How to enter the era of Update 3.0 and 4.0?, Development of over 60 industrial heritage sites along the Suzhou River | Cities | Times
Most of the waterfront in the world was originally shared. With the development of commerce, shipping, and industry, waterfront has become an important asset of cities, evolving from shared to exclusive, becoming a driving force for industrial and commercial development and a mark of urban civilization. Afterwards, with the development and changes of the city, the closed coastline that was once monopolized by factories, docks, warehouses, units, and communities has shifted back to an open coastline shared by the whole population. The Suzhou River in Shanghai has gone through a development process of over a hundred years.
At present, there is a consensus on the protection of Suzhou River industrial heritage. Looking towards the future, how can we organically combine the protection of architectural heritage with urban development? On June 3rd, the new book sharing event "Suzhou River Industrial Heritage: As a Shared Urban Landscape -" Shared Waterbank: Chronicles of Industrial Heritage on Both Sides of Suzhou River "was held at the Tianshan Hall of Changning District Library. This was the second reading event in the" Shanghai Strolling: History and Renewal "series jointly planned by Tongji University Press and Changning District Library.
"Today, we are discussing waterfront industrial heritage in Shanghai, not about the repair of a single building, but about how these heritages can enhance the overall public value of urban waterfront spaces, from exclusivity to sharing, from economic shoreline to landscape shoreline, and from enclosed spaces to accessible spaces for everyone. After systematically reviewing the development history of both sides of the Suzhou River, Zhu Yichen, the author of" Shared Waterfront: A Chronicle of Industrial Heritage on both sides of the Suzhou River "and assistant professor at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University, proposed that" sharing "is the development trend of urban waterfront spaces in the 21st century, and waterfront industrial heritage can enhance the overall public value through various modes such as public sharing, transfer sharing, and group sharing.". She mentioned that waterfront industrial heritage should be a shared urban landscape, and the evaluation of sharing includes five core dimensions - diachronicity, permeability, timeliness, diversity, and daily life. Through a more systematic spatial renewal design, the goal of Suzhou River renewal is to make shared urban landscapes, achieving a balance between heritage protection and urban development, and truly making the Suzhou River a "shared waterfront" accessible to everyone, open at all times, and accessible to different people 24/7.
"Modern industrial civilization emerged from water, leading to the formation of many 'urban factories' in Shanghai. How to update and transform' urban factories'? 1.0 is to demolish them and turn them into high-rise buildings; 2.0 is to turn them into creative parks; 3.0 and 4.0 need new wisdom, new methods, and new perspectives from the whole society to adapt to the changes in different stages of urban development." Li Zhenyu, a professor appointed by the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University, said that according to statistics in "Shared Waterfront: A Chronicle of Industrial Heritage on both sides of Suzhou River", there are 63 industrial heritage sites along the Suzhou River; Compared with general buildings and neighborhoods, one of the characteristics of industrial heritage is its large scale. If it is only "protected" and cannot be accessed by people, these relics are "dead". "Industrial heritage should allow more ordinary people to have the opportunity to enter and pass through, so that after they exit the production process, they can become activity spaces for the entire community and city."
"Having seen industrial relics, we know the path we have taken." Yu Hai, a professor at the School of Social Development and Public Policy at Fudan University and editor in chief of the "Shanghai Chronicles from a Social Space Perspective" book department, proposed that "the concept of sharing is not just about waterfront, but about the sharing of the entire city. Only by sharing the entire city can we enrich the spatial experience of urban residents. Today, facing the wave of artificial intelligence, only human feelings, experiences, and emotions cannot be replaced. Rich emotions arise from rich space."
"Shared Waterfront: A Chronicle of Industrial Heritage on Both Sides of Suzhou River" focuses on the update of industrial heritage on both sides of Suzhou River in Shanghai. It is the fifth book in the "Shanghai Chronicles from a Social Space Perspective" series, which takes the historical classics of Shanghai research as a model and focuses on today's Shanghai. Whether it is the Workers' New Village, commercial street, creative park, entertainment space, riverside shoreline, lane world, etc., they all strive to write contemporary Shanghai stories with history as the longitude, place as the latitude, historical consciousness and spatial sensitivity. Previously, "Shanghai Chronicles: A Perspective of Social Space", "From Model Community to Memorial Site: A History of Changes in a Workers' New Village", "Shanghai Old City: A Century: 1843-1944" have been published. 7. Shanghai: From Town to Commercial Port. The "Shanghai Strolling: History and Renewal" series of reading activities jointly planned by Tongji University Press and Changning District Library aims to build an exchange platform between academia, industry, and citizens, allowing readers to have the opportunity to understand Shanghai's urban history and culture, urban development and transformation processes, and current urban hot topics from different perspectives, thereby bringing a richer, broader, and more diverse perspective on urban reading.
