scieee AI-readable full text Open interactive document viewer

Integrating heritage assets in large commercial complexes: de-contextualization and re-signification of memory in Shanghai

Den Hartog, Harry; González Martínez, Plácido

Abstract

Since early this century, multiple large-scale commercial projects in Shanghai and other Chinese cities incorporate heritage assets for the creation of new identities after de-contextualisation trough demolition of complete city blocks. This tabula rasa approach resulted in a discontinuity of the meaning and use that local communities gave to these heritage buildings and a re-appropriation by new users in a context of consumerism. This paper studies two cases in Shanghai city center: Jing An Kerry Centre and Greenland Bund Centre, where heritage buildings related to the memories of Communism, trading societies and Christianity are incorporated into high-density high-end commercial redevelopment. As we argue, the study of heritage conservation methods and urban design approaches reveals profound discontinuities in the position and meaning of heritage assets, which respond to important political and economic performance requirements. This paper puts forward two main arguments. Firstly, that the choice of heritage conservation methods and design approaches aligns with the new official narrative of the desired image of Shanghai as a prosperous global city rooted in Communism. Secondly, that the de-contextualisation of heritage assets within a new corporate urban context motivates specific heritage-related landscape, urban and architectural design responses, that contribute to their re-contextualisation in a new sanitized urban environment.

Full text

Depósito de investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla https://idus.us.es/ Esta es la versión aceptada del artículo publicado en: This is an accepted manuscript of a paper published in: Habitat International (2022): 27/01/2025 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2022.102601 Copyright: © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. El acceso a la versión publicada del artículo puede requerir la suscripción de la revista. Access to the published version may require subscription. “This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Elsevier in [Habitat International ] on [2022], available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2022.102601” Integrating heritage assets in large commercial complexes: de-contextualization and re-signification of memory in Shanghai Harry den Hartoga,b Plácido González Martíneza a: College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai, China b: TU Delft Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft, the Netherlands * This article was published online in Habitat International on June 14, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2022.102601 Abstract Since early this century, multiple large-scale commercial projects in Shanghai and other Chinese cities incorporate heritage assets for the creation of new identities after de-contextualization trough demolition of complete city blocks. This tabula rasa approach resulted in a discontinuity of the meaning and use that local communities gave to these heritage buildings and a re-appropriation by new users in a context of consumerism. This paper studies two cases in Shanghai city center: Jing An Kerry Centre and Greenland Bund Centre, where heritage buildings related to the memories of Communism, trading societies and Christianity are incorporated into high-density high-end commercial redevelopment. As we argue, the study of heritage conservation methods and urban design approaches reveals profound discontinuities in the position and meaning of heritage assets, which respond to important political and economic performance requirements. This paper puts forward two main arguments. Firstly, that the choice of heritage conservation methods and design approaches aligns with the new official narrative of the desired image of Shanghai as a prosperous global city rooted in Communism. Secondly, that the de-contextualisation of heritage assets within a new corporate urban context motivates specific heritage-related landscape, urban and architectural design responses, that contribute to their re-contextualisation in a new sanitized urban environment. Keywords Beautification, City branding, Re-signification, Heritage conservation, Narratives, Tabula rasa, Urban redevelopment Introduction This paper studies the incorporation and appropriation of heritage-listed assets by iconic large-scale commercial real estate projects in Shanghai. It addresses political and entrepreneurial motivations for the use of heritage in urban redevelopment, which has received criticism from a scholarly perspective for the oversimplification of urban memory and the capitalization of heritage values (Zhu and González Martínez, 2021). China has witnessed a massive urbanization during the last four decades (Hsing, 2010). Frequently associated with poor living standards, old neighbourhoods were razed to the ground, regardless their heritage value, for the purpose of upgrading the overall life-standard, city branding, and economic stimulation. Particularly since the last decade, stakeholders of urban redevelopment in China have started to cherish a reconnection with history. Selected historic assets act as conveyors of new narratives in urban regeneration, by referring to prosperity and progress; cultivated lifestyles and wealth, in a dialectical