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November 19, 2018

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It’s goodbye and good riddance to old, cramped, damp community

The first batch of over 2,500 households yesterday left their decrepit quarters in Huangpu District’s old town.

Their old cramped houses without toilets or kitchens on Fuyou Road are part of the largest remaining downtown residential community yet to be renovated.

All the 5,680 households living in the shadow of the Bund Financial Center skyscraper beside Yuyuan Garden are being relocated, but the government will retain some old houses to preserve the city’s lilong neighborhoods along with the traditional lifestyle.

“Only obsolete structures with no historical value will be demolished,” said Gao Yun, Huangpu Party secretary.

The community was built in the 1910s by foreign missionaries and wealthy businessmen. A batch of shikumen, the city’s unique stone-gate houses, were built for senior church clerks and business owners, while smaller houses were built nearby to accommodate ordinary staff and servants.

The buildings were later divided into multiple cramped households, said Qiu Xianjun, an official with the committee and community resident.

Qiu, 40, grew up in the neighborhood and has mixed feelings about the relocation.

“I’m happy to get rid of chamber pots, but I’ll miss the convenient central location,” he said.

His neighbors, many of whom who have spent most of their lives in the community, had no hesitation. They are delighted to be leaving.

Over 98 percent of property owners signed their names on the dotted line immediately they were given the chance to move to the outskirts.

The future is an open book. Huangpu has the largest number of old communities downtown.

Many lilong neighborhoods were built along the demolished city wall.

The only vestiges of the city wall left today can be found in the names of communities such as Xiaodongmen (Small East Gate) and Laoximen (Old West Gate).

The city government has plans to protect about 90 percent of downtown lilong. There are 8.1 square kilometers of residential space that is more than 50 years old and over 7.3 million square kilometers will be preserved.

In a few cases, some residents will be relocated and those who remain will enjoy more spacious living conditions.




 

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