Keywords

1 Introduction

Chinese scholars started to pay attention to urban conservation in 1982 when three of them promoted the “Historic City” title. Architectural history knowledge, conservation legislations, safeguarding methods, and intercultural communications developed rapidly. Nowadays, most of the cities in China are willing to make the proposal of listing a monument or a historic area. However, scholars started to criticise these quarters for being restored in the “improper methods” (González Martínez, 2016) and the urban redevelopment still pressures architectural heritage in most cities (Shan, 2007).

Equipped with insufficient infrastructure, degenerated facilities and dilapidated buildings and possessing a high-density population, historic areas are in danger of being demolished and reconstructed. While the government emphasises architectural preservation, the revenues of land and profits achieved with business interests are at the expense of social improvement (Shin, 2010). The increasing awareness of genius loci encourages maintaining the significance of the place. However, it stimulates nostalgia for antiques, which results in rapid tourism development and radical changes in tangible and intangible elements (Zhu & Zhang, 2012).

The government and planners are accustomed to transforming historic areas into museums or disneyfied historic quarters. For instance, the Kuan-zhai Alley in Chengdu, the Xin-tian-di quarter in Shanghai, and the Dao-wai historic quarter in Harbin have transformed from living neighbourhoods to commercial lands and lost most of their social elements (He & Wu, 2005; Xie & Heath, 2018, 2–3; Yin & Wang, 2014). While the monetary relocation compensation system attempts to move the inhabitants out of these areas, the deficient housing and uneven benefit allocation block the process (He & Wu, 2005).

On the contrary, scholars discussed the significance of the local community. Smith (2006) and Pouilos (2014) argued that maintaining the local community is crucial for sustaining its living mode, handicrafts, and folklore. In China, it is more remarkable for burdening memories that provide clues for the regional construction techniques for architecture (Wang, 2009). The inhabitants’ oral narratives could also supplement the insufficient written records and help recognise the values of historic materials (Wang & Dong, 2018). Therefore, their participation in the conservation process and collaboration with other stakeholders are noteworthy.

Under this circumstance, the paper first overviewed the approaches for urban conservation, from integrity conservation to the Historic Urban Landscape, and analysed their merits and defects. Focusing on two historic quarters in Beijing and Shanghai, it further illustrated the processes of inhabitants’ participation and collaboration modes with other stakeholders, including organisations and the local authorities, to safeguard the architectural heritage and redevelop the quarters.

2 Overview of Urban Conservation

2.1 Integrated Conservation

The beginning of urban conservation probably started in the first half of the twentieth century. When Gustavo Giovannoni promoted the idea of thinning out the historical buildings, integrated conservation of historic areas became prevailing. Giovanni Astengo (1915–1990), Luigi Angelini (1884–1969), Giuseppe Campos Venuti (1926–2019), and Pier Luigi Cervellati adopted it to the master plan of several Italian cities and towns. Architects and urban planners also paid attention to the “historic centre” and stimulated the agreement to publish the Charter of Gubbio which highlighted the conservation's economic merit and social benefit.

Despite Italy, the idea of integrated conservation widely spread in European countries. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe promulgated the Declaration of Amsterdam (1975) which stressed the significance of architectural heritage's surroundings and integrating its conservation into urban planning. One year later, the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Nairobi passed the Recommendation concerning the Safeguarding and Contemporary Role of Historic Areas (1976) which underlined the consideration of safeguarding the historic area into urban revitalisation. Based on the cultural value of architectural heritage and the economic value of land, the historic area was seen as a trigger for urban redevelopment in the following practices.

In addition, the conventions and declarations have already started to consider social factors. Radical changes in “the social composition of the residents” was not encouraged (Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, 1975), and radical transformation of social activities, and social structure are not appreciated (UNESCO, 1976). The inhabitants’ involvement was believed to be an effective method of urban conservation. Then, a comprehensive approach involving stakeholders was promoted and published as ‘Historic Urban Landscape’.

2.2 Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) Approach

In the 1970s, urban conservation stood at its turning point when the political situation “changed from centrally controlled management towards market-oriented economy” (Jokilehto, 2007). Conservation of historic centres became an investment of private entrepreneurs that the revitalisation and tourism brought them considerable financial benefits (Bonfantini, 2015). The mega-events, like the Olympic Games and the Expo, are probably one of the triggers to improve public spaces, collected services, and living conditions in historic urban areas. However, gentrification, Disneyfication, overwhelming tourists, and unstoppable changes might follow.

