Abstract
As the importance of historic cities is emerging today, the need for studies to raise and preserve their value has been emphasized. Value of historic cities can be found in terms of a variety of historical environment for architecture and cities, and as far as urban organization is concerned, in particular, individual urban environment components such as streets, blocks, lots, and buildings altogether reflect the times of the past, which explains why these components are valuable in terms of historical environment. Since the old downtown of Buyeo as the focus of this study has continued to play an important role, both politically and economically, from the Baekjae era to present, having various aspects of the times melted in its historic environment, the city's urban organization is considered worthy to be studied. In this respect, we examined (change) characteristics of urban organization through research into and study on the old downtown of Buyeo. From a review of old maps and original land registration map of the region, and a variety of literature as well as field studies, we reached the following conclusion: The urban organization of the old downtown of Buyeo has been under the influence of various factors of environment, politics, and economy from ancient times to present, and change characteristics during the late Joson dynasty and the Japanese colonial rule, in particular, are considered to have the significance as invaluable materials to define the value of Buyeo as a historical city and explore solutions to preserve and maintain it. There is a need for an institutional system to preserve and maintain such a built environment in a systematic manner, and a comprehensive plan from a viewpoint of urban design is also needed to develop the city.