Abstract：The Grand Canal, as a World Heritage Site in China, boasts profound historical and cultural significance. It inherits and showcases the cultural heritage of a thousand years, playing a crucial role in promoting and developing the Chinese civilization and improving the images of cities along its route. This paper, by analyzing the historical value, aesthetic function, and practical importance of the cultural heritage of the Grand Canal, aims to explore a design approach that organically combines cultural inheritance and functional aesthetics in practice and provide reference for working out more instructive strategies. For these purposes, it analyzes classic cases from the perspectives of ecology and geography, history and culture, and function and society, and summarizes the application and effects of innovative design strategies and practical cases based on existing achievements.
