Abstract: Ecological culture is the sum of human survival modes to adapt to the diverse ecological environment. In order to adapt to the ecological environment, the old street culture created by the people of northern Anhui has distinctive cultural characteristics. Its main types are commercial culture, Guanzhong culture, red culture, food culture, opera culture, which enjoy historical and cultural value, regional cultural value and tourism cultural value. However, with the development of social economy, the issue of old street culture protection and development deserves attention. From the connotation and characteristics of ecological culture, the article analyzes the importance of the protection and development of the old streets, the existing problems and their causes, and proposes protection and development strategies such as protecting the spatial mechanism characteristics of the old streets, adopting the mode of zoning protection and development, and constructing creative cultural ecosphere of the old streets in northern Anhui.

Key words: ecological culture, old streets of northern Anhui, protection and development