context of globalisation and nationalism. This integration of heritage elements and creation of new narratives is not novel, but the process of isolation followed by de-contextualisation and re-signification on a large-scale is unprecedented. i This approach is likely to be followed elsewhere also beyond China due to rapid urbanisation especially in the Global South. Another difference is the explicit call by China’s core leadership for recovery of an “excellent traditional culture” in 2013 (Kubat, 2018). China’s New Urbanization Guidelines followed up in 2016 by a focus on heritage and beautification, to emphasize local Chinese characteristics while “combatting the loss of identity” brought by fast modernization (Xinhua News Agency, 2016). Analysis of this phenomenon of massive redevelopment and heritagization constitutes a gap that this research aims to address. Urban regeneration processes in residential quarters are both historically as well as social-economical significant. Social aspects such as expropriation, displacement, and gentrification have been described by many scholars for similar situations (Arkaraprasertkul, 2018; Shao, 2013). In our paper, however, we mainly focus on the less studied subsequent process of re-signification after de-contextualisation, thus in particular the spatial and culturalhistorical significance of this phenomenon. As contribution to this open debate we analyse how the incorporation of heritage-listed elements in urban redevelopment requires specific heritage conservation methods and environmental design approaches that jointly support the radical re-signification of redeveloped historic areas. As we will argue, once decontextualized from their original surroundings and users, heritage practitioners choose restoration methods that highlight the historic value of described heritage buildings. Developers turn this value into symbolic capital and economic profit through massive investment, which both benefits specific city branding purposes and political legitimation aims. We argue how designers and heritage practitioners reinforce the historic value by means of the isolation (‘monumentalisation’) and adjustment of the heritage elements. As our research shows, the different stakeholders appropriate this historic value as profit; either by increasing the economic proficiency of the redevelopment or by branding the new image of Shanghai as a Global City rooted in the origins of Communism. We study three listed heritage buildings in two case study areas in central Shanghai, in light of the goals expressed in Shanghai’s latest master plan: “Striving for an Excellent Global City” (SPLRA, 2018a). We explore the connections between the fields of heritage conservation and urban studies, using heritage-led redevelopment as a vehicle. Our research raises the following questions: (1). How do these three heritagelisted buildings relate to the urban redevelopment schemes of the large commercial complexes that incorporated them? (2). How do involved stakeholders (re-)interpret the historical continuity of the sites and what is the new narrative or re-signification of their memories? (3). What is the contribution of these heritage elements to the desired new global image of Shanghai? The choice of Jing An Kerry Centre and Greenland Bund Centre as case studies responds to a variety of reasons. Both cases incorporate heritage-listed elements that stood after the complete demolition of their surroundings. These elements were later subject to heritage conservation methods, and integrated in both large commercial complexes through heritage-inspired design strategies. Both cases are outside heritagelisted areas (figure 1), but their proximity to heritage-listed areas is exploited in terms of branding. Historically, both areas played a role in the internationalisation of Shanghai, respectively in the former international concession and in the former port area of the old city. The two areas incorporate three major built heritage narratives developed by cultural planners of Shanghai in the last years, namely: (a) Shanghai as birthplace of Communism, identified with the residence of Mao Zedong in Jing An Kerry Centre; (b) Shanghai’s cosmopolitanism represented by the St. Francis Xavier Church in Dongjiadu; and (c) Shanghai’s ancestral entrepreneurialism represented by the Shang Chuan Huiguan (Merchant’s Guild) in Dongjiadu. Figure 1. Cultural and Historical Listed Areas in the Central City of Shanghai, with Jing An Kerry Centre in the Former French concession and Greenland Bund Centre in Dongjiadu between the Old Town and the Huangpu River (Image by Shanghai Heritage Bureau, adjusted by authors). This research applies a grounded theory approach based on interviews, document analysis, and site observation. The authors performed 15 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders: developers, real estate agents, project architects, landscape designers, heritage conservation architects, current end-users of the renovated heritage assets, local government officials, and local scholars with deep expertise on the history and heritage of Shanghai. Interviews were developed in English and Chinese, and lasted between 1 hour and 3 hours each. Additionally, the authors studied relevant policy documents, historic images, and maps. Both sites have been visited multiple times, especially between mid 2019 and early 2022, performing field observations, taking notes and pictures, and analysing promotion materials. Heritage and