Academic Investigation on the Urban Renewal Project of Hejiang Park in Chengdu City

As an important means of city branding of Chengdu, the organic renewal of old urban areas is a key point in organizing city marketing system, which will increase the vitality of old communities, attract travelers, and highlight cultural characteristics. On September 27, 2021, the author conducted a thematic investigation on Chengdu's practical experience of urban renewal with the project of Hejiang Park, located in Hejiangting Community of Jinjiang District.

Hejiangting Community, getting its name from the Hejiang Pavilion built in the Tang Dynasty, is one of the typical old communities in the city center. As the Pavilion is a historical and cultural building of Chengdu, Hejiang Park became a new landmark after the implementation of the urban renewal project.

Hejiang park is one of the important nodes connecting several main functional blocks, such as Lan Gui Fang, Music Square and Da Chuan Xiang, etc., to form a leisure industrial cluster dominated by music and art. The urban renewal of Hejiang Park utilizes the existing city IP and cultural symbols of Chengdu to enhance its uniqueness of location and to shape a famous scenic spot. The organic renewal and cultural marketing of this project is a typical case of public space regeneration in old communities. It integrates cultural and creative elements into green space, improves the diversity of public leisure space, upgrades public infrastructure, and creates an important "spatial fulcrum" of culture and creativity.

In order to understand the evaluation of the local residents on the urban renewal project of Hejiang Park, the author conducted an online questionnaire which collected 87 valid samples from the local residents. The results showed that most of the respondents were satisfied with the urban renewal project. More than 70% believed that the  project greatly increased the creativity of Hejiang Park, meanwhile 44.95% thought that the cultural feature of the blocks were improved. Moreover, some others stressed that the publicity, participation, valence, diversity, locality and sustainability of their community was promoted after the implementation of the project.

Hence, the urban renewal project of Hejiang Park not only improved the vitality of He Jiang Ting Community, but greatly promoted local residents' happiness. It is actually a typical case of urban renewal projects implemented by Chengdu city government.

Survey on the residents' satisfaction with Hejiang Park urban renewal project  [photo/author's questionnaire analysis]

Survey on the residents' satisfaction with the urban renewal project  [photo/author's questionnaire analysis]

Overall plan of Hejiang Park Renewal  [photo/<http://www.kuaibao.qq.com>]

Hejiang Park  [photo/author,on September 27, 2021]

Written by Chai Ning

2022/1/23