“ In recent years urban China has been economically overheated, statistically exuberant and visually disturbing. Those who try to understand it as a blueprint of the globally expanding capitalist economy however, will not be able to comprehend what is happening in contemporary China. Much of the contemporary Chinese city is still determined by fundamental principles set in place in the 1950s and 1960s, the early years of the socialist system. The Shanghai of today reflects these principles: it is a centrally-controlled city with mandatory planning procedures and at least a minimum level of social welfare but it also has a “street administration” where strong local units monitor the actions and happenings in the neighbourhood as much as they act as entrepreneurial units with their own economic resources to generate revenues. The informal housing rental market has grown because the overall market has grown and no monitoring system was deemed necessary to regulate it. I would argue, perhaps controversially, that in China we do not need “public space” as such because Chinese people do not need a space to be designated as such to be able to do public things. In summary, contemporary Chinese urbanism is not based on the individualistic freedom of capitalism but rather on a system of effective cooperation. Even at the risk of sounding politically backward, I would suggest that we can put people together and find an agent that is intelligent enough to plan our cities scientifically, rather than be led by the aggregation of individual desires focused on acquiring and occupying bigger and bigger spaces, wider and wider ocean or park views and more and more happiness. ”
“ At the Shanghai government, we are aware of the problems associated with rapid development. Two years ago we implemented an urban development policy that confers tighter controls on the process to the urban planning authority. We call it “double decrease, double increase” because it decreases the means and pace of development and because of that it provides the potential to increase the urban character and green areas of the city. This policy did cause a slow down in the speed of development in Shanghai and provoked a large reaction from developers – for instance leading to noticeable rises in the price of housing. For us it is challenging to keep a balance between good policies that lead to a better urban space and on the other hand to control and stabilise the market. ”
“ The conflicts between city residents and in-migrants, sometimes called peasant workers, have drawn remarkable attention from academics and the press. These conflicts could assume larger and deeper proportions in the future given the increasing volume of rural migration to cities. Policies taken by the Shanghai Municipal Government have had a certain level of success in reducing conflict and furthering social integration. On the one hand, there are policies in place to educate and train in-migrants and to regularise their situation in the city. But on the other hand, what is still pending is the reform of the household registration system which prevents in-migrants to become city-residents. As the former is an effort to reduce the psychological gap between city-residents and in-migrants, the later would eliminate an institutional wall against cohesion. If these two strategies can be achieved, we will make a large step towards a harmonious society.”
“ In recent years, Shanghai has begun to realise the importance of preserving its urban heritage. Great efforts have been made by the local government in the past three years to establish the protection of not only individual buildings but also entire historical areas. Currently, 12 historical areas covering more than 27 square kilometres have been protected. But great challenges come from all the residential blocks, especially the Li Long houses from the 1920s and the 1930s. They have been very badly maintained for almost 80 years and space originally designed for one family is now shared by four, six or even eight families. The scale of land-use has also changed completely and government policies are usually to encourage real estate developers to rebuild entire city blocks in their urban renovation programmes. Even when the original housing stock is preserved and still used as housing, very little is left of the original community. We really need more comprehensive mechanics to take care of our urban heritage. It is really challenging but it also very clear that if the historical preservation always has little to do with the local inhabitants then why is there urban heritage in the first place?”