The reflections occurred at the beginning of the twentieth century. The requirement of sustainable development stimulated the competition in heritage discourse between the heritage authority and the local community. The integration of heritage preservation and urban development regained attention through the Historical Urban Landscape approach. Following the idea of urban heritage—“a resource for the entire city and for its sustainable development” (Bandarin & van Oers, 2015), the approach aims at “preserving the quality of the human environment, enhancing the productive and sustainable use of urban spaces, while recognising their dynamic character, and promoting social and functional diversity” (UNESCO, 2011). It involves the planning, regulatory, and financial tools in the conservation process and highlights participation and collaboration between stakeholders, including inhabitants, the local community, NGOs, developers, and local authorities. Moreover, the HUL approach is supposed to combine preservation, management, and regeneration of the historic area.

2.3 Development of Urban Conservation Through Comparison

The integrated conservation method prevailed before the twenty-first century when architects and planners were designated to make the conservation plan, and the authorities controlled and managed the decision on plans. The buffer zone planning method that considered the environment and surrounding areas of urban heritage was widely adopted to make it realise. And it required detailed records of the buildings and urban fabric, which usually took decades for the field survey.

While the HUL approach involves all the stakeholders in the conservation process, it seems that the responsibility for the conservation of urban heritage is separated partly from the local authority to the other stakeholders. Among these stakeholders, the local community is regarded as a significant participator who could lead the decision-making and assist in implementing plans on their properties. Moreover, after the restoration and rehabilitation, it would still play a significant role in managing the heritage for sustainable development (Table 1).

Table 1 Comparison of integrated conservation method and HUL approach through declaration and recommendations (drawn by the author)
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3 Case Studies on Historic Quarters in Beijing and Shanghai

Several years before, Fan (2014) claimed that in China, stakeholders’ participation in preservation preferred donor engagement rather than collaboration under the drastic governmental administration. Significantly, community involvement is not sufficient where top-down decisions were made. Nevertheless, the situation was complex. In the following two cases, the local community managed to participate in the urban conservation process and collaborate with other stakeholders.

3.1 Nan-Luo-Gu-Xiang Historic Quarter, Beijing

Nan-Luo-Gu-Xiang (NLGX) historic quarter is located in the Jiaodaokou zone, Dongcheng district, Beijing. It was one of the oldest areas in the city's historic town and covers an area of 0.84 square kilometres. The quarter was formed more than seven hundred years ago and maintains the fabric of hutong, tens of traditional courtyard houses, Daoist temples, the site of school architecture, the site of commercial buildings, and the site of the imperial hospital (Fig. 1). Due to several reforms on land, the houses were occupied by a large group of inhabitants who could not afford the removal.

Fig. 1
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Distribution of listed heritages in NGLX historic quarter (drawn by the author, the base map is from (Urban Design and Regeneration Institute of Engineer and Technology of Beijing & Architectural Design and Research Limited Company of Beijing, 2016))

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There were three phases of urban conservation in the NLGX historic quarter. The 1st stage occurred in the 1980s and the 1990s. The population of inhabitants was extremely high, and the living and hygienic conditions were not livable. Meanwhile, Beijing was put into the first list of Historically and Culturally Famous Cities, which are appreciated on the historical and cultural aspects. To improve the situation and be careful on the historical remains, Liangyong Wu, from Tsinghua University, managed to practice his Organic Regeneration theory in the plot—Ju’er Hutong. The project aimed to maintain the fabric and street structure of the historic remains rather than the total demolition and reconstruction. The result fulfilled the goals and considered history in the design process, achieving the ‘UN-Habitat Award’. After this valorisation, the whole historic quarter was included in the first 25 Historic and Cultural Quarters for Safeguarding. The 2nd step started in 2005. It was a premise and preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games. The goal was to transform the dilapidated quarter into a cultural and leisure zone. Accompanied to conserve the historic features, multiple plans and regulations on planning and management, including Conservation and Development Plan for Nan-Luo-Gu-Xiang (2006–2020), Regulation on Adapting the Fund Allocation for Commercial Activities in Nan-Luo-Gu-Xiang, Handbook for Training Inhabitants and Operators on Management and Serving in Nan-Luo-Gu-Xiang, and other regulations from diverse perspectives. The plan stimulated a dramatically increasing number of small businesses operated by external entities or by the local inhabitants in the following years (Figure). The media also publicised the quarter as a worthwhile place for visiting. The result seemed an extraordinary success of the plan. In the extreme case, it attracted 100,000 visitors per day, which excessively overpassed the recommended number of 17,000. The conflict between tourists and the remaining inhabitants became a vital problem. In the 3rd phase, the quarter applied to remove its title of AAA Tourist AttractionFootnote 1 in 2016. That is, the quarter no longer encourages a large number of tourists to visit. Besides, the number of visitors is strictly controlled through the reservation and check process. Meantime, Guidelines for Protecting and Controlling Features of Nan-Luo-Gu-Xiang Historical and Cultural Quarter (2016) was published for owners to manage the restoration and rehabilitation of their properties. It also designates the Management Committee of NLGX to supervise the implementation, survey the insensible changes of built heritage, hold meetings between stakeholders, and improve the facilities (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2
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Streetscape of current NLGX historic quarter (photo by the author)

