Protection and Functional Transformation of City Walls from the Perspective of City Image-Making: A Comparative Study of the Nanjing City Wall and the York City Walls

With the acceleration of globalization and the increasing homogenization of urban spaces, how to form a distinctive city image and local identity has gradually become a concern in urban development. Ancient city walls originally served a clear military defense function, but with changes in urban structure and social needs, their function has gradually changed. Many of the city walls that have survived to this day are no longer just city boundaries, but have been reintegrated into contemporary urban life, becoming important carriers of public space, historical landscapes, and local cultural expression. This paper takes Kevin Lynch’s theory of city image as its main theoretical basis and draws on relevant research on time perception, place identity and city branding. It conducts a cross-cultural comparative study on the Nanjing City Wall and the York City Walls from three aspects: spatial form and image perception, functional transformation and spatial regeneration, and symbolic expression and image recognition. By comparing the spatial forms, functional uses, and roles in city image-making of the city walls of the two cities, this article further examines the characteristics of city wall heritage protection and reuse in different cultural contexts, aiming to provide insights for the revitalization of similar heritage spaces in historical cities.