Abstract
Urban heritage sites in central cities are most difficult to protect during rapid and large scale urban (re)development. Rising land values from property development conflict with and constrain heritage preservation. Compared with many cities in developed and developing countries, large Chinese cities have experienced a stronger redevelopment imperative, faster population growth, and a weaker concern for urban heritages over the last three decades. We use Shanghai to examine the contested evolution of heritage preservation against massive urban redevelopment through three stages from 1990 to the present. Using three heritage projects (Xintiandi, Tianzifang, Bugaoli), we focus on: 1) how each project was implemented and the economic and spatial outcomes each has produced; 2) how the mode of each project’s development interacted with the shifting official policies for heritage preservation; and 3) the implications of the findings, theoretical and practical, for more effective urban preservation.
Highlights
Urban heritage sites in central cities are most difficult to protect during rapid and large scale urbandevelopment
Since many urban heritage sites are located in central cities, they receive much attention during rapid and large scale urban redevelopment with its aggressive pursuit of valuable land
Using Shanghai as a case study, we examine the contested evolution of heritage preservation and its uneasy relationship with urban redevelopment
Summary
Unlike Beijing, Nanjing, Xi’an, and other Chinese metropolises that evolved more slowly as ancient capitals of past dynasties, Shanghai grew quickly from a small fishing village in the 1700s into a cosmopolitan metropolis by the 1920s under partial Western influence. The old residential areas in Shanghai’s central city were formed from the late 19th century to the 1920s, when Shanghai experienced the first wave of globally connected economic growth and urban expansion. Shikumen houses emerged as the distinctive Shanghai style residential form during this period. They are two- or three-story structures resembling Western terrace houses or townhouses, distinguished by high brick walls enclosing a narrow front yard. Located in the central district of the city, Shikumen houses have taken on a special and lasting identity that distinguishes Shanghai’s architectural history and social fabric. As Shanghai’s typical dominant architectural type, Shikumen blocks carry local commercial, manufacturing, and service activities and contain and sustain the city’s modern urban life
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