What else can there be besides trees, lawns, and chairs? 45 parks in Shanghai have transformed into collaborations | Shanghai University | Lawn

Shanghai's land resources are scarce and densely populated, making it impossible to rely on the unlimited expansion of the urban area to create more public spaces and services. So, injecting as many functions as possible into a limited space becomes a breakthrough point. The park is a window to glimpse this change. In Shanghai, many parks have broken away from the traditional design of "a few trees, a few lawns, and a few chairs" and become rich in meaning.

On August 24th, it was learned from the Shanghai Greening and Urban Appearance Bureau that since 2021, 45 parks in Shanghai have successfully transformed, completing the expansion and enhancement of the "Park+" theme function, adapting to local conditions and deeply integrating elements such as sports, culture, music, art, opera, and red resources.

"Breaking away from the comfort zone and traditional maintenance concepts is not easy for many parks, especially those with a long history." Zang Jun, the head of the Park Management Department at the Huangpu District Greening Management Office, said that in addition to changing concepts, professionals are also needed to promote parks.

The Dream Chasing Garden in Huangpu District has opened a Citizen Horticultural Center, where nearby residents and passersby gather to exchange their experiences in flower cultivation. The flowers and plants sold by the Horticultural Center are very affordable. In November 2021, a large-scale "marriage" activity began. Seven departments of greening and urban appearance, three municipal parks, 16 district parks, and eight universities signed strategic framework agreements, forming a "team" with the theme of expanding park functions.

There are three main types of cooperation.

The first type is the integration of professional resources such as art, painting, media design, and animation design by universities to help the park tailor unique scenes and design functional theme expansion plans. The pilot cooperation units include Shanghai University, People's Park, Fuxing Park, and Jing'an Sculpture Park.

The second type is assisted by universities to explore and deepen the cultural connotations of the park, providing citizens and tourists with rich cultural and artistic enjoyment. The pilot cooperation units include Shanghai University, Shanghai Film Art Vocational College, Shanghai Sports College, Shanghai Theatre College, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Shanghai Vocational College of Arts and Crafts, and 13 district parks including Zhongshan Park, Xujiahui Park, Jing'an Park, Pujiang Country Park, Zhangjiang Art Park, Century Park, as well as three municipal parks including Gongqing Forest Park, Binjiang Forest Park, and Guyi Park.

The third type is that the park leverages its professional technical strength to help enhance the green landscape of the campus, making it a "park" with distinctive characteristics of the times and unique cultural temperament. The pilot cooperation units include departments such as Changning District Greening City Appearance, East China University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai University, and Gongqing Forest Park.

The construction history of Fuxing Park can be traced back to the 1880s and is currently the only French style park in the center of Shanghai.

In 2021, Huangpu District Park Construction Alliance Art Center was established, and a number of universities, museums, art galleries, etc. including Shanghai Natural Museum, Shanghai University Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, Chenshan Botanical Garden, and Shanghai Concert Hall joined, which injected new vitality into the Renaissance Park. In particular, the "Around the Renaissance Park Art Season" gave birth to a large number of public art works, such as "Home under the wutong Tree", "City Heartbeat", and "Fei Ming Chair", which turned from exhibits to public furniture for the benefit of the public and landed in parks and neighborhoods.

Public art works preserved in the Fuxing Park, photographed by Jiang Xiaowei

"At present, the main group of visitors to Fuxing Park is' one old and one young '. We hope to attract more young people through' Park+'and make Fuxing Park a park suitable for all ages to rest." Zang Jun said that Fuxing Park is located on one side near the Huaihai Road commercial district and on the other side near the Sinan Mansion. We are constantly introducing young art teams and fashionable activities such as art performances, flower markets, and esports competitions that young people like, and opening up a' Huanfu Park Art Avenue 'in the park, connecting the tour route from Huaihai Road to Sinan Mansion.

What functions should be added or improved to the park should be decided by the people the final say.

On October 18th this year, the Lujiazui Financial City International Coffee Culture Festival will welcome its eighth session. Starting from the second edition in 2017, the main venue has been moved to the central green space of Lujiazui, and since then, the wonderful connection between coffee and the park has never ceased.

"The overlay of coffee culture in parks is not a sudden idea, but is determined by the preferences of nearly 500000 white-collar workers in the Xiaolujiazui area." Wang Ting from the Greening and Forestry Department of the Pudong New Area Ecological Environment Bureau told reporters that Lujiazui not only has the "height" of the city, but also has the aroma of coffee and the warmth of the community. Through the coffee culture festival, more and more white-collar workers are walking from buildings to open lawns, smelling the aroma of coffee, tasting coffee with different styles from around the world, chatting about the stories behind a few cups of coffee, and washing away physical and mental fatigue.

The 7th Lujiazui Financial City International Coffee Culture Festival, about 260 coffee brands collectively landed at the Lujiazui Center Green Space, photographed by Meng Yuhan

Wang Ting introduced that the Coffee Culture Festival focuses on the Lujiazui Central Green Space because it is the largest open lawn in the urban area of Shanghai. A large-scale event attracts and disperses hundreds of people quickly, and the large lawn provides sufficient activity space. However, many parks are limited by space and have to abandon some functions that they want to add or enhance.

It is reported that this year's coffee culture festival plan will be extended from four to five days to a whole year. A management room near the Century Corridor exit in Lujiazui Central Green Space will be transformed into a "coffee incubation platform". A group of coffee culture teams will be invited to settle in every month to provide new coffee tasting and other services, allowing white-collar workers in the surrounding area to have the opportunity to experience coffee culture every day.

"This allows the park and coffee to achieve a win-win situation, making the park more attractive to white-collar workers. The coffee culture team has a platform to promote themselves, and a well-known brand has become famous in the previous coffee culture festivals." Wang Ting said.