redevelopment: conflict and conciliation Recurring terms in recent discourses on urban redevelopment in China are ‘beautification’ and ‘harmonization’. Beautification involves the promotion of heritage architecture, amidst a wider ecological civilization campaign promoted by the government (Hansen, 2018). The analogous concept of harmonization involves state control over spatial production and aims to improve the life quality by establishing principles of social guidance (Ludwig and Walton, 2020; Zhu and Maags, 2020). Beautification and harmonization are deemed possible in a context of strongly centralized power, which directs action towards derelict historic areas officially deemed as ‘ugly’, ‘unhealthy’, or ‘unsafe’. Beautification and harmonization became tools of urban governance (Oakes, 2019; Zhu 2016), implying the sanitization of urban life and the exclusion of informality (Janoschka et al., 2014; Jou et al., 2014). The means for beautification are diverse. Authors like Den Hartog (2010) have studied how urban planners and designers incorporated foreign architectural elements for this purpose in new residential complexes and in new town areas. This has raised the discussion on the notion of authenticity, which is notoriously stretched in China to create status, identity and add value to a project (Den Hartog, 2010, Piazzoni 2018). This conceptual stretching is due to the speed of urban development in China, giving little time for thorough research in situations where heritage elements are included in the development (Xie 2018). The consequences of beautification are also loosely interpreted: the highly controversial effects of gentrification, spatial cleansing or urban cleansing that authors from the Global North identify in international contexts (Lees, 2012; Herzfeld 2006; Appadurai, 2000), receive little critical evaluation in China, from an official, academic and popular perspective (Ley and Teo, 2014 and 2020). Public and private stakeholders have not considered heritage buildings as assets for redevelopment in China until recently (He, 2007; Ley and Teo, 2014; Ley and Teo, 2020). Authors like Wang and Lau (2009) and Zhong (2015) point towards a change in the early 2000s, which saw new orientations in the consideration towards the historic environment and the adoption of new management approaches (Li et al. 2019; Li et al. 2020), even if as Shao (2013) has signalled, this came as a too late move. Such ‘heritage turn’ is related to a wider socio-political aim of building 'self-confidence' through cultural policies (Svensson and Maags, 2018), as well as to the aim to stimulate the economy with the global paradigms of tourism and the creative city (Florida, 2006; Scott, 2006). These purposes motivate the de-contextualization and re-use of heritage elements for the production of sanitized versions of the past and economic profit (Sassen, 2014). The re-use of industrial heritage in the generation of Shanghai’s waterfronts (Den Hartog, 2019), or the re-creation of history in traditional neighbourhoods (González Martínez, 2017a, 2019), show how the 'cultural distinction' of heritage aesthetics is the outcome of a shift in value, from the cultural and historical to the economic and political (Zhu 2015; González Martínez 2019; Zhu & González Martínez 2021). A variety of authors have addressed the incorporation of heritage assets as branding elements for redevelopment projects in Shanghai, focusing on management perspective (Wu, 2003; Wu, 2004; He and Wu, 2005; Ren, 2008; Wang, 2009), but an important gap appears in the analysis of architectural conservation methods and urban/architectural design strategies in the process. We consider that this needs to be addressed, especially due to the growing number of non-listed urban areas in China which incorporate heritage-listed buildings to new commercial and residential schemes, with examples in Shanghai like Raffles City Changning, Taikoo Hui at Nanjing West Road, Suhe Creek, and Fuxing Longyu at Laoximen. In the highly experimental context that constitutes Shanghai, the inquiry on ‘appropriation’ of historic buildings is yet to be critically assessed. The creation of identities in large-scale commercial urban complexes, two cases in Shanghai Case 1: Jing An Kerry Centre Site description, position and historical meaning Kerry Centre is located in the central Jing An district. The 450,000 square-meter Jing An Kerry Centre comprises retail, offices, hotel, residential and parking space. The main stakeholders for the site were Kerry Properties Ltd. as developer. Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) and Design Land Collaborative (DLC) were in charge of the architecture and landscape design respectively (Kohn Pedersen Fox, 2021). The District Government of Jing An was responsible for the conservation project of the residence of Mao Zedong. Figure 2. Plan of Jing An Kerry Centre, indicating the position of (1) restored former temporary residence of Mao Zedong; (2) restaurant designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Shigeru Ban; (3) super-tall hotel and office tower, and (4, 5 and 6) exclusive retail and food, and (7) office tower 2 all designed by KPF; (8 and 9) office tower and serviced apartments tower built mid 1990s. Source: DLC, adapted by the authors. The character of this part of the city is embedded in the memories of affluence of the former international concessions. But surprisingly, the Shanghai Municipal Planning Bureau left this residential block of high