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September 22, 2014

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‘Going small’ can tower over skyscrapers

FOR Shanghai’s urban planners, one of the hardest parts of their work is to be constantly responsive to new realities.

Elements that were in vogue just years ago, such as car-first thinking, at the expense of bikes and pedestrians, are now spat on in urban planning.

They give way to a focus on people before cars and communal sustainability over personal benefit.

While this motto of “design for people” is almost a universal assumption in planning, it is not always reflected in practice. This calls for the need to underscore fundamental principles of planning and make them part and parcel of the ongoing process of urban regeneration.

These principles were revisited in a seminar held last Tuesday by ULI, or Urban Land Institute, on the occasion of releasing a report titled “Ten Principles for Urban Regeneration — Making Shanghai a Better City.” ULI is a US-headquartered nonprofit research and education organization that champions responsible use of land and creation of sustainable, thriving communities.

In the report, it is argued that successful planning should establish a long-term vision, conserve cultural heritage, optimize land use and promote diversity, among other things.

Commenting on these principles, Wu Jiang, vice president of Tongji University and a speaker at a panel discussion, said they are of great significance despite offering nothing new. While pursuit of a better city is a commonly cherished vision, how to get there is much less so. Different interest groups have different priorities, which sometimes overlap but more often clash, said Wu.

For instance, preservationists are perennially at odds with planners and investors over demolition of some old, supposedly heritage properties to make way for new commercial developments. In the words of Yu Sijia, chief planner at the Shanghai Planning Bureau and also a panelist, relic protection used to be put on the backseat when juxtaposed with “opportunities.”

Public approval

But things are changing.

In a survey of 10,000 Shanghai residents last year, the respondents gave more credit to the city’s protection of relics than any other surveyed items, said Yu. Mass approval of work in this area is encouragement for the city’s efforts to save more shikumen, or stone-gated complexes, and traditional villages in the suburbs, Yu told the audience.

There is, however, huge room for improvement, in particular the manner in which planners approach preservation. A tendency is to narrow down the focus and think small, according to Yu.

While popular curiosity is likely to be excited by a new landmark skyscraper, a slick mall on Nanjing Road or a luxury cruise liner moored on the Huangpu River, it is smaller, “nuts-and-bolts” projects and attention to details that embody the best of urban regeneration, said Yu.

Time-honored street

Take Wukang Road in Xuhui District, home to the former residences of many intellectuals and personalities. The tree-lined boulevard, renovated years ago by a team spearheaded by Wu, the vice president of Tongji, is now designated a “time-honored street of China” by state relics and culture protection authorities.

Wu’s team didn’t widen the street or install ornamental lighting as many before him did. Instead, they refurbished and revamped old houses, doors, panes, window frames and furniture in exactly the same way they used to be.

As a result, the original and tranquil ambience was preserved and Wukang Road has now become a template for relic preservation in Xuhui and beyond.

It is understandable that renowned planners crave a big stage and often are unwilling to take on small projects, such as beautification of a public square, a power plant, or a pillar under elevated highways, said Yu.

But they do more to grace and enliven a city’s landscape than a tower or a bustling shopping mall, he added.

For that purpose, the city authorities intend to nudge leading planners, architects and artists into collaboration on a three-month public art campaign aimed at adorning the city’s multitudes of gray, neglected corners with curious, colorful art, said Yu.

That inevitably entails a bigger role for the public, at present occasionally underrepresented in decision-making. As a stakeholder, the interests of the public are sometimes irreconcilable with those of investors and developers. In this case, disinterested, impartial government mediation is necessary, said Wu.

Closer interaction is thus called for to bridge those chasms. As the ULI report puts it, “(successful urban planning) means a variety of voices and interests bring the broadest number of possibilities to play, as the largest set of options may lead to the best solutions.”




 

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