Global competition to breathe new life into old streets
Xilingjiazhai Road within the Bansongyuan Community in Huangpu District stretches 320 meters, with a characteristic arcade structure.
An annual global competition is giving the city’s top planning authorities a choice of designs for redeveloping several downtown landmarks and historic neighborhood streets.
The Shanghai Urban Planning and Natural Resources Bureau launched the campaign “2019 Shanghai Urban Design Challenge” over the weekend, inviting both professionals and amateurs to present ideas to redevelop two backstreets in old downtown communities.
High-quality urban street space design and sympathetic management have drawn extensive attention as the city implements its 2035 master plan and promotes quality development and life, the bureau said.
Xilingjiazhai Road, tucked away within the Bansongyuan Community in Huangpu District, stretches 320 meters. The 12-meter-wide street has a small 800-square-meter garden.
The street has many old residential communities on both sides along with hundreds of small eateries, stores and other businesses. It features a row of arcade buildings, which is now rare.
Bikes and motorcycles once occupied most the street, making it hard for residents to stroll around their own neighborhood.
Designers are required to "build a happy community" street by optimizing public spaces, improving the urban image — especially with the iconic arcade buildings — while also solving the parking requirements of motorcycles.
Competition organizers want "smart city" technologies and artistically designed public facilities. Designers are also encouraged to create a pocket park for the enjoyment of local residents.
The other project invites designers to create a "high-quality business street" for the Wendingfang commercial street which is 1 kilometer away from the Xujiahui commercial hub.
The 450-meter-long street beside the Yishan Road Station of Metro Line 3, 4 and 9 has gathered a large number of furniture and interior decoration stores and has become the largest cluster of home decoration businesses within the Inner Ring Road.
But the increasingly busy businesses have encroached on the public space and the street and caused parking problems.
The commercial street also lacks uniform design for signage.
Designers are required to improve the quality of the street and create comfortable public spaces for business and cultural activities.
Xilingjiazhai Road has a distinct character.
Huangpu District is using an innovative approach to revive two historic streets.
The competition focuses on the principles of “open, sharing, innovation.”
It aims to build a public planning platform based on the Internet, big data and public participation to improve the government’s planning management, the bureau said.
Participants can be professional designers or undergraduate students. They can use either English or Chinese.
Three winners will be picked by a panel of government officials and senior urban planners such as Zheng Shiling, a professor of urban planning and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The top prize is 100,000 yuan (US$14,400) and the city government will include the winning designs in its final blueprints for the projects.
Detailed information is available on the bilingual website sudc.qxqy.sh.cn. Participants must apply on the website before September 10 and submit their projects by October 7.
The winners will be announced in October.
It is the third time that the city’s planning authority is soliciting ideas from professionals and the general public through the competition.
It was part of a trial in which the city’s planning authority sought ideas from both global professionals and the public.
Since the global challenge was launched in 2016, participants from 11 countries have offered their designs for nine local projects, including landmarks and industrial heritages. These blueprints have been reviewed by both experts and citizens.
The bureau held the first urban design competition in 2016 to solicit ideas for Xujiahui Sports Park, the historic Hengshan and Fuxing roads, as well as the Zhangjiang High-tech Park in Pudong.
Construction is ongoing for the sports park, described as the biggest sports park in the downtown area, with some design input collected from the competition.
In 2017, global designers made blueprints for the Panyu Road urban renewal project which has become a showcase for the city's ongoing redevelopment of old residential communities.
Last year, the historical Minsheng Wharf in Pudong, along with an 80,000-ton silo — said to be the biggest in East Asia — was redeveloped into a popular riverside attraction with art exhibitions and largely preserved industrial heritages.
The 450-meter-long Wendingfang commercial street beside the Yishan Road Station of Metro Line 3, 4 and 9 has gathered a large swathe of furniture and interior decoration stores to become the largest cluster of home decoration business within the Inner Ring Road.
Designers are invited to create a "high-quality business street" for the Wendingfang commercial street which is 1 kilometer away from the Xujiahui commercial hub.
