Despite the long history of Chinese philosophy that places man and nature in sympathy as part of a complementary and unified world, current approaches to urban development and design in Taiwan and China pay little regard to environmental quality. Thispaper aims to identify key relevant concepts drawn from ancient Chinese philosophy and to relate them to contemporary views of nature, and thereby to set these views in an intrinsic cultural context. In particular, recommendations are made with regard to how natural elements can be integrated in designed urban landscapes and public parks in China in a way that both contributes to environmental sustainability and which is also culturally relevant. A number of key concepts are identified which, it is suggested, can be used to translate several important principles of sustainable or ecological design, as developed in Western Countries, into the Chinese context. These concepts include: cooperation with nature, sustainable landscapes, transformation of dynamic landscape and ecological harmony and aesthetics.
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