From Jiangnan water land to Greater Shanghai: exploring ‘nature-culture holistic conservation’ in an international metropolis

Abstract In this paper, through a policy and planning analysis of nature-culture integration, a ‘nature-culture holistic conservation’ paradigm is proposed to address the disconnection between nature and culture in the development of Chinese metropolises. Drawing on the historic urban landscape (HUL) approach and integrating the Eastern philosophy of ‘harmony between heaven and humans’, this study takes Shanghai as a case to construct a theoretical framework for the holistic conservation of 'nature-culture ecosystems' tailored to megacities. The research reveals that Shanghai’s urban genetic code is deeply embedded in a nature-culture foundation characterised by the organic integration of ‘mountains, waters, settlements, and fields’, which has shaped the city's distinctive urban character and value. However, owing to factors such as the megacity’s vast spatial scale and fragmented administrative governance structures, the existing conservation system suffers from significant fragmentation at the planning, governance, and practice levels, which constrains the realisation of holistic value. The paper argues that Shanghai should transcend the single-element conservation model by incorporating the recognition and interpretation of ‘nature-culture’ relationships into planning frameworks across different scales and by considering the natural foundations and cultural genes of the Jiangnan water system as core strategic resources for sustainable development. Strategies include the following: at the cognitive level, constructing a ‘nature-culture system’ framework; at the planning level, integrating holistic conservation into territorial spatial planning (TSP) and identifying high-composite-value areas; and at the governance level, establishing multiscalar coordination mechanisms. This study provides theoretical support for shaping Shanghai into an ‘international metropolis with Jiangnan characteristics’ and offers a reference for the sustainable development of comparable metropolises.