historic significance out of the listings when passed in 2003. According to a top cultural heritage official of Jing An district, the reason for not listing this block had been the complete disappearance of its context after demolition already in the 1990s. Only the former residence of Mao Zedong, heritage-listed by the Shanghai municipality since 1959, and its two contiguous houses in Anyi Road, were spared from demolition due to their historical significance (personal communication, 16 September, 2020). The residence of Mao Zedong stands at the centre of the redevelopment, linked to an intensively used open square with waterworks. Anyi Road is frequently pedestrianized during weekends, hosting open-air markets and other leisure activities. Around the residence of Mao Zedong, the Kerry Centre shopping mall is a firstclass commercial venue, where the most expensive international fashion brands have flagship stores, and which also gathers first-class restaurants. Four high-rise towers complete the scheme: Tower 1 with offices (1998); Towers 2 and 3; built in the second phase from 2009 to 2013, incorporate offices and the exclusive Shangri-La Hotel. A smaller tower with service apartments next to Tower 1 is the only residential building here. Heritage strategies in place The heritage strategies consist of both built heritage conservation and museumization measures. The architect commissioned by Jing’An District for the conservation plan of the residence of Mao Zedong and contiguous houses mentions how due to the statutory protection of the residence since 1959, it was restored to its original state, requiring minimal actions of consolidation (personal communication, 16 September 2020). Restoration works started in 2012, once the second phase of urban redevelopment was nearing completion, in order to avoid interferences from the construction of the neighbouring shopping mall and towers. By means of restoration, the conservation architect aimed to recover the ‘originality’ of the heritage asset as a key feature of its authenticity. The intervention strategy for the two contiguous houses followed a more transformative adaptive reuse approach. Thereby, the conservation architect aimed to provide support spaces for dissemination activities, which required the demolition of the original wooden structure and a completely new spatial arrangement, including a two-floor high space. Figure 3. The former residence of Mao Zedong before and after the redevelopment, notice the disconnection with the urban plaza on its backside. Source left: Retrieved from https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2979158. Accessed 3 June, 2021; Source right: The authors, 2021. The museumization measures in the residence of Mao Zedong vary depending on the private or public character of each space. Indicated as the place where Mao Zedong was inspired by principles of Marxism, the District government cherises this house museum due to its significance for the birth of Communism in China. The main living room and the master bedroom are used as exhibition space and conference room respectively. ii The conservation architect adopted a sober approach to the restoration of structural and decoration elements, strengthening the symbolism of the humble origins of the residence. For the more intimate spaces, this idea is reinforced through the display of vintage furniture, particularly showcased in Mao’s bedroom located in the mezzanine. Not coincidentally, this space known in Shanghai traditional architecture as the tingzijian has a special aura in official narratives as rental room for people of modest means, left-wing artists and writers (González Martínez 2020). The curators of the house museum also established links to the surrounding public space. They incorporated a standing statue of a young Mao Zedong on the roof terrace that is accessible from the bedroom; to be contemplated exclusively from outside of the museum: Mao faces north, his gaze oriented towards the surrounding high-rise towers. The stakeholders involved in the heritage strategies agree on the important significance of the site, and do not highlight any conflicts between the heritage site and the new buildings, particularly in light of the commercial gentrification of the area. iii According to the official from Jing An District, there is a historical consequential relation between Mao Zedong’s struggle and its current outcome, which is the prosperity of Shanghai as birthplace of Communism in China, and, with it, of the People’s Republic. When asked about the impact on the global image of Shanghai, the same official refers to how the international rise of China has a beneficial global effect, meaning that the site enjoys a worldwide significance now (personal communication, 16 September 2020). Architectural and urban strategies According to the CEO of KPF, in charge of the overall design of the second phase of the development, the design process unfolded without specific design determinations from the District Urban Planning and Land Management Bureau for the site regarding the residence of Mao Zedong. The only exceptions were that excavation under the heritage-listed building was not allowed, and a ‘red lining’ around the heritage asset had to be respected leaving a distance of 25 metres (personal communication, 17 July 2020 and 7 September 2020). The CEO of KPF points at two main design strategies aimed to re-signify the memory of the site (personal communication, 17 July 2020). The first one is the