Old Plots to Show New Vitality

By Zhang Wenli

The reconstruction of old areas is the biggest livelihood and development in Hongkou, and it is also the most difficult thing. On June 30, the signing rates of housing expropriation in Blocks 185, 212, 234 and 247 in Hongkou District reached 97.05%, 99.66% and 100%, respectively, with a high proportion of taking effect. This also signified the successful all-round reconstruction of houses below the secondary old lane in Hongkou District. In order to help residents who stand on tiptoe to hope for the old reconstruction and to say farewell to their humble dwellings as soon as possible move into new dwellings, and make the old plot rise "dignified kitchen smoke", Hongkou innovated working methods on old reconstruction according to time and situation, and constantly accelerated the pace, which provided a model for similar old reconstruction projects in Shanghai. From the Hongzhen Old Street to Ruihong New City, from the old town in which residents needed to empty toilets in Shikumen to the North Bund which has become a top-level central activity area, the old reconstruction has not only improved the temperature of people's livelihood, but also changed the urban texture of Hongkou, glowing with the new vitality of this old downtown area.

"Acceleration" after the Lockdown

Affected by the pandemic, some old reconstruction work in Hongkou were suspended once. However, the old reconstruction headquarters in Hongkou is busier than before. On the one hand, we should gather forces to "integrate the system" for pandemic prevention and control and going down to the community. On the other hand, we should pay attention to the thoughts and anxieties of the residents of the old reconstruction plot, and maintain communication with the residents through telephone and video, so as to share policy information, answer questions and solve doubt and alleviate anxieties in a timely manner.

Residents have a strong desire to leave the old lanes. Shen Xiuzhen, 68 years old, who lives in Block 185, told, "I came to live in 1995. My family of three lives in a 10-square-meter house. Everyone has been looking forward to changing the old one for many years. Even though the geographical location here is good and the transportation is convenient, the facilities around the lane are too dilapidated, and the pandemic risk is also high. Because of the pandemic, the project progress has been extended for two months, during which I was very nervous for two months. Now it has been completed, so everyone is happy and I can finally feel at ease." Jia Aimin, 70 years old, is a neighbor of Shen Xiuzhen. She got married in 1982 and lives in a 22-square-meter dwelling with her husband. When referring to the hardships of life around the old lane, Jia Aimin once choked, "I suffered a lot because of the dilapidated facilities. People put the power plug-in board on the mattress, and caused a fire, in which all the neighbors suffered from it. It took me several years to get out of this matter. The sunshine of the old areas’ reconstruction can shine on us. I am really happy and actively support it, sign a contract as soon as possible, and move as soon as possible!"

The old areas’ reconstruction is both a livelihood and a popular project. The people's affairs must be implemented as soon as possible. At the beginning of June, Hongkou pressed the "acceleration key" to resume the old areas’ reconstruction, and held three consecutive hearings for the three old areas’ reconstruction projects of Blocks 185, 212, 234, and 247 in one day for the first time. In order to get back the time delayed by the pandemic, the old areas’ reconstruction headquarters in Hongkou District insisted on both pandemic prevention and old areas’ reconstruction. All staffs go to the front line, worked overtime, and contacted residents through a combination of online and offline to consult or sign contracts in an orderly and decentralized manner. For the first time, the method of computer lottery sorting was adopted, so that residents who chose to exchange housing property rights avoid errands.

From Hongzhen Laojie to Ruihong Xincheng

Mentioning the old areas’ reconstruction of Hongkou, you can't avoid Hongzhen Laojie. Hongzhen Laojie was once the largest shanty town in the urban area, covering an area of 900,000 square meters, with more than 13,800 households. It has many private houses, many contradictions and a dirty and messy environment. The masses have a strong desire to change the old and move to a new home.

In 1996, the Hongkou District Government introduced Ruian Real Estate Co., Ltd. to start the old areas’ reconstruction of Hongzhen Laojie. At first, it adopted the method of gross land remising, which meant that the relocation was promoted by the developers who got the land, but the progress was slow at one time. In January 2012, Hongkou District took the lead in setting up a substantiated headquarters for the old areas’ reconstruction and housing expropriation in Shanghai, and set up sub-headquarters for the old areas’ reconstruction in all sub-districts to actively implement the new policies. Since then, the old areas’ reconstruction of Hongzhen Laojie has embarked on the "fast track". Wang Ying, CEO of Ruian Real Estate Co., Ltd., recalled, "Before 2012, our backlog of funds in the Hongzhen Laojie project exceeded RMB 7 billion, but in 2012, when the new policy of the old areas’ reconstruction was implemented and a series of innovative measures were launched, the whole process became fair and open, and the development and construction process of the project also changed greatly."

The Party building has played an "ice breaking" role. In 2013, the first "List of Signing by Party Members" appeared in the old areas’ reconstruction base of Hongzhen Laojie. The Party members who signed contracts in the first month would be marked with five stars next to the names, four stars in the next month, and three stars in the third month. Then, 80 of the 81 Party members in plot 1 of Hongzhen Laojie got five stars. The only "four-star Party member" wanted to ask the staffs to change it to five stars, but he was refused. "This list is the spiritual bearing of the old areas’ reconstruction and the new policy under the guidance of the Party building, and it is a concrete embodiment of fairness, justice and openness." Yang Yesheng, Party Chief and Executive Deputy Commander of Old Areas’ Reconstruction Headquarters in Hongkou District, who experienced this personally, said that up to now, the old areas’ reconstruction base has no longer posted this list, because it has been internalized into the list in the hearts of every Party member. The Party flag has been inserted into the front line of the old areas’ reconstruction and the Party branches have been built on projects. Over the years, the signing rate of the Party members in almost all plots has reached 100%. In 2013, it took only 18 days for plots 7 and 1 of Hongzhen Laojie to complete the 18 year old roads’ reconstruction, and the signing rate of the second round of consultation both exceeded 85%, realizing the effectiveness of the old areas’ reconstruction. In 2018, the signing rate of 122 blocks second-round consultation broke through 90% on the same day, marking the full completion of the old areas’ reconstruction task in the area of Hongzhen Laojie.

