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"Organic Renewal" of Zhang Garden:"the First Garden on the Sea" (part 2)

2023-10-11 | www.china-up.com

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Source:  Shi Xiaoyu

To improve the quality of life of residents and continue the urban context, Zhang Garden adopts the transformation method of "requisitioning without demolishing", completely preserving the texture of the neighborhood and the lane, and reusing it according to plan. To practice the concept of "overall protection", the area with good preservation of the void pattern, street and alley texture, and particularly obvious architectural style is divided into the scope of texture protection. At the planning stage, special research on the refined protection methods of historical buildings is put forward, and refined transformation measures such as architectural retention and restoration are proposed for the protection, retention and reuse of historical buildings. New buildings emphasize the coordination of massing, height, spatial form and other elements with the surrounding historical buildings and the overall area. Protection is always put first in the planning process, and the implementation plan is further clarified through urban design, combined with planning and spatial analysis to maximize economic, social and spatial benefits.

In the approved plan in 2009, the building classification and surrounding landscape requirements in Zhang Garden area were clarified.The core protection scope and construction control scope were delineated, and the control requirements for building height, spacing, capacity, color, road traffic, greening, public service facilities, etc. in the area were put forward.

Since 2015, Zhang Garden area has carried out several rounds of renewal planning research; The land expropriation was also completed in 2020; The implementation-oriented regulation adjustment was initiated in 2019 and approved by the Shanghai Municipal Government in 2020, ensuring the advancement of protective development in the region. Specifically, the planning and renewal of the area reflects the following 3 characteristics:

First is in-depth research and special promotion in key areas. In 2009, Zhang Garden area carried out feasibility demonstration and planning research on protective transformation; Since 2015, it has also initiated related conservation planning studies such as neighborhood renewal and development strategy research. Based on the above solid special planning research, combined with regional development demands and planning assessment, the relevant control elements were implemented in the statutory plan of the control and regulation and were approved by the Shanghai Municipal Government in 2018. Since June 2019, the conservation development proposals collected by global architects have been conducting research on the activation and utilization of historical buildings and the inheritance of cultural context on the basis of regional conservation and renewal planning and research results.

Secondly, the protection and renewal work continues to advance and the "one building, one file" is filed. By the end of 2018, the housing archives of Zhang Garden Historical Building Database ("one building and one file") had completed the survey and mapping of 170 historical buildings, forming the "Guidelines for the Protection and Management of Protective Expropriation Bases in Zhang Garden Historical Landscape Area", and on this basis, the Shanghai local standard "Guidelines for the Protection and Management of Protective Expropriation Bases in Historical Landscape Areas" (Shanghai Supervision and Biaoji [2021] No. 158) was formed, which became a benchmark for the city's old district renovation and urban renewal collection and protection work. The subsequent completion of the Guidelines for the Conservation and Restoration of Zhang Garden Historic Buildings strives to maximize the overall value of historic buildings.

The third is the expansion of multi-dimensional planning ideas and technical support for "retention, reform and demolition". In the new stage, the Zhang Garden area must not only ensure the smooth completion of the expropriation work, but also face more specific new requirements such as the coordination of the historical style of new and old buildings, the optimization of public space, and the overall study of underground space, and also need to consider the connection with the construction process and construction technology of the surrounding subway superstructure and other development plots. In order to undertake the research and development intention of the implementation plan, based on the concept of protective development in the old landscape area, the control and regulation oriented to the implementation needs to coordinate multi-link and multi-professional cooperation, so as to lay the foundation for achieving the overall protection goal of historic buildings.


1)Protective expropriation

Shanghai has entered the stage of urban renewal, changing from "demolition, reform and retention" to "retention, reconstruction, demolition", with "retention" as the first and "reform" as the priority. In February 2018, the "Detailed Planning Adjustment for Control in Zhang Garden Area" was approved by the Shanghai Municipal People's Government. The Zhang Garden plot is reserved for land through the method of "expropriation without demolition, and people leaving the house", that is, the original structure is retained under the premise of land expropriation and residents' relocation. On January 22, 2019, the expropriation of the old reform of the Zhang Garden plot officially took effect. This policy is a key prerequisite for the renovation of Zhang Garden.

In 2019, Zhang Garden adopted the protective expropriation and transformation model of "expropriation without collection, people leaving the house", more than 1,100 residents moved out of Zhang Garden through old renovation, and their lives were improved and upgraded.

First of all, through the refined management method, the Zhang Garden collection base is strictly closed to preserve and protect the original historical style of Zhang Garden historical buildings to the greatest extent. Secondly, before residents surrender the lease, the preservation of the original components of each historical building is checked and recorded. In addition, in the process of caring for the historical buildings, the Zhang Garden historical buildings were subjected to daily maintenance such as ventilation, termite control, fire safety, and flood prevention during the vacant period.

A building (a house number) creates a file. Jing'an District respects and treats this century-old area with "the strictest protection", and strives to restore it to its original appearance. As early as 2015, it began to establish a "house archive" for the historical buildings within the Zhang Garden area, and each historical building in the Zhang Garden plot has an archive, containing the human history, current situation mapping, value evaluation and other information of each building, and the details with retention value are numbered and photographed for archiving. In the process of compilation, strive to be truthful, standardized, unified in format, consistent in expression, those protection labels are part of the "housing file", only record the information of No. 1 Lane 64, Lane 590, Weihai Road, more than 400 pages. According to the Shanghai Civil Engineering Society, the Zhang Garden plot contains a total of 43 historical buildings with various protected statuses, of which 13 are excellent historical buildings in Shanghai. Zhang Garden's "one building, one file" filing standard is higher than the standard stipulated by the municipal housing management department, and it is also the first case in China.

After the residents moved out, Jing'an District began a protective transformation of Zhang Garden. Zhang Garden is also the first urban renewal project in Shanghai to implement protective expropriation transformation. Ma Lin, general manager of Jingjie Industry (Group) Urban Renewal Company, said that the project will carry out protective transformation of historical buildings on the basis of completely preserving the texture of neighborhoods, street scales and architectural styles.

Zhang Garden has a long cycle from expropriation to protective repair and transformation. Through the "one-network unified management" of urban operation, sensors such as temperature control, smoke sense, vibration and other sensors are set up in the Zhang Garden area, and combined with personnel inspections to ensure the structural safety and fire safety of Zhang Garden's historical buildings throughout the cycle. This model of historic building management has become a local standard in Shanghai and has been implemented throughout the city since last year.

The best preservation of historical buildings is the preservation of revitalization. Zhang Yuan solicited protection and activation utilization plans from the world's top architects, selected 4 internationally renowned design companies, and scientifically and reasonably formulated protective comprehensive transformation plans. According to the plan, the expert review put forward requirements for "one building, one policy, one plan", fully evaluated each historical building in Zhang Garden according to its historical, artistic, scientific and socialized value, determined the key indoor and outdoor protection parts, protection requirements and renovation and renewal strategies, and guided "protection" and "activation and utilization" to better match.

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"Shanghai Nanjing Road Historical and Cultural Landscape Protection Plan" (2009)

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Aerial photography of Zhang Garden (2019)

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Source: <https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/OXRlOn93gjFilNKWkhMk4g>

Edited and Translated by Guan Tao