location of the freestanding, 2-floor structure of a restaurant in Anyi Road, designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Shigeru Ban. Ban harmonized the position and height of this building with that of the residence of Mao Zedong and the preexisting traditional neighbourhood, echoing its modest scale. The second relationship is an abstract one, and speaks of the fragmentation of the volumes of the shopping mall and towers, according to the CEO of KPF this refers to the Fibonacci sequence, and recalls the vibrancy of the historic façades in the area. According to the CEO of KPF and the principal of DLC, the former residence of Mao Zedong certainly brings added value into the project, but the lack of communication with the architects in charge of its restoration avoided any alternatives for its integration into the overall scheme (personal communications, 17 July 2020 and 7 September 2020). Case 2: Greenland Bund Centre Site description, position and historical meaning Greenland Bund Centre, also named Dongjiadu Financial City, is a 1,200,000 square-meter development at Shanghai’s South Bund in the Huangpu district along the Huangpu River. It comprises retail, offices, a fivestar hotel, residential compounds, and cultural spaces (Kohn Pedersen Fox, 2021). The firm Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) did the master plan and architectural design, while Design Land Collaborative (DLC) was in charge of the landscape design. The local government and the China Minsheng Investment Group (CMIG) developed the project, but in 2019 CMIG sold its 50% share to the state owned Greenland Group (The Paper, 2019), thus giving full control back to the local government of Shanghai. Other stakeholders in the project are Zhang Ming, renowned heritage conservation designer in Shanghai, and the Catholic Diocese of Shanghai, which holds the property rights of St. Francis Xavier Church. Dongjiadu used to be a very significant part of Shanghai. Located outside the protective city walls, the area was the primary connection between Shanghai’s Old City and the Huangpu River. The earliest embankments and piers of the city were to be found here, and during the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) the area started to attract national and international trade. After the Opium Wars and the start of the foreign concessions, the port function moved to the current Bund, and Dongjiadu fell into decay. Due to its poor state of conservation and despite its historic and cultural relevance, the Shanghai Municipal Planning Bureau did not include Dongjiadu among the 12 municipal heritage listed areas in 2003. Much as for the case of Kerry Centre, it is located in the immediate vicinity of two listed areas: Laochengxiang, which corresponds to the old city of Shanghai, and Waitan (the Bund), which encompasses the economic downtown of Shanghai during its heyday in times of the foreign concessions. A heritage scholar of Tongji University refered to how Dongjiadu is a reflection of the historical spirit of entrepreneurship of Shanghai, as the main access point of western civilisation into the city, and by extension, to the whole of China (personal communication, 28 September 2020). Figure 4. Plan of Greenland Bund Centre, indicating the position of (1) St. Francis Xavier Church; (2) Shang Chuan Huiguan; (3) 240-meter super-tall office tower, and (4) 300-meter super-tall office tower and 5-star hotel, designed by KPF; (5 and 6) malls along 750-meter long elevated pathway with underground connections; (7) elevated platform crossing the Zhongshan Road; (8) extended bund promenade with ferry terminal; (9) exclusive high-rise residential compounds. Source: DLC, adapted by the authors. As part of the recent municipal plans to reconnect the city with the river, the bustling port-related neighbourhood Dongjiadu was torn down between 2009 and 2012. The CEO of KPF explained: “from practical point of view it is sometimes not possible to preserve, because of subsidence. That’s why there was not a huge effort to preserve buildings.” (personal communication, 17 July 2020). Only two heritage-listed buildings located at the core of the redevelopment were spared from demolition thanks to their statutory municipal protection: St. Francis Xavier Church (see Fig. 4 and 5) and the Shang Chuan Huiguan (see Fig. 4 and 6). The church stands on a central and preeminent position due to its larger scale, whereas the Shang Chuan Huiguan occupies a more modest location about 190 meters to the south of the church. Around both buildings, a total of nine office towers up to 300-meter tall frame the central open space, which is also occupied by a mixed commercial and cultural centre connected to Zhongshan South Road. A total of eight high-rise residential buildings located in the southwest corner of the development complete the scheme. Heritage strategies in place The heritage strategies applied to the St. Francis Xavier church and the Shang Chuan Huiguan consist of structural consolidation and restoration. St. Francis Xavier Church, a building in Spanish Baroque style dating from 1853, has a historical significance as the first cathedral of Shanghai, yet, it shows a contentious history. Besides its discontinued use since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the structure was deprived of its significance during the Cultural Revolution, when it was used as storage space of a lightbulb factory, and only listed in 1993. The main challenge for the restoration