HistoryandCivilizationoftheCityAsasayinggoes,thereareathousandHamletsinathousandaudience'seyes,undoubtedly,acityhasagreatnumberofimagesincitizens'mindsbecauseeverycitydefinitelyhasitslong-standinghistoryandsplendidcivilizationjustlikeeveryindividualhasitsmemory.Ifallofourcitiesabandontheminordertobecomewhatcalledthemoderncity,whichismoreadvancedthanitbefore,citizenswouldhavemuchlessimpressionofthecity'stradition.Isthisgoodforourcities?Isupposenot.ItcanbeimaginedthatifHamlethadmonotonouscharacter,audiencewouldnolongerlikeit.Consequently,inmyopinion,acityshouldnotabandonitstraditionalcivilizationwhenintheprocessofurbanization.Thereisaconceptcalledurbanization,whichnotonlymeansmodernizingthecity,butalsomeansmakingtheruralareaaltertocity.Somepeople,however,giveanadditionalmeaningthatabandoningthetraditionalculturetoit.Maybe,asisknowntothem,whentakingthetraditionintoconsideration,itisnomoreasignificantelementtothemoderncity.YetasfarasIknow,thetraditionalcultureiscrucialandfundamentalfortune.Whenwearefacingtovarioustypeoflure,thegovernmentshouldnotloseitselfandshouldprotectthevaluabletreasure.Forinstance,Nanjingisabigcitywhichownsover2470yearsofhistory,andNanjingwasthecapitalofmanydynastiesofancientChina.Intheconstruction,thegovernmentreservesitsquadruplecastlesandancientbridgesoftheMingDynastyandlotsofotherhistoricalsites.Inaddition,establishingtenprotectionzonessuchasMingPalaceandConfuciusTempleisanotherbrilliantmethodtopreventthetraditionalcivilizationfromdamagingduringtheprocessofmodernizationorurbanization.Thereisnodoubtthatthegovernmentattachesgreatimportancetoitinurbanconstruction.Thus,ontheonehand,thetraditionofacityisdefinitelyasignificantelementandfortunewhichweshouldconsiderandprotectinurbanization.Ontheotherhand,italsocanbenefitthedevelopmentofthecityeventhewholecountry.Historyandculturearerootandsoulofthecity,becausewhencitizensknowthehistory,theyknowthederivationofthemselves,similarly,whentheyunderstandthecultureofthecity,theyunderstandthespiritofit.Furthermore,thepeoplefromotherareawillbeattracted.Therearemanyinstanceswecanlearnfromthem,suchasPingyao,Lijiang,Wuzhen,etc.Theyareallfamousancienttownswithlesstallbuildingsandcars.Nevertheless,theirlonghistoryandvariousculturesattractnumeroustouristseveryyear.TakingPingyaofortheexample,abouttenyearsago,ithadalreadyattracted1.5milliontouristsaswellasearnedmorethan200millionfromthem,itcanbeimaginethatthenumberismuchmoretremendoustoday.Asthesametime,thenativepeoplenotonlyrememberthemselves’culturesbuthavemorechancestoworkforhometown,andthegovernmenthavefundtoprotecttheancientbuildings,augmenttheplantingorpreventthepollutionratherthanwastemoneytobuildexcesssimilarmodernbuildings.AsfarasIamconcerned,thedevelopingofourcitycannotbeseparatedfromthehistoryandtraditionalculture.Asaphilosophertoldus,toknowthepassedonethousandyearistobetterdevelopthenextfivehundredyearsofthefuture,nomatterwhichtypeofcitywewantinthefuture,weshouldnotforgetthelonghistoryandabandonthesplendidtraditionalcivilization.Afterall,memorizingandinheritingisourresponsibility.