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The stakeholders involved in the urban conservation of the NLGX historic quarter played their roles in the dynamic and long-term procedure. Local government plays a decreasing role from the decision-making to the implementation. According to the national and municipal acts on safeguarding historic cities, the Government of Dongcheng district is responsible for organising the making conservation plan for NLGX historic quarter. The local government made the final decision, while it guided the public via regulatory tools for implementation and management. On the other hand, when conflicts occur, the local government can collect feedback and adopt or remake the plans for the following decade (Hu & Morales, 2016).

Local inhabitants and introduced groups took part in the implementation and the proposal to improve the plan. They started to participate in the urban conservation process from the implementation phase (Zhang et al., 2012). Following the improvement of public infrastructure and tourism development, the inhabitants could benefit from operating commercial activities. Recently, the voluntary relocation policy provides the inhabitants with considerable compensation for moving out. The policy also provided the possibility of living in a better environment after clearing informal construction.

The Management Committee of NLGX (MCN) became the mediator between the stakeholders in the management phase. The governmental MCN was established to supervise the process and assist in fulfilling the implementation. For example, to organise regular checks with other governmental offices and adapt the local economy structure by collaborating with the non-governmental Commercial Association of NLGX (CAN). It is noteworthy that most buildings in the quarter belong to public property or the entity's property which has been “occupied” for a long time. In this case, the MCN makes a great effort to communicate with the inhabitants to notice the newest policy, analyse the advantages and weaknesses, and sometimes induce the decision.

The Commercial Association of NLGX played the assistant role in the implementation and management phase. It is composed of the operators of businesses in the quarter and has significant impacts on the management of commercial activities. During the 3rd phase, it collaborated with the MCN to adapt the economic structure. With the agreement through the whole association, upgrading to creative and economic operations became possible. The cooperation mechanism is shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3
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Cooperation mechanism between main stakeholders in NLGX (drawn by the author)

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3.2 Tian-Zi-Fang Historic Quarter, Shanghai

Tian-Zi-Fang (TZF), the No.210 alley (quarter) of Taikang Road, is located in the Dapuqiao zone, Luwan district (a part of the current Huangpu district), Shanghai and covers an area of 7.2 ha. It was formed in the 1920s. Due to the third expansion of the former French concession and the struggle of Chinese merchants and wealthy people, it soon developed into a complex area of small factories, Lilong houses,Footnote 2 and stores with features influenced by colonisation and intercultural communication. After the industrial depression and the long-time neglect of property management, the majority of collective buildings were overcrowded, and the factories were abandoned. Nowadays, hundreds of buildings near the TZF quarter have been listed as protected sites or excellent buildings. Yet, the buildings in the quarter which are believed less significant are not on the list (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4
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Distribution of listed heritage in Huangpu District and the location of TZF historic quarter (drawn by the author, the base map is from openstreetmap.org/copyright)

