This paper aims to study the urban renewal and urban text, explore the role of calligraphy in the ROC period, and summarize the design path method suitable for the development of urban image in the future. Method Based on the perspectives of the renewal of city image and the ROC calligraphy, and taking Nanjing as the main case, this paper compared and analyzed the application level and innovation mode of calligraphy in the city, and analyzed the role of calligraphy in various media of city image during the ROC period. The value of the related factors of calligraphyy in the ROC period in the urban image renewal design and its role in the revival of regional culture were obtained. With the accelerating process of globalization and rapidly developing urban construction, the characteristics of the city have been gradually submerged by the tide of informatization, and a series of problems such as context rupture and spatial disorder have appeared. The "calligraphy" in the ROC period have not only integrated Chinese calligraphy art, but also absorbed Western design elements. It is an effective way to maintain and develop urban characteristics and shape and enhance the image of the city.