Since it was first written into the government work report and the 14th Five-Year Plan in 2021, the all-round implementation of urban renewal has gradually become an important way to meet the people's new expectations for a livable life in the city.
On December 12, as a major event of the "2023 Surging Urban Renewal Culture Month", the "Symbiosis, Sharing, and Together-2023 Surging Urban Renewal Conference" was successfully held in Zhangyuan, Shanghai. Shanghai Zhangyuan won the "2023 Special Case • Urban Renewal High-quality Development Model". At the same time, it was announced that Zhangyuan would become the permanent site of the Surging Urban Renewal Conference and the first surging urban renewal demonstration area.
Zheng Shiling, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, wrote in his recommendation to Zhang Yuan: The project fully considers the inheritance and development of Shanghai-style culture in the new era, takes into account the protection of regional historical features and the activation and utilization of protected buildings, and pays attention to the updated functional adjustment, emphasizing publicity, openness and diversity, and integrates urban business and leisure functions, consumption functions and cultural functions through highly complex business planning. On the basis of the layout of high-end business formats, through landscape and functional design positioning, a high-quality commercial and cultural format layout is formed, urban renewal and industrial implantation are combined, and the cultural content introduction and urban vitality of Shanghai Shikumen Complex are promoted, so as to achieve sustainable and high-quality development, so that the memory of Shanghai style belonging to Shanghai can be inherited and continued, and a unique and resounding cultural brand has been formed.
The century-old cultural context has witnessed the modern scenery of Shanghai
What kind of garden is Zhang Yuan?
Founded in 1882, Zhangyuan is closely connected with the historical process of Shanghai with a history of more than 100 years, and is a witness of Shanghai's modern architecture, culture and life.
In 1872, Groome, the manager of Hutchison & Co., rented a total of 20.25 acres of farmland between Jing'an Temple Road (now Nanjing West Road), Murming Road (now Maoming North Road) and Metherth Road (now Taixing Road) from a farmer, and turned it into a garden residence. Many years later, the plot was purchased in 1882 by Zhang Shuhe, a wealthy businessman living in Shanghai, with an area of 21.82 acres, named "Zhang's Wei Ulva Garden", referred to as Zhang Garden, and thus became the "No. 1 Garden on the Sea" in the limelight.
According to the information of the past, the Zhang Garden of that year, the lofty buildings and high pavilions in the park, surrounded by layers of forests, the grass is like a tree, the bridge is built on the pond, the weeping willows on the shore, there are both the old western-style western-style buildings in the depths of the blue clouds, there are also the open-air theaters at the sea and sky resort, and the scenery of the Quchi, the lotus swamp, the flower house, the thatched pavilion, the double bridge, the rockery, the flower and other scenes, is a top famous garden in Shanghai. It can be said that from 1893 to 1909, Zhang Yuan was synonymous with Shanghai's trendy life and was also the place where large outdoor mass gatherings were held.
In 1919, "Zhang's Flavor Garden" was closed, and a continuous Shikumen lane was built on the original site, and the land was divided into 28 plots for sale one after another, and was designed and built by 28 owners respectively, resulting in 28 kinds and 170 different styles of lane buildings. With the residence of subsequent generations, the functions of Zhang Yuan have become more diverse, and it has also given birth to Shanghai's unique alley culture.
Shanghai's first ultra-difficult protective expropriation and transformation project
In September 2018, Jing'an District launched the protective expropriation of the Zhangyuan plot. Different from the previous expropriation, this expropriation is based on the principle of "expropriation without demolition, and people leave the house behind", and has become the first ultra-difficult urban renewal project in Shanghai for the protection and renovation of protective expropriation and the protection and utilization of historical buildings.
Shanghai Jingren Real Estate Group, as the main body of Zhangyuan's protective expropriation, cooperates with the Jing'an District Government, and under the guidance of the concept of "protection first, culture as the soul, and people-oriented", it has established the original mission of excavating, protecting and applying the core values of the history and culture of Zhangyuan District.
In order to better grasp the core value of Zhangyuan Historic District, the Static Resettlement Industry has explored and recorded the core value of Zhangyuan Historic District by establishing a full-coverage archiving system for historical buildings and carrying out digital and informatization construction. By December 2018, the full coverage of 170 historical buildings in 44 buildings in Zhangyuan has been completed through the work of "one building and one file", forming a complete "Zhangyuan Historical Building Database".
In this way, "one building and one file" is a process of exploration and excavation of the value carried by cultural heritage. In the process of archiving, the Tranquility Resettlement Industry conducts research on the historical, artistic, scientific, social and economic values of the historic buildings in Zhangyuan. Each building is objectively recorded in the current situation, and then through the study of historical drawings and other documents and on-site investigation, the original style, original components, original materials and craftsmanship of the building are excavated and verified, and the original appearance and characteristic parts of the building are recorded. At the same time, through interviews with residents and research on historical materials, the distinctive cultural and historical elements are comprehensively excavated to enrich the spiritual connotation of Zhangyuan.
