Study of investigating and improving negative space in an old urban block of Nanning city: Strategies for improving negative space

Based on the results of field investigation and literature analysis documented in our previous paper, this paper focuses on strategies to transform negative space to positive space in an old urban block called Water Street in a southern city (Nanning) of China. The following improving strategies were proposed: (1) the fundamental principle for space transformation is to preserve its original spatial features and building style as much as possible; (2) adjusting public traffic patterns, green belt levels, commercial sequence, and boundaries of buildings by modifying spatial layout and perfecting urban function structure; (3) improving the outdoor thermal environment, increasing the comfort level of outer environments of buildings, and creating pleasant outdoor spaces by tree-planting, solar shading structure, and other measures.