Abstract：This study investigates the construction wisdom of traditional prefectural cities in Huizhou, aiming to refine
regional research methodologies for local urban heritage through comprehensive and comparative analysis of
the “one prefecture and six counties” administrative structure. Using morphological typology and historical
cartographic interpretation, it extracts three fundamental influences from Huizhou’s urban development
history: natural geography, socio-economic dynamics, and cultural-institutional frameworks, revealing their
mechanisms in shaping urban siting, spatial scale, layout patterns, and morphological configurations. Multiscale
analysis demonstrates how landscape-water systems governed urban positioning at macro levels, while
Huizhou merchants’ river-based commerce and overland ancient routes simultaneously established trans-regional
governance networks and formed cities’ primary transportation-commercial skeletons. Beneath mercantile
prominence lies China’s traditional agrarian-scholarly culture and bureaucratic governance, manifested through
intentionally designed commemorative-public spaces that dualistically integrate with natural landscapes and
dynamic urban fabrics, illustrating socio-cultural synergies in urban construction. The research systematically
deciphers multi-layered wisdom embedded in culturally profound Huizhou cities, providing methodological
reference for regional urban heritage studies.
