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"Organic Renewal" of Zhang Garden:"the First Garden on the Sea" (part 3)

2023-10-19 | www.china-up.com

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Source: Ye Ping

2)Optimize public elements and improve regional environmental quality 

As early as 2015, the Zhang Garden area has prioritized the setting of public elements in the renewal planning study. On the one hand, it pays attention to increasing public squares and green spaces in the area, and connects with the peripheral green space square system; On the other hand, combined with the overall assessment of the plan, focus on reserving space for public service facilities such as culture and sports that are closely related to citizens in the region, improve the supporting facilities from a larger regional scope, effectively improve the overall level of public services, and legalize these public elements in the control regulation adjustment approved by the Shanghai Municipal Government in 2018.

Subsequently, in the renewal planning study and control regulation adjustment completed in 2020, more emphasis was placed on the principle of people-oriented, considering that the area not only contains living facilities and square spaces serving residents, but also historical buildings and commercial spaces for foreign tourists, and connects public service facilities, subway stations, new landmarks and historical memory spaces in the region through multiple public channels, connecting the regional slow travel network, further promoting the integration of old and new areas and realizing the sharing of public resources.

The updated Zhang Garden area combines the public open spaces in the optimized layout area such as historical buildings and subway entrances and exits, and sets up multiple small public spaces of 300-2000m² to increase the publicity, accessibility and convenience of public open spaces, enhance the characteristics and experience, and improve environmental quality. Combined with the continuation of the historical fabric, the setting of public passages and small distribution squares will be made mandatory control requirements to ensure the implementation of public elements.


3)Composite utilization of space, refined guidance for the overall development of underground space.

In order to ensure the efficient implementation of the plan, through multi-dimensional and multi-professional joint research such as planning, architecture, transportation, etc., and following the principle of combining protection and construction, the underground space in Zhang Garden area was developed as a whole. In the renovation, avoid the areas with the highest concentration of excellent historical buildings, and appropriately develop underground space without destroying the historical style to realize the composite utilization of space. By setting up underground pedestrian connection channels and optimizing the interchange public passage line of the three rail transit lines, the location of each floor of the underground transfer is defined, so as to better realize the needs of rail transfer in the landscape area.

In addition, underground commercial facilities and parking facilities will be added to the underground space, and the leisure and commercial space integrated underground and above-ground in the area will be built in conjunction with the surrounding area to meet the future parking demand.

Through the implementation of Zhang Garden underground space zoning and the analysis of the implementation of technical solutions for each historical building, the underground development scope avoids the comprehensive development and utilization of the area with the highest concentration of excellent historical buildings, and at the same time, in the future, through various engineering and technical means such as overall replacement and overall translation, each historical building can be developed and utilized underground as a whole under the relevant protection requirements, and promote the efficient composite utilization of underground space.


C. The effectiveness of Zhang Garden renewal

The protective development of Zhang Garden is based on the principle of "mature one piece, start one piece", and is promoted in different areas. On December 1, 2022, Zhang Garden West District made its first appearance, focusing on the "first store", "debut" and "first launch" effects, deepening the theme of Shanghai culture through experiential and leading fashion consumption introduction, and giving Zhang Garden Historical Style Reserve new commercial functions and formats.

Based on the rich architectural heritage resources of Shikumen, Zhang Garden West District has transformed old houses from residential buildings into multiple single-family commercial shops and townhouses through restoration and transformation. Swire Pacific Group is the investment promotion operator in Zhang Garden West District, and many of the merchants currently settled in are high-end luxury brands.

A total of 16 buildings have been opened in the west area of Zhang Garden, including Shikumen Lilong, Lilong Mansion, Garden House and other types, which can be called a "Lilong Architecture Museum". Along Maoming North Road north to south, there are 9 buildings in Deqingli, Rongkangli and Zhenxingli; There are 7 buildings on the inside. The torii of these lanes have been preserved, and their names are engraved on the bricks and stones on the floor of the lane, which has become a symbol of memory and can also guide citizens and tourists.

