Embroidery efforts have been made in Xiaoxihu District, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, and micro-renewal of old urban areas featuring "small scale, gradual progress and courtyard by courtyard" has been implemented.
Micro-renovation and renewal of old blocks
In October, 2022, the Supreme Leader of president sent a congratulatory letter to the 2022 World City Day Global Home Event and the Second Global Conference on Urban Sustainable Development, pointing out that the World City Day Global Home Event adheres to the concept of "Better City, Better Life" and is committed to promoting the sustainable development of global cities, which is of great significance to creating a development pattern of balanced benefits, coordination, tolerance, win-win cooperation and common prosperity.
World Cities Day is the first international day with the theme of cities established by the United Nations, and it is also the first international day initiated by the government of China and widely recognized and supported by the international community. In October this year, at the awarding ceremony of the Global Sustainable City Award (Shanghai Award) and the opening ceremony of the China home event of World City Day 2023, the Shanghai Handbook: A Guide to Urban Sustainable Development in the 21st Century, which was jointly compiled by Shanghai, UN-Habitat and the Bureau of International Exhibitions, was released, and some cases were selected, such as the micro-renovation of Xiaoxihu District in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, the Community Development Fund in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, and the ecological vitality community in Wan Li Street in Putuo District, Shanghai.
How to slightly transform the old urban areas? How do community funds benefit people’s livelihood? How to add vitality to grassroots governance? Recently, reporters visited Nanjing, Chengdu and Shanghai on the spot.
In the morning, standing on the sunny roof terrace of bask in the quilt, Xu Qingyi looked down and saw the tall and strong loquat tree in the courtyard. "When my old house was rebuilt, the designer rebuilt the terrace according to our requirements and kept the loquat tree I planted when I was a child." As an old neighborhood in Nanjing Xiaoxihu area, 75-year-old Xu Qing praised the renovation here.
Xiaoxihu District, Confucius Temple Street, Qinhuai District, Nanjing, also known as Dayoufang Lane Historical Area, is one of the 22 historical areas identified in the Protection Plan of Nanjing Historical and Cultural City (2010-2020). For a long time in the past, it used to be a crowded and messy shanty town with inconvenient life. There were 810 households with more than 3,000 residents living within an area of less than 5 hectares.
In recent years, Nanjing has carried out a pilot project in Qinhuai District, which is characterized by "small-scale, gradual and courtyard-by-courtyard" micro-renewal of old urban areas. While retaining the memory of the city, it has comprehensively improved the living environment and injected new vitality into the old city. At present, the experience of the renovation of Xiaoxihu District has been popularized in 14 residential renewal projects in the old city of Nanjing.
How to deal with the relationship between protection and development in urban renewal? How to focus on the needs of the people? How to continue the urban context? The reporter went to the Xiaoxihu area to investigate.
Research first
Make it clear that "seeing things, people and life" in the transformation of the old city, and form a "five-party platform" to discuss and build together.
The sunshine spilled into the living room and fell on the body, which was warm. "Brand-new, warm and comfortable, full of happiness …" Xu Qing took the reporter to visit home and said a series of adjectives.
"In the past, the house was next to the house, and the lighting and ventilation in the room were not good, and the related facilities could not keep up." Xu Qing said that although he wants to improve his living conditions, the older he gets, the more difficult he feels about his old house. "I have lived for generations and have feelings."
In 2015, I heard that the relevant departments of Qinhuai District investigated the renovation of the old city in Xiaoxihu area. Xu Qing remembered the scene of all the aborigines moving when some old areas were renovated in the early years, and could not help but worry a little, "Will your old house be lost?"
There have been many explorations in Nanjing to carry out the renovation of the old city. Li Jianbo, director of Qinhuai Branch of Nanjing Planning and Natural Resources Bureau, said that Nanjing has taken the practice of demolishing the old and building a new one in the renewal of old urban areas, which has accelerated urban development and improved people’s livelihood needs, but it has affected the style of the old city to some extent. Efforts have also been made to protect the old city buildings, but commercial development has moved out of the aborigines and there is less fireworks.