In the face of the architecture and culture of a hundred years ago, the use of the most advanced archiving and digital means can provide a detailed basis for the evaluation of the artistic and scientific value of historical buildings and the formulation of preservation and protection strategies. At the same time, it is of great practical significance to dig deep into the cultural characteristics covered by Zhangyuan from the physical point of view, so as to promote the protection and reuse of the heritage of Zhangyuan. This method itself is an update of the urban renewal model, and through this, it provides a new value growth point for the brand building and regional identity of urban renewal.
Sustainable renewal is the inheritance and promotion of culture
The preservation and restoration of the old buildings themselves is of course important, but the most important thing is to truly build Zhangyuan into a benchmark and model of urban renewal in Shanghai's historical district, and to promote its cultural heritage and "authenticity" characteristics. After realizing this, on the basis of a full understanding of the core value of Zhangyuan's own history and culture, the Jingling Resettlement Industry started from the cultural characteristics of the region, the historical value and artistic characteristics of the building, and the market demand, clarified the renewal framework of the entire historic district, and formed a sustainable urban renewal concept and development strategy.
In this regard, Shi Yunlun, chairman of Jing Resettlement Industry, was very touched. He said that when he first started the Zhangyuan project, he first focused on the neighborhood and the building, hoping to repair the old as much as possible and keep it authentic. However, after discovering the stories behind each of Zhang Yuan's buildings, he and his team realized that these old buildings are not the buildings themselves, but also contain traces of the history of the past 100 years. These irreproducible connotations, spirits and Shanghai-style culture are what need to be discovered and inherited by our descendants.
Therefore, in the renewal, the Jingshan Resettlement Industry first focused on understanding the specific cultural space and diverse urban stories of Zhangyuan. Through visits to former residents, we learned about their sense of identity and honor for the place where they have lived for generations. Jing Resettlement hopes that the projects presented can evoke their emotional memories, just like inviting the aborigines or old Shanghainese of Zhangyuan to return to their hometown, they can feel like they have returned to the scene of playing, visiting and playing in the alleys when they were children. These are the real "Zhangyuan context" and the concrete embodiment of "Shanghai-style culture" in Zhangyuan.
And after inheritance, it is carried forward. How will Zhang Yuan attract more young people to come here in the future to experience the Shanghai of the past, what is the characteristic and famous residence of old Shanghai, what is the lifestyle of old Shanghai, and how domestic or foreign tourists from outside Shanghai should feel the integration of Eastern and Western cultures?
Shi Yunlun believes that the spirit and culture contained in a space are permanent. Zhang Yuan has a history of 100 years, and how to make it normal and new in the next 100 years is not only at the architectural level, but also needs it to inherit the essence of Shanghai culture in the past 100 years, and at the same time expand the scope of Chinese culture and Shanghai culture. Only through the implementation of the detailed cultural context excavation, can we highlight the brand characteristics of Zhangyuan, achieve differentiated development, and export the Shanghai urban spirit with Zhangyuan's characteristics, and the revival of this "spiritual outlook" will be a higher realm of urban renewal.
Multi-dimensional refresh of Shanghai's commercial height
It is worth mentioning that today's Zhangyuan has gradually entered a good situation under the organic integration of the protection of Shanghai's excellent historical buildings and urban renewal. In the past, the historical buildings that were "kept in the depths of the boudoir and unknown to the people" are now displayed with a new attitude of repairing the old as the old, and through the combination of commerce, culture and industry, they are open to the outside world and become urban public spaces, so that more people can touch and perceive the history of the city, and also add another trendy landmark to the whole of Shanghai.
Since November 27 last year, the first phase of Zhangyuan was unveiled. In more than a year, this historical building has grown from an average daily flow of 20,000-30,000 people to a new peak of 60,000 in early December, and the per capita flow has basically exceeded 100,000 in addition to the passenger flow of Maoming North Road Pedestrian Street.
The magnificent return of Zhang Yuan, surrounded by many high-rise buildings on Nanjing West Road, has its own faction, injecting the elegant tone of Shanghai-style Shikumen into the city. The characteristics of Shanghai Shikumen lanes, which combine classical and modern, are naturally blended here, and the business distribution is diversified and avant-garde.
Nowadays, walking in Zhangyuan, you can see many luxury brands, including Arcadia Club, Ancadia-Zhangyuan Haipai Cultural Exchange Center, Blue Bottle Coffee, BVLGARI PARFUMS, BY FAR, Dior, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, etc. In the future, Zhangyuan will also pay more attention to the effect of "first store", "first show" and "first launch", deepen the theme of Shanghai-style culture through the introduction of experiential and leading fashion consumption, endow Zhangyuan Historical Landscape Conservation Area with new commercial functions and formats, and refresh the new height of Shanghai's commerce in multiple dimensions.
A hundred years ago, the "No. 1 Garden on the Sea" was once a gathering of Chinese and foreign celebrities, who drank coffee in a Chinese-style alley, listened to a Chinese opera, or tasted a bowl of small wontons in a Western house decoration. The window sills and porches engraved with various patterns are engraved with the memories and brilliance of the times. Today, this famous garden seems to travel through time, and it is also to amplify the national culture and self-confidence again in the context of internationalization, beckoning to the city of a hundred years ago, and also joining hands with the city of the next hundred years to create a brilliant and glorious composition.