The northernmost Deqingli, built after 1925, was designed by Xinruihe & Co., and invested and built by real estate developer Zhou Chunqing, as a new Shikumen building. Followed by Rongkangli, built in 1921 and invested and built by Wang Xianchen, a comprador of the British Macquarie Bank, is a typical old Shikumenli lane, where Wang Songtang, one of the founders of the predecessor of the Chinese Red Cross Society "Red Cross Society of the Three Eastern Provinces", once lived. Further south, Zhenxingli was built in 1927, designed by the Building Department of British Merchant Terry Co., Ltd., is an old-style Shikumen Li Lane residence, where famous people such as Zhang Gengbo, author of "Youhai Vicissitudes Road", and Wang Xuyao, a patriotic industrialist and promoter of the domestic product movement during the Anti-Japanese War, once lived. A house in Zhenxingli has been settled in the bicycle specialty store "Riding is Living" and is open for business, and many photography "old mages" enter the shop and take pictures around various styles of bicycles.

The most striking of the inner row of houses is the independent garden house at No. 30, Lane 588, Weihai Road, located on the north side of the central side of the square, the most protected building in the western district of Zhang Garden, which was originally owned by Citibank comprador Wang Junchen. The house has three floors, with a garden in front and an annex in the back, an open corridor at the entrance of the main building, a closed corridor on the second floor, symmetrical left and right of the building as a whole, a small green dome in the middle foyer, and the house has Baroque characteristics. This bungalow is currently the store of luxury brand Dior, and the Dior star-shaped installation is placed in the middle of the square in front of the door, which is very "eye-catching", and the wall of the west building hangs "Zhang Yuan OUR PRIDE. OUR PLACE.” The large signage also attracted many citizens to check in and take photos.

Han Han, a scholar of cultural industry research and associate professor of the National Institute of Cultural Development of Wuhan University, believes that Zhang Yuan is an important birthplace of China's modern cultural industry, and it should assume the significance of echoing history and shaping the future in the field of cultural industry. He believes that Zhang Garden "seems to be a very inconspicuous old neighborhood, but at a glance you can see the historical brilliance contained in it". Looking back from today's perspective, "Zhang Garden is an 'urban commercial complex' that transmits modern lifestyles and integrates spiritual consumption (such as movies and art exhibitions) and material consumption (such as catering and shopping). This is one of the most important ways of presenting public cultural commercial space. ”

Judging from the current opening state of Zhang Garden West District, there are more high-end shops and fewer cultural experience spaces. In addition to "building readable", citizens look forward to the opportunity to get more experience.


D. The future of Zhang Garden

In 2022, the collection of houses below grade II in central Shanghai will be completed, but the old renovation in Shanghai is not simply demolished, in the central urban area of Shanghai, a large number of old renovation plots overlap with the style area. Old buildings and neighborhoods are the material preservation of urban memory, the nostalgia witness of the people, and an important symbol of urban connotation, quality and characteristics.

At the end of November 2020, the Shanghai Municipal People's Government approved the adjustment of the control and regulation related to the renewal planning of the Zhang Garden area in Jing'an District, Shanghai, and in February 2022, after the renovation of the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall reopened, the innovative technical ideas of the renewal planning of the Zhang Garden area were displayed in the exhibition hall of the "City of Humanities".

In recent years, Shanghai has continued to explore and innovate, and the old reform has been given a deeper connotation. Promoting urban renewal in protection, better protection in urban renewal, and realizing "organic renewal" are the leading ideas for Shanghai to promote the old renovation of landscape areas in recent years. After the renovation of Zhang Garden, it has become a high-quality case of Shanghai's urban renewal that "emphasizes history and culture and strong immersion experience", forming a block pattern that can be strolled and read by "stealing life for half a day". Let the old neighborhoods and old buildings be transformed and integrated into the people's lives with a new attitude, and the ultimate foothold of all work is the improvement of the people's well-being.

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The bungalow is currently the store of luxury brand Dior, and citizens have queued up at the door to enter. Source: www.china-up.com

The tallest building in Zhang Garden West was once owned by the family of Beijing's old brand "Qianxiangyi", and later became the home of "72 tenants", and is now a Vacheron Constantin store.

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Source: www.china-up.com



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

Edited and Translated by  Guan Tao