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Former French Concession provides valuable urban planning lessons
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THE former French Concession is still one of the most popular areas of the city due to its well planned neighborhoods.
PhD researcher Lu Ye from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences attributes it to the French Municipal Council’s strict management, which valued the residential environment over commercial interests. “The council had a strong vision of establishing an upscale residential area in the middle and western French concession after the 1920s,” says Lu, who wrote a thesis named “Management for a Livable City.” “To create a clean, tidy neighborhood, the council collected a hygiene tax and then established a committee to manage businesses.”
The committee classified businesses into three major categories according to the degree of damage they would cause the residential environment. The dirty chemical industry was in the most dangerous category, while workshops and food stores were next, followed by the “nearly harmless” cafes, bistros and clinics.
“Under the strict management, businesses that would bring noise and foul odors, or affect hygiene and safety were removed from residential areas,” Lu adds. “Most of them were accommodated in a special region planned in the southern part of the concession. Meanwhile, service businesses and cultural institutions were encouraged in residential areas to make life more convenient and pleasant. Therefore residential areas were often sprinkled with hospitals, schools, clubs, libraries, theaters and churches.”
After these ideas were implemented, the former French Concession was divided into a financial/trade zone in the east, upscale residential zones in the middle and west including Wukang Road, and a commercial zone along Avenue Joffre (today’s Huaihai Road).
However, Lu notes the council did not start municipal construction immediately along Route de Ferguson (today’s Wukang Road) due to the cost. On January 27, 1909, a resident named Mr Davis wrote a letter to the council complaining that the road had no lighting, public security service or drainage system. He added, “the road paved by minced stones was terrible.”
“It wasn’t until 1920 that Route de Ferguson and neighboring roads finally had a drainage system and that homes in the area had tap water, electricity and gas,” Lu says.
Tongji University professor Qian Zonghao adds that the council also made efforts to create nice streets.
Today, the most attractive scenes in the former French Concession are the result of the majestic trees that flank many streets including Wukang Road. They create beautiful scenery and plenty of shade in the summer that makes the heat bearable.
“Chinese cities had no habit of planting trees along the streets at the time and this did not appear in early international settlements either. It was the French, who started planting trees along Zicawei Road in 1878,” Qian says.
In 1932 the council regulated the distance between trees to seven to 10 meters, adding they should be planted 1.5 meters from the street and from other objects like telegraph poles or fountains. Architectural applications were required to mark the positions of trees. The council also founded nursery gardens to grow saplings.
Lu says he has discovered an interesting comment in a Chinese book named “Shanghai Life” that was published in 1930.
It reads: “Wealthy men’s mansions are mostly located in the French concession. Although commerce in the French concession is inferior to that in the British settlement, the living quality is so much better. The British settlement is prosperous and noisy while the French concession is quiet and elegant.”
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