents the partial results of a historical morphological research of the urban form of the Chinese middle size city of Wuhan. The city with over 12 million inhabitants is a regional centre for the Yangtze River basin, located centrally in China, and according to national planning transforming from a monofunctional into a multifunctional economy, while retaining its basic industries based on steel manufacturing. The research uses the method of the Delft School of morphological analysis, applying the reductive mapping technique of homogeneous areas, and adding secondary connections as the middle scale of the city. The mapping is done in QGIS, using the Georeferencer software plugin to deform historical maps to fit the contemporary base map. By way of a conclusion, an indication is given of how the results are applicable in the daily urban design and planning of the municipality for the urban transformation and expansion.