was the low resistance of the soil in this former swampy area, which had already experienced catastrophic episodes of subsidence with the collapse of buildings and a metro tunnel in 2003 (Tan et al., 2012; China Daily, 2003). The church foundations were thus consolidated through a concrete “plate” to realize equal subsidence (personal communication, 7 September 2020). The conservation architects in charge of the restoration of the church aimed to bring it back to the establishment of the first international communities in Shanghai, ignoring other contentious stages of this building’s recent history. iv According to our direct observation, restoration works inside the church are still ongoing in 2022. Either its functional structure and interior decorations remain inaltered. The position of significant movable elements, such as the altar and the ornamental lamps, has not been subject to change, implying the future recovery of its original function. The adjacent service building, which is not listed, is scheduled for demolition, and its functions transferred to a new service building next to the new shopping mall (personal communication, 23 December 2020). Following guidelines from the central government (personal communication, 7 September 2020), a fence must surround the church, yet the fence design, both in height, materials and transparency, enables the integration with the surroundings. Surprisingly, nostalgia for the historical ties between the church and the demolished neighbourhood is absent for its main users. As in the case of Mao Zedong’s residence, stakeholders support the re-signification of the heritage assets through the connection with the new environment. According to St. Francis Xavier’s serving priest, planners and conservation designers have satisfactorily acknowledged the physical building, and redevelopment appears as an opportunity to attract people to the community. This seems to be particularly welcome after years when the neighbourhood disappeared and attendance to religious service decreased dramatically: “The new development can bring the existence of the church (and “the spirit”) under attention to a wider audience, and especially also to Shanghai’s young people of the new middle class”. The demolition of the surrounding neighbourhood does not seem to be of particular concern for the priest, who omits any agency in the spatial cleansing justifying it due to the poor living conditions (personal communication, 11 September 2020). Figure 5. St. Francis Xavier Church, left prior to restoration in 2014, and right after re-contextualisation in 2022. Source: The authors. Built in 1715, the the Shang Chuan Huiguan was home to the Commercial Boat Association, one of the first tourist gaze. Functionally and spatially there is no connection with their new context, which strongly differs from possible alternatives that would acknowledge the different layers of history in heritage interventions, and where at least parts of the previous built and social context could have been conserved after improvements, while accommodating residents. References Abbas, A. (2002). Play it again Shanghai: Urban Preservation in the Global Era. In Mario Gandelsonas(ed.), Shanghai Reflections: Architecture, Urbanism and the Search for an Alternative Modernity. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. Arkaraprasertkul, N. (2019). Gentrifying heritage: how historic preservation drives gentrification in urban Shanghai, International Journal of Heritage Studies, 25:9, 882-896, Doi:10.1080/13527258.2018.1460732. Appadurai, A. (2013). Spectral Housing and Urban Cleansing: Notes on Millennial Mumbai. Public Culture 12(3): 627–651. Bandarin, F., Van Oers, R. (2012) The Historic Urban Landscape: Managing Heritage in an Urban Century. Wiley Blackwel. China Daily. (2003) Building collapses on Shanghai metro line. Retrieved from https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-07/02/content_242443.htm. Accessed 3 June, 2021. Coomans, T. and Y. Xu (2017). Built Together, Heritagised Together: Using Building Archaeology for Safeguarding Early Modern Churches in China. In Rodrigues dos Santos, J. (ed). Preserving Transcultural Heritage: Your Way or My Way? Questions on Authenticity, Identity and Patrimonial Proceedings in the Safeguarding of Architectural Heritage Created in the Meeting of Cultures. Casal de Cambra: Caleidoscopio, 157-166. Den Hartog, H. (2010) Shanghai New Towns - Searching for community and identity in a sprawling metropolis. 010 Publishers. Den Hartog, H. (2019) Re-defining the appreciation and usability of urban watersides in the urban center and peri-urban fringes of Shanghai. European Journal of Creative Practices in cities and Landscapes, Vol.2 no.1, 37-64. Doi:10.6092/issn.2612-0496/8918. Den Hartog, H. (2021). Shanghai’s Regenerated Industrial Waterfronts: Urban Lab for Sustainability Transitions? Urban Planning, Volume 6, Issue 3, 181–196. doi:10.17645/up.v6i3.4194. Denison, E., Guang, Y.R. (2006) Building Shanghai: The Story of China's Gateway. Wiley-Academy. Florida, R. (2006) The Rise of the Creative Class: And How it's transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life. Perseus Book Group. González Martínez, P. (2017a) Urban authenticity at stake: A new framework for its definition from the perspective of heritage at the Shanghai Music Valley. Cities, 70, 55–64. González Martínez, P. (2017b). Built heritage conservation and contemporary urban development: the contribution of architectural practice to the challenges of modernization. Built Heritage 1 (1): 14-25. González Martínez, P. (2019) From Verifiable Authenticity to Verisimilar Interventions: Xintiandi, Fuxing SOHO, and the Alternatives to Built Heritage Conservation in Shanghai’, International Journal of Heritage Studies, 25(10), 1075-1092. González Martínez, P. (2020) Curating the selective memory of gentrification: The Wulixiang Shikumen Museum in Xintiandi, Shanghai. