Design-Anchored Pedagogy: Reconciling Macro-Governance and Micro-Design in Territorial Spatial Planning Education

School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Wuhan Polytechnic University, 430023 Wuhan, China

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Abstract

China's integrated Territorial Spatial Planning (TSP) system exposes a critical disconnect in architecture education: students struggle to operationalize macro-governance logic into micro-design actions under traditional “theory-before-design” pedagogies. This paper proposes a Design-Anchored framework that repositions design practice as the primary driver for knowledge acquisition. The model employs a “reverse linkage” mechanism where specific design tasks retroactively activate and filter essential planning knowledge. Grounded in a live campus renewal project within a third-year course, this reform shifted student cognition from passive compliance to active, constraint-responsive optimization. Empirical results demonstrate that students internalized planning constraints as generative parameters, effectively translating abstract policies into tangible spatial strategies. Ultimately, this paradigm reconciles the macro-governance vision of territorial planning with the micro-spatial agency of architectural practice.