Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 January 2001
This paper analyses connections between culture and architecture, and between political ideology and capital planning in a region of China. It poses two crucial questions: first, what were the contrasting architectural expressions between imperial palaces in Shenyang? Second, what were the underlying planning concepts of Shenyang, and what urban design models were used to realize that concept? This study shows that the development of Manchurian architecture and planning had been a result of cultural confluence and political governance.