Suzhou’s historic city center serves as a significant repository of Jiangnan cultural memory. However, ongoing urban modernization and large-scale population inflows have introduced notable challenges to heritage preservation, particularly deficiencies in spatial structure and coordination. Accordingly, this study constructs a “Historical Stratification–Spatial Cognition–Existential Narrative” framework to interpret the city’s historical urban landscape. Focusing on Suzhou—a representative canal-based historic city—this research integrates literature review with field investigation. It maps the physical points, lines, and planes of the historical urban landscape to corresponding elements, scenes, and plots within spatial narratives, thereby forming coherent and multi-perspective pathways of historical spatial narration. Moreover, by examining the coupled relationship among space, narrative, and memory, the study analyzes the spatiotemporal evolution and cultural characteristics of Suzhou’s water–land symbiosis. As a result, it identifies the intrinsic logic and mechanisms of spatial narratives within historic urban landscapes and expands the applicability of spatial narrative theory. Overall, the findings provide new insights for uncovering and revitalizing cultural heritage in Suzhou’s Old City within the Jiangnan context, while offering innovative conservation approaches and methodological strategies for reconstructing historical memory and guiding sustainable urban renewal.
Shan et al. (2025) studied this question.