"We constantly sum up practical experience and gradually realize that urban renewal and transformation should take into account urban construction and residents’ living needs, and handle the relationship between protection and development." Li Jianbo, who is also the executive deputy director of the Urban Renewal Office of Qinhuai District, said that in 2015, the former Nanjing Planning Bureau and other departments proposed to change "top-down expropriation" to "bottom-up renewal", and made clear the general principle of "seeing things, people and life" in the transformation of the old city, which provided guidance for the renovation of Xiaoxihu District.
How does the idea land? In July, 2015, Nanjing contacted experts and students from three local universities in architecture, planning and other related fields, and went deep into Xiaoxihu area to carry out investigation and research, exploring specific ideas for the renovation of old streets. After comprehensive evaluation, the scheme proposed by Han Dongqing, a professor from the School of Architecture of Southeast University, stood out.
"At that time, we refined the plan according to experts’ opinions, and established a’ five-party platform’ composed of government functional departments, planning and design teams, state-owned enterprise construction platforms, street communities and residents to promote urban renewal in the process of joint construction. Among them, Han Dongqing’s team is responsible for planning and design, and Nanjing Historic City Protection and Construction Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Nanjing Libao Group") is implemented as a platform for state-owned enterprises. " Li Jianbo said.
Co-construction is inseparable from repeated consultations. "Since 2015, we have only spent four years in preliminary research and demonstration." Li Jianbo, who participated in the renovation of Xiaoxihu area all the way, said, "The first step is to solicit opinions from the masses, which made us feel difficult. For example, there are many property owners in many old houses, some want to move, some want to transform, and some family members still have different opinions on how to transform. "
In October 2017, Qinhuai District organized relevant departments to investigate in other places. The practical exploration of transforming residential courtyards one by one in local old streets and symbiosis between indigenous people and new formats helped them open their minds.
"We have changed the traditional practice of’ concentrating on a period of time and completing the renovation of the whole area at one time’ in the past. After fully listening to the opinions of relevant departments, we decided to adopt the idea of’ small-scale, gradual and courtyard-by-courtyard’ micro-renovation, and accordingly formulated the" Guiding Opinions on the Implementation and Management of the Micro-renovation Planning Scheme for the Historic Section of Xiaoxihu in the South of the Old City ". Li Jianbo said.
According to the guiding opinions, residents who are willing to renovate will be paid by the property owner and given some subsidies by the government, and the residents will discuss the renovation plan with the designers and builders of the "Five-Party Platform"; If you choose to find another house to move and give up the property rights of the old house, you will be compensated according to the policy; If the property rights are reserved and the old houses are leased to the state-owned enterprise to build a platform, the vacated space will be used for public facilities and the introduction of formats to promote the organic renewal of the old streets; If you have not made up your mind about whether to transform, you can wait until the conditions are ripe. "The working mechanism of the’ five-party platform’ has been retained, and planners are resident in the community and can come to the door at any time." Li Jianbo said.
Xu Qing chose the renovation, feeling that he saved money and worry. "During the renovation of the old house, the planners and builders visited many times to listen to opinions. Because my old house is a dangerous building, according to relevant policies, the government has borne 60% of the renovation costs. "
Li Caifeng, who lives in Xiaoxihu District, chose to rent. "The two-story building where my family lives was built in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. I have lived here since I was a child." The 70-year-old Tong Nannan described his mother Li Caifeng’s treasure of the old house as "treating it as a treasure". "Whoever accidentally touches a wall will feel distressed."
In October, 2020, considering his advanced age and difficulty in housing renovation, Li Caifeng rented his old house to Nanjing Libao Group for repair and use, and rented a house in a nearby neighborhood with the rent to improve his life in his later years.
One household, one policy
Respect the wishes of residents, carry out refined transformation and optimize facilities.
"Construction started in March 2021, ended in August, and was renovated and moved home in December." Xu Qing still remembers the process of house renovation. "During the renovation, several days are the same, and sometimes we come to see it several times a day."
