Architectural colour planning strategy and planning implementation evaluation of historical and cultural cities based on different urban zones in Xuzhou (China)

Abstract This research examined the colour planning of the city of Xuzhou in Jiangsu Province, China to empirically study the colour planning of historical and cultural cities. Based on considerable investigations, we identified Xuzhou's main hue, which spans from yellowish grayish‐white to yellowish‐gray (XZ11 ~ XZ29). Moreover, we formulated special colour planning schemes according to the attributes of different urban zones. To verify a plan's implementation impact, we used the analytical hierarchy process to construct an evaluation index system for the execution of urban colour planning. The system includes five secondary and 14 tertiary indicators. We employed the Delphi method to evaluate the established index system and to ascertain the weight of each index. Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method was also used. We assessed the implementation of Xuzhou's main colours in six zones. The results suggest that the impact of colour planning is quite different in various urban zones, and that the colour planning influence of historical blocks is better than that of other urban zones. However, the coordination between colour planning in some areas is not adequate. Based on the above analysis, we evaluate specific problems in the implementation effect of Xuzhou's urban colour planning, as reflected in the secondary evaluation index results, and discuss measures of urban colour harmony planning and design in Xuzhou. We propose a comprehensive planning strategy that can be combined with different scales of urban colour landscapes in the future, which could provide a new optimization direction for Xuzhou's urban colour planning.