Factors Influencing the Preservation of Historic City Centers: The Case of Old Town of Sakon Nakhon City, Thailand

Abstract

There are many historic city centers that were once the centers of cities that face challenges in maintaining their centrality. This results in the loss of their ability to attract economic activities and people, leading to the abandonment of historically valuable architecture and decreased pedestrian traffic.This research examines the process of transformation of urban centrality in cities through the theory of urban centrality. It identifies the factors influential in preserving centrality of cities, which affects the preservation of valuable vernacular architecture.It employs a case study approach as a research method, and focuses on the old town district of Sakon Nakhon city. Space syntax methods are deployed to ascertain the spatial relations.The findings reveal that there are two significant factors contributing to the preservation of centrality in the old town. The first is the urban grid configuration, which influences the creation of natural movement patterns at both the city and local levels. The second is the local street network integrated into the global street network.Both factors have an impact on the liveliness of the city and the preservation of valuable vernacular architecture, benefiting from increased pedestrian movements resulting from the maintenance of city centrality.