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 27:6, 537-553. Doi:10.1080/13527258.2020.1821237. Hansen, M. H., Li, H., Svarverud, R. (2018) Ecological civilization: Interpreting the Chinese past, projecting the global future. Global Environmental Change, Volume 53, 195–203. Doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2018.09.014. He, S. (2007) State-sponsored gentrification under market transition. The case of Shanghai. Urban Affairs Review, 43(2), 171-198. He, S., Wu, F. (2005) Property-led redevelopment in post-reform China: a case study of Xintiandi redevelopment project in Shanghai. Journal of Urban Affairs, 27 (1), 1-23. Herzfeld, M. (2006). Spatial Cleansing: Monumental Vacuity and the Idea of the West. Journal of Material Culture 11: 127-149. Hsing, Y. (2010). The Great Urban Transformation: Politics of Land and Property in China. Oxford University Press, New York. Jacobs, J. (1961). The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Random House. Janoschka, M., Sequera, J. & Salinas, L. (2014) Gentrification in Spain and Latin America. A critical dialogue. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 38(4), 1234-1265. Jou, S.-C., Clark, E. and Chen, H.-W. (2016) Gentrification and revanchist urbanism in Taipei? Urban Studies, 53(3), 560–576. Doi:10.1177/0042098014541970. Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, B. (1995) Theorizing Heritage. Ethnomusicology, Vol. 39, No. 3. 367-380. Knyazeva, K. (2015) Shanghai Old Town: Topography of a Phantom City. Volume I: The Old Docks. Suzhou Creek Press. Kohn Pedersen Fox (2021) Retrieved from https://www.kpf.com/projects. Accessed 3 June, 2021. Kubat, A. (2018) Morality as Legitimacy under Xi Jinping: The Political Functionality of Traditional Culture for the Chinese Communist Party. Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, Volume: 47 issue: 3, 47-86. Doi:10.1177/186810261804700303. Lees L. (2012). The geography of gentrification: Thinking through comparative urbanism. Progress in Human Geography 36: 2, 155–171. Ley, D., Teo, S.Y. (2014) Gentrification in Hong Kong?. International Journal Urban and Regional Research, 38, 1286-1303. Doi:10.1111/1468-2427.12109. Ley, D., Teo, S.Y. (2020) Is Comparative Gentrification Possible? Sceptical Voices from Hong Kong. International Journal Urban and Regional Research, 44, 166-172. Doi:10.1111/1468-2427.12845. Li, X., Hui E.C.M., Chen T., Lang W., and Guo Y. (2019). From Habitat III to the new urbanization agenda in China: Seeing through the practices of the “three old renewals” in Guangzhou. Land Use Policy 81, 513-522. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.11.021. Li, X., Zhang, F., Hui, E.C.M., Lang, W. (2020) Collaborative workshop and community participation: A new approach to urban regeneration in China. Cities, 102, 102743. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2020.102743. Matsuda, A., Mengoni, L.E. (2016) Reconsidering Cultural Heritage in East Asia. Ubiquity Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv3t5qwd. Moll-Murata, C. (2008) Chinese Guilds from the Seventeenth to the Twentieth Centuries: An Overview. International Review of Social History, 53(S16): 213-247. Doi:10.1017/S0020859008003672. Oakes, T. (2019) Happy town: Cultural governance and biopolitical urbanism in China. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 51(1), 178-186. Piazzoni, M.F. (2018) The real fake. Authenticity and the production of space. New York, Fordham University Press. Ren, X. (2008) Forward to the Past: Historical Preservation in Globalizing Shanghai. City & Community, 7 (1), 23-43. Sassen, S. (1991) The Global City. New York, London, Tokyo. Princeton University Press. Sassen, S. (2014) Expulsions, Brutality and Complexity in the Global Economy. The Belknap Press of Harvard University. Scott, A. (2006) Creative cities: conceptual issues and policy questions. Journal of Urban Affairs, 28 (1), 1-17. Shanghai Planning and Land Resource Administration (SPLRA). (2018a) Shanghai Master Plan 2017 – 2035. Retrieved from www.shanghai.gov.cn/newshanghai/xxgkfj/2035004.pdf. Accessed 3 June, 2021. Shanghai Planning and Land Resource Administration (SPLRA). Striving for a world-class waterfront area - Shanghai Huangpu River and Suzhou River planning. (2018b) Retrieved from https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/6R9DCl4xFSGjvCRnXSioqg. Accessed 3 June, 2021. Shao, Q. (2013). Shanghai Gone: Domicide and Defiance in a Chinese Megacity. Lanham, Boulder, New York and Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield. Tan, Yong; Tan, Yong; Lu, Ye; Lu, Ye; Wang, Dalong. (2012) Catastrophic Failure of Shanghai Metro Line 4 in July, 2003: Occurrence, Emergency Response, and Disaster Relief. Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, 35(1). Doi:10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0001539. The Paper (2019) Debt is overwhelming: CMIG transfers one million square meters of Dongjiadu project, Greenland Group will take over. Retrieved from https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2980674. Accessed 3 June, 2021. Tomba, L. 2017. “Gentrifying China’s Urbanization? Why Culture and Capital Aren't Enough.