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There were three phases of the urban conservation of TZF during the past three decades. The 1st stage began with reusing the abandoned factories in the quarter. In 1998, the local government office of Dapuqiao zone transformed the former Needle Factory of Shanghai into an internal grocery market for the first attempt. Then, it introduced artists, artisans, and designers to operate creative businesses. It soon attracted attention, and around 2002, the factories’ tenants reached a saturation point. The 2nd stage began with the conflict between the demolition-reconstruction plan published by the Government of Luwan district and the resistance of introduced artisans and inhabitants. During that time, Yisan Ruan and Shiling Zhen, from Tongji University, provided the Plan on Conservation and Reusing of Historically Imaged Quarter of Taikang Road, Shanghai, to stress the integrated conservation of architectural heritage with its surrounding historical quarters. The Shanghai Association for Science and Technology (SAST) promoted the Proposal on Conservation of Historically Imaged Quarter of Taikang Road, Shanghai: the Museum of Lilong Shikumen Houses in Shanghai (2005) to attract the municipality’s attention to conservation and redevelopment. As a result, the municipal government decided to maintain the whole area of TZF that year. Meantime, the inhabitants attempted to reuse the houses for commercial activities to realise the initiative redevelopment and established their association—Proprietors’ Committee on the management of TZF (PCMT)—to strengthen their initiative management. Like other quarters of the commercial transformation, the TZF quarter met the conflict between inhabitants and business operators and the radical transformation that damaged the historic streetscape (Fig. 5). In the 3rd stage, the governmental Management Committee of TZF (MCT) was set up to help the daily management. It managed to improve public spaces and manage changes in the buildings by establishing workflows for each service and guidelines on preventing damages. The inhabitants made the self-rehabilitation of their houses under the guideline for Lolong houses in Shanghai. Thus, the quarter was put into the first municipal list of Streetscape to be Safeguarded (2016).

Fig. 5
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The local residential space and tourists’ space combined in the TZF historic quarter (derived from Yung et al., 2014)

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The roles of stakeholders and their cooperation altered. The local government seemed to step back from the conservation process. The distinction between the governmental decision and the local office’s development consideration led to the conflict between them. Compromising the inhabitants’ and users’ opinions, the local government provided an accessible environment for the creative and commercial transformation of the quarter. Adapted to the contemporary context, the regulation on the use of houses was open to other kinds of activities, while following the strict application procedure.

The local government office and inhabitants collaborated to play a leading role in decision-making and implementation. They presented their power on the redevelopment approach's decision-making, accompanied by technical support provided by academic experts. They organized the Allies on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights of TZF with the agreement on safeguarding the architectural features and attracting external investment (Zhong, 2016). They also made bold attempts at the utility transformation and encouraged the local government to adopt it. The inhabitants benefited from renting or using the houses as ground-floor stores. It is undeniable that the market-led process caused gentrification and the loss of artisans, which stimulated organisations’ intervention.

The non-governmental and governmental organisations played as the bridge between inhabitants and the government. The inhabitants and artists who established the PCMT contributed to providing real estate information and mediating disputes, especially between inhabitants and business operators. It has an initiative bond between the owners and gathers the power of each individual. On the contrary, the governmental organisation—MCT had a solid power to keep the operation and relationship between stakeholders in order via the legislation and regulatory system. For example, the agreement on the regeneration of a building must be passed by more than two-thirds of the owners and tenants, and the acts on applying for the transformation from residential use to non-residential use. The cooperation mechanism is shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 6
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Cooperation mechanism between main stakeholders in TZF (drawn by the author)

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4 Conclusion and Discussion

This paper aimed to provide alternative methods to manage the historic area via collaboration with stakeholders. The two cases displayed stakeholders’ collaboration modes in the whole process of urban conservation. Through the decades of development, stakeholders’ participation has changed. The municipal or local government showed increasing concern for the need of inhabitants or individual users of heritages; the current requirement for living and working in historical quarters pushes the inhabitants to present opinions and participate in their initiative. That is, the discourse of other stakeholders, apart from the government, is rising.

Meantime, we should be aware of side effects. Contrary to depopulation, the collaboration might attract more inhabitants and businesses to settle down in historic quarters. For example, the total population in NLGX historic quarter increased from 22,000 in 2002 (Shin, 2010) to 46,000 in 2017 (Chen, 2017). Besides, the commodification and privatization of heritage might lead to emptying the historic quarters. For instance, about 10% of the original 671 households stayed in TZF historic quarter (Zhong, 2016, 204). Therefore, the contemporary situation requires more measures to fulfil the conservation and redevelopment goals.