Century-old Market Road to get facelift
The 454-meter Machang Road near the Hongkougang and Huangpu rivers, built in 1904 with the original name of Market Road, is scheduled for renovation.
The former Market Road in Hongkou District, dating back more than 100 years, is to get a facelift, preserving most of its historical buildings.
Machang Road near the Hongkougang and Huangpu rivers was built in 1904 when it was known as Market Road.
It was home to a popular hardware market, supporting nearby shipyards. The Shanghai Dock and Engineering Co building, known as the Red Building, on Dongdaming Road stands near the eastern end of the road.
The buildings along the road feature a unique architectural style, with the central part used as warehouses while the surrounding parts were used as stores and accommodation.
Residents have already been moved out of a nearby residential neighborhood at 125 Liyang Road which was built in 1917. The appearance of the buildings there will be preserved while the inner wooden structures which have nearly collapsed will receive major renovations.
The renovated buildings will be converted into offices for creative industries and stylish commercial facilities. A section of flood wall along the Hongkougang River, from which the district takes its name, will be lowered to create a riverside footpath.
Hongkou has over 800,000 square meters of decrepit residential neighborhoods remaining, mainly wooden and brick structures built in the 1920s.
The district plans to renovate about 6,000 homes each year and complete all renovation work on the old neighborhoods by 2022.
A trial renovation project on Chunyangli to renovate the shikumen buildings while preserving their historic appearance will be expanded to Jinyangli and Taoyuanli, two other lane neighborhoods in Hongkou, this year.