This 78-square-meter "new home" is full of ingenious design ideas: in order to preserve the old loquat tree, the designer built a patio in front of Xu Qing’s old house. Han Dongqing, who presided over the renovation design of Xu Qingjia’s old house, said: "We use the small space in front of the old house to build a patio centered on old trees, which is light and ventilated."
This ingenious design is more than one in Xu Qingjia’s house. There is only a narrow space more than 30 centimeters wide outside the bedroom. The eaves are carefully designed above to form a small patio, and the green plants are planted at random. A large glass window is installed directly from the eaves of the patio to the floor of the bedroom. People sitting by the bed seem to be in a garden, and the sunshine is comfortable and the landscape looks beautiful.
"The spacing between houses in Xiaoxihu area is very small. We have changed more than 10 drafts of this patio design." Han Dongqing said, "It is necessary to’ open the window to see the scenery’ and be beautiful and generous, and at the same time take into account the needs of residents for ventilation and lighting in their daily lives."
There are two details that make Xu Qing particularly satisfied: one is the small terrace on the second floor of the old house, and the other is the stairs leading to the small terrace.
According to the original plan, the second floor roof of Xu Qingjia retains the appearance style of the old house roof in this area, with a certain slope. However, after hearing Xu Qing’s suggestion that he wanted to have a place to enjoy the cool in summer and dry clothes in winter, the design team carried out the design of "changing the slope to the flat". Nowadays, the small terrace with a roof of 28 square meters is surrounded by guardrails, and tables, chairs and clothes racks are added in the middle, which is safe and practical.
The stairs leading to the small terrace are unique. "According to the layout of the house, the slope from the balcony entrance to the wall root is very steep. If the stairs are laid, each step is 40 cm high. It is neither convenient nor safe for us to go upstairs and downstairs." Xu Qingbian said that he took the reporter’s experience: after the transformation, each floor of the stairs alternately rises from left to right with the middle as the boundary. The height of the steps is more than 20 cm, and it is not tiring to go upstairs and not steep to go downstairs.
The careful design of "one household, one policy" can be seen everywhere in Xiaoxihu area: some houses are small in size, and the designer carefully creates an open kitchen with a foldable sofa bed, which integrates the functions of kitchen, living room and bedroom; Some residents want to increase storage space, and designers use the height of housing space to build storage cabinets; Some residents have raised the problem of poor lighting in houses, and designers have added more windows in a small space according to local conditions … "We have divided Xiaoxihu area into 15 units and 127 implementation courtyards, fully respecting residents’ opinions and carrying out refined transformation according to the principle of one household and one policy." Han Dongqing said.
After the transformation, the old house is repaired as old as before, and the bolts of doors and windows have been repaired according to the original appearance; The wooden stairs that have been damaged for a long time have not been demolished, but are protected by the tread structure of "glass+steel", which is safe and does not lose the sense of history … "I showed the photos after the transformation to my mother who is inconvenient to move. She even said that she did not expect the transformation to be so meticulous and so good." Tong Nannan said.
How about the fine renovation of residential houses and the construction of supporting facilities? Chen Hongrong, a resident of Xiaoxihu District, took the reporter to visit the "Microtube Gallery" near his home: in the space about 1.8 meters wide and 2.4 meters deep below the ground, there are six pipes in four categories, such as optical cable, tap water, building fire water supply and sewage. There are power pipes and rainwater pipes in the two side rooms, and gas pipes are laid along the wall on the ground. "In the past, the faucets were shared, the wires were pulled privately, the alleys were particularly narrow, and there were no fire-fighting facilities. Nowadays, all kinds of facilities are fully equipped, and gas and tap water are directly connected to the home. Our alley residents have lived a modern life. " Chen Hongrong said.
Activation and utilization
Calculate the people’s livelihood account, cultural account and economic account, explore the interaction between culture and economy, and promote the sustainable transformation.
Chen Hongrong set out from home and went to a construction enclosure in a nearby street. "This will be a bathhouse in the future." Chen Hongrong said that although he has bathroom facilities at home, the public bathhouse where he chats while taking a bath is a part of the life of many old Nanjing people, and it is also the fireworks in the old streets.
