With a history spanning over two thousand years, the Beijing Road historic and cultural zone marks the origin of Guangzhou’s traditional central axis and serves as one of the earliest commercial centers in the Lingnan region, characterized by a rich historical and cultural heritage and unique Lingnan features. Through a combination of literature collection and review, field observation, and photographic documentation, the research examines the historical natural, artificial, and folk lightscapes of the Beijing Road zone, highlighting the diversity of its lightscape features from past to present. As the city developed and modern technology advanced, the representative lightscapes in the Beijing Road zone have evolved from traditional forms to modern expressions, including 3D projection, multimedia interaction, and LED lighting. These advancements breathe new life into the pedestrian street and enhance its cultural significance within the contemporary commercial environment. By comparing the characteristics and categories of historical and contemporary lightscapes, the paper reveals the transformation of historical lightscapes, the innovation in modern lightscape techniques, and the remnants of vanished lightscapes. It also proposes strategies for the restoration and preservation of historical lightscapes, the innovation and integration of contemporary lightscapes, and the development of sustainable lighting design, while it discusses the direction of work for future research. It underscores the need for further protection and optimization of lightscape resources in the Beijing Road historic and cultural zone, to enhance cultural heritage and commercial appeal, providing valuable insights for the preservation of historic zones and the development of cultural tourism in Guangzhou and the Lingnan region.
Qiu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.