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 41: 508-517. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12494. UNESCO (2011) The UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape. Retrieved from https://whc.unesco.org/en/hul. Accessed 3 June, 2021. Van Oers, R. (2010) “Managing Cities and the Historic Urban Landscape Initiative—An Introduction.” In UNESCO World Heritage Papers 27 Managing Historic Cities, edited by Van Oers, R. and Haraguchi, S. 717. UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Vermander, B.; L. Hingley; and L. Zhang (2018). Shanghai Sacred: The Religious Landscape of a Global City. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Wang, J. (2009) Art in capital: shaping distinctiveness in a culture-led urban regeneration project in Red Town, Shanghai. Cities, 26 (6), 318-330. Wang, J., Lau, S.S.Y. (2009) Gentrification and Shanghai’s new middle-class: Another reflection on the cultural consumption thesis. Cities, 26 (2), 57–66. Wu, F. (2003) Globalization, place promotion and urban development in Shanghai. Journal of Urban Affairs, 25 (1), 55-78. Wu, W. (2004) Cultural strategies in Shanghai: regenerating cosmopolitanism in an era of globalization. Progress in Planning, 61, 159–180. Xie, J., Heath, T. (2018) Heritage-led Urban Regeneration in China. Routledge. Xinhua News Agency. (2016) Several Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Further Strengthening the Management of Urban Planning and Construction. Retrieved from http://www.xinhuanet.com//politics/2016-02/21/c_1118109546.htm. Accessed 3 June, 2021. Zhong, S. (2015) Artists and Shanghai's culture-led urban regeneration. Cities, 56, 165-171. Zhu, Y. (2015) Cultural effects of authenticity: Contested heritage practices in China. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 21(6), 594–608. Zhu, Y. (2016) Heritage making of Lijiang: Governance, reconstruction and local Naxi life. In C. Brumann & D. Berliner (Eds.), World Heritage on the Ground, Ethnographic Perspectives. (pp. 78-96). Berghahn. Zhu, Y., and González Martínez, P. (2021) Heritage, values and gentrification: the redevelopment of historical areas in China. International Journal of Heritage Studies 28:4, 476-494. Doi:10.1080/13527258.2021.2010791 i Described process has analogies with the incorporation of St. John's Cathedral (1849) in Hong Kong and St. Patrick's Cathedral (1878) in New York, both also components of large commercial complexes surrounded with towers and malls in the financial district of global cities, but differs in re-signification. ii According to a top cultural heritage official of Jing An district, particularly since the 100th anniversary of Mao Zedong’s stay at the house in 2020, it became a privileged spot of Red Tourism circuits (personal communication, 16 September 2020). iii The continuity of residential uses is limited to the serviced apartments next to Tower 1 with rental prices starting from monthly 31,000 CNY for one-room apartments. iv During the Cultural Revolution concrete slabs were erected around the church to hide it from public view. It accommodated a range of non-religious functions, e.g. a light bulb factory, and finally reached a state of decay. After it was refurbished in 1996 (Knyazeva, 2015), religious service in the church resumed, but stopped again due to the redevelopment process. v Huiguans functioned as base for traders from a specific region, usually with their own dialect and collective cultural background. Larger ones comprised functions such as warehouses and wharves, but also community functions, e.g. a school, medical post, stage or shrine (Denison and Guang, 2006; Moll-Murata, 2008). vi According to the developer, it was thanks to the initiative of local activists that they got aware of this valuable heritage (personal communication, 7 September 2020). vii In 1937 the Japanese bombed the area. Red Guards destroyed most of the remaining guilds during the Cultural Revolution (Denison and Guang, 2006; Knyazeva, 2015). The central component of the Shang Chuan Huiguan survived through the years when the building became a public housing. viii A visit to the luxurious sales office of Greenland on site confirms these aspirations: apartments cost on average 150,000 CNY per square meter (Personal communication with a sales representative, June 2020). ix Surprisingly, the appreciation of the building and its historical connections with the neighbourhood do not stand among the priorities of its main users. x Together with the Lujiazui Financial Cluster this will form "One City Belt" alongside the Huangpu River. By 2035 Shanghai must be a financial world player were its financial industry will at least contribute 18% to the city’s GDP. xi A document by the local authorities of the Huangpu District in 2014 underlines that “development and change of the city is inevitable, but old buildings, streets and lanes that have recorded the prosperity of Dongjiadu in the past, will be revitalized and will continue to witness the prosperous future of Shanghai” (These documents have been removed from the official Huangpu District website, but still circulate online, e.g.: https://tieba.baidu.com/p/3156648799?red_tag=2802657405#/; Accessed on 3 June 2021). xii Other important Red heritage buildings like the Fouding Site of the Communist Party of China in Xingye Road were also listed on 1959. View publication stats