Revitalize the use of housing space vacated by some residents, and Qinhuai District actively introduces new formats to enrich and improve community services. Walking into the two-story building after the renovation of Tongnan’s old house, you can enjoy the elaborate decoration, listen to soothing music and taste rich food … Here, it has become a restaurant. Wang Qiuwen, the person in charge of investment promotion of Nanjing Libao Group, told reporters about the investment promotion experience: "This house is located at the main entrance of the street. As soon as the lease information was released in 2020, it attracted more than 10 brand organizations at home and abroad to negotiate. Considering the protection of the old house and the inability to disturb the people, we set the direction in the light food restaurant. "
"After comprehensive evaluation, a new brand of local entrepreneurial youth was selected." Wang Qiuwen said, "This entrepreneur lives in the nearby area. For the residents of Xiaoxihu area, there is a human touch between the old and new streets."
Two years ago, Tong Nannan brushed his old house on the short video platform. "My old house has become a online celebrity restaurant. Many old classmates and old neighborhoods contacted me and praised the transformation." Tong Nannan said that she likes the photo wall in the old house best. "The contrast photos before and after the renovation carry memories of my family and also tell tourists the story of the activation and utilization of the old house."
Fan Ning, Chairman of Nanjing Libao Group, introduced that the activation and utilization of old houses and buildings will continue to be promoted, and local efforts will be made to calculate three accounts: first, people’s livelihood accounts to meet the needs of residents’ lives, and old bathhouses, restaurants and other formats will be introduced; The second is a cultural account that conforms to the style of historical blocks and enriches the format of cultural experience projects; The third is the economic account of the overall profit of various formats, ensuring that the renovation of the old city is sustainable and can be promoted.
Strolling around the Xiaoxihu area, the long streets, quaint brick walls and elegant courtyards … In front of us, these renovated old buildings and old houses are radiant, revealing the profound historical and cultural heritage. In the evening, 24-hour bookstores, handicraft workshops, and cultural and creative markets in the area light up one after another.
Qinhuai Lantern Studio, which is renovated and covered with colorful lights, is now one of the most popular punch points in Xiaoxihu area. "Nanjing Libao Group invited me to set up a studio in the area to show and teach more people the Qinhuai lantern making skills that have been passed down for thousands of years. Now, there are many tourists in the studio every day, and some primary and secondary schools also come to carry out intangible cultural experience activities. " Gu Yeliang, the representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage of Qinhuai Lantern Festival, said.
Not far from the studio, it is Xiangluan Square in the center of Xiaoxihu District, which is the site of Xiangluan Temple in Ming Dynasty. Xiangluan Temple has long since disappeared. Designers and builders opened up a 750-square-meter space, rebuilt an arc-shaped red wall and built a square in front of the temple with reference to literature.
Chen Hongrong said that now he often goes to the square to exercise. On holidays, he can watch open-air movies, listen to a series of good shows and visit the Qinhuai Lantern Festival. "Cultural activities are rich and colorful, and we are livable and lively here."
"To calculate the three accounts, we must protect the fireworks and cultural flavor of the old city, and we must also explore the interaction and integration of culture and economy." Fan Ning said, "Creating a rich cultural format does not directly generate economic benefits, but it can attract passengers and boost popularity, and feed back the diversified formats in the area to expand the’ economic account’ and achieve sustainable operation."
In 2022, the total revenue of various formats in Xiaoxihu area reached more than 45 million yuan, which promoted the activation and utilization of old houses, ensured the daily operation of the state-owned enterprise construction platform, and realized the sustainability of the renovation and transformation of the old city.
Common governance and sharing
The "Symbiotic Courtyard" harmonizes neighborhood relations, and the "Shared Courtyard" opens the gate of the courtyard, and both new and old residents have a sense of gain.
In recent years, 73-year-old Chen Hongrong has met young new neighbors.