Ruihong Xincheng in nowadays, which was Hongzhen Laojie in the past, has become a comprehensive community including office buildings, shopping centers, hotels, cultural and entertainment facilities and residential properties, with a total construction area of 1.72 million square meters. From the Phase I to Phase X of Ruihong Xincheng, from Star Hall, Moon Bay to Sun Palace and Ruihong Enterprise World, this land lot is interacting with the North Bund.

Block 17 Created "Four Firsts" in Shanghai

The old areas’ reconstruction has always been called the most difficult thing in the world. In order to solve this problem, the city officials went to the sites for many times, and the relevant departments continued to innovate and explore new models. In May 2019, Block 17, the largest single plot in the history of the old  areas’ reconstruction in Hongkou, launched a second round of expropriation and made a decision on expropriation. In June of the same year, the signing rate of residents reached 98.81%. In September 2020, the plot was successfully closed and handed over.

It is worth mentioning that the Block 17 in Hongkou District is the first old areas’ reconstruction project of Shanghai to innovate the old areas’ reconstruction mode and implement the "city-district cooperation, government-enterprise cooperation, the district taking the lead". In the new model, Block 17 has created "four firsts" in Shanghai: the first to make a decision on expropriation, the first to start residents' signing, the first to make the expropriation take effect, and the first to successfully deliver land.

The Block extends to North Jiangxi Road in the east, Haining Road in the south, North Henan Road in the west and Wujin Road in the north, involving 2,690 residents, 3,010 households and 58 enterprises and institutions. Most of the houses in the Block are under secondary old neighborhood characterized by the brick and wood structure, which were built from 1912 to 1936. The houses are dilapidated, the environment is poor, and there are great potential hazards. Residents have been strongly calling for the old areas’ reconstruction for many years.

Under the guidance of the Municipal Old Area’s Reconstruction Office, Hongkou and Shanghai Real Estate Group set up Shanghai Hongkou Urban Renewal Construction Development Co., Ltd. in accordance with the mode of "city-district cooperation, government-enterprise cooperation, the district taking the lead", with the contributions of Shanghai Hongkou Real Estate (Group) Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Real Estate Group at the proportion of 40% and 60%, respectively, to be responsible for preparing the reconstruction implementation plan (including housing expropriation, planning and design, fund balance, construction and development, etc.), innovating bank enterprise cooperation, raising reconstruction funds and relocating housing sources, promoting the preliminary work of the project, organizing development and construction and investment, and undertaking the daily management of the project headquarters. This not only solved the problems of financing difficulties, but also provides a model for similar old areas’ reconstruction projects in the city.

Butterfly Changes and Leaps at the North Bund

Yang Yesheng said after visiting the residents of the old plots one after another, “We should let these residents who stand on tiptoe and hope for restricting the old, bid farewell to their humble homes and move to new houses as soon as possible".

In July 2020, the Shanghai Government approved the “Regulatory Detailed Plan for North Bund Area”. The North Bund has become the main battlefield for future development and construction, as well as the main battlefield for the old reconstruction of Hongkou. Hongkou made unprecedented efforts. The old areas’ reconstruction projects of Shanshouli, Block 116 and East Yuhang Road (Phase I) came into effect successfully with the signing rates of 97.92%, 98.62% and 98.69%, respectively, and exceeded the old reconstruction task of 10,000 households in the whole year two months in advance. The old areas’ reconstruction projects of East Yuhang Road (Phase II) and Yuhang Road came into effect with the signing rate of 99.36% and 99.33%, respectively, achieving a good start in the old areas’ reconstruction of Hongkou District during the "14th Five-year Plan".

On June 28, 2021, the formal signing rate of the old areas’ reconstruction project south to Kunming Road reached 98.80%. The success of the project marks the completion of the expropriation of old neighborhoods below secondary class in the North Bund area. This is also the old areas’ reconstruction project with the largest coverage of blocks and the largest total investment in Hongkou’s history. It consists of 10 blocks, benefiting more than 6,000 households. Zhang Zhagen, who once lived in Lane 231, Huoshan Road with a family of four generations and six people, appeared on the CCTV screen due to the old areas’ reconstruction. The total area of the original two old rooms was only 24 square meters. The family can only sit around a small square table for dinners, and then set up it after eating, so that the sofa bed can be pulled out for sleeping. As a result, eating and sleeping every day are a toss, Zhang Zhagen reluctantly said, "Three sofa beds are broken. Almost all furniture at home can only be mobile, which is convenient for storage." In the old areas’ reconstruction of the project south to Kunming Road, Zhang Zhagen chose housing resettlement, and finally decided to choose two houses in Fengxian. Today, Zhang Zhagen has gradually become familiar with the rhythm of the new life and lived a happy life in his later years.

In view of the goal of "building an image in three years, realizing functions in five years and basically completing it in ten years" on the North Bund, Hongkou has formed a linkage working mechanism and formulated the "three storages and three plans". Next, Hongkou will adhere to the guidance of Party building, actively strive for policy support, do deep and practical work for the masses, accelerate the promotion of sporadic old reconstruction plots, improve the living conditions of the masses as soon as possible and continue to do a good job in the old areas’ reconstruction and urban renewal, so as to truly let these "golden places" find good owners, build good projects, gather good industries, form good functions and achieve a good future!