The courtyard where Chen Hongrong’s family lived originally had five families. The old photos hanging at the door recorded the life scenes at that time: the living space was narrow, cooking had to be supported by gas stoves in the corridor outside the house, and all kinds of sundries were piled up in the public space of the yard. "In the past, the yard environment was poor, and whoever hung more clotheslines and piled up things, things with big sesame seeds could quarrel." Chen Hongrong said.
During the renovation process, Chen Hongrong and another household chose to stay, and the other three households chose to move out. The vacated houses and spaces were partly used to improve the living environment of residents, and some were built into community planners’ studios and cultural and creative shops, and young planners and cultural and creative shop owners moved in.
How do new and old residents live in harmony? Chen Hongrong took out a "Small West Lake Symbiosis Hospital Convention" signed by two households, two new owners and Nanjing Libao Group, which included not only the principled provisions such as "everyone’s affairs should be negotiated together", but also detailed provisions such as taking turns to clean public sanitation and avoid noise in the morning and at night. "The state-owned enterprise construction platform and the street community have proposed to build a’ symbiotic hospital’, and at the same time, we will be guided to discuss and discuss, and everyone’s affairs will be discussed." Chen Hongrong said.
Now, Chen Hongrong will put tables and chairs in the yard almost every morning, make a pot of hot tea and greet visitors. When meeting community planners to take residents to talk about work, or tourists to Wenchuang store to buy products, Mr. Chen always takes the initiative to say hello, and sometimes takes everyone to visit the renovated new house to talk about the history and new life of the old street. "Now, the neighborhood is harmonious and life is comfortable …" Chen Hongrong said as he showed the reporter around. On the windowsill of his room, there are all kinds of green plants provided by Wenchuang Store next door. In the small open space in front of the window sill, Mr. Chen made room for Wenchuang Store to set up tables and chairs and show products to customers.
"Symbiotic courtyard" harmonizes the neighborhood relationship, and "shared courtyard" opens the courtyard door. In the winter afternoon, the reporter came to the home of Liu Guangji, a resident of Xiaoxihu District. Through the hollow flower wall in the backyard, the scenery in the courtyard was unobstructed: pomegranate trees were planted in the north, grapevines in the middle, loquat trees in the south, and chrysanthemums, camellias and Chinese rose flowers were dotted in the middle … Liu, who was pruning, called the reporter into the courtyard. "We are a’ shared courtyard’ specially built by designers. The original dilapidated hollow flower wall was carefully dressed into a hollow flower wall.
"We who grow flowers are afraid that no one will appreciate them." Liu Guangji said with a smile, now several people visit the yard every day. When Epiphyllum is about to bloom, he will hang up a notice board at the door and invite neighbors and tourists to enjoy it. "In the past, my wife and I didn’t go out much, but now I have made many new friends, and friends who love to grow flowers regularly come home to exchange planting experience."
Open the courtyard door, open the heart door. Under the guidance of street communities, the concept of co-governance and sharing is taking root in Xiaoxihu area. During the interview, the reporter saw that many restaurants, pubs, etc. will set aside an open space outside the shop and behind the front yard, and put up several tables and chairs for pedestrians to have a rest and chat.
"There were almost no tourists in the Xiaoxihu area in the past, and the population over 60 years old accounted for a high proportion. Today, in addition to the remaining aborigines, it also attracts many young people to work and live here. " Su Bin, secretary of the Party Working Committee of Confucius Temple Street, said, "To promote the renovation of the old city, we must not only do a good job in physical space transformation, but also improve the level of community governance through joint construction, governance and sharing, so that new and old residents can have a sense of gain and make the old city more vibrant and energetic."
"During the Tenth Five-Year Plan period, Nanjing will transform 605 communities, benefiting 160,000 households. The experience of the renovation of Xiaoxihu District was written into the Measures for Urban Renewal in Nanjing, and it was promoted in 14 residential renewal projects in the old city that Nanjing continued to carry out. " Li Jianbo, who participated in the drafting of Nanjing Urban Renewal Measures, said. (Reporter Yao Xueqing)
