Guangming Daily focuses on the new story of the Tanggua Lane: Shanghai explores a new model of "demolishing and rebuilding old houses" in Shanghai

When it comes to making melons, almost everyone in old Shanghai knows about it. In the 1970s, an article titled "The Potato Melon Has Changed" was included in elementary school Chinese textbooks, making it famous nationwide. Nowadays, a renovation project of old houses that have been demolished and rebuilt is underway here, with the potential to explore a path of urban renewal that improves quality, controls costs, and is sustainable.

Located in the city center, next to Shanghai Railway Station, the Fanggua Lane, formerly known as Yaojiazhai, was a famous shantytown. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Shanghai carried out renovations on the Tibetan melon lane. In the 1960s, this became the first pilot project for the renovation of shantytowns in Shanghai, and the first 5-story worker's new village in Shanghai was built. Fangua Lane became a landmark building in the Zhabei area and even Shanghai at that time.

"When I was a child, I was very proud of living in a watermelon alley. After work, I felt embarrassed to let my colleagues know that I lived in a watermelon alley..." Chen Yu reminisced in the dimly lit shared kitchen, tidying up pots and pans.

No, the house in front of me is both reluctant and indescribable: the kitchen is shared by three households, and the stove and sink are all adjacent. If several households wash vegetables and cook at the same time, they can easily bump into each other when they turn around. The wires on top of my head are like spider webs, and I can't even figure out whose end they belong to. An even more awkward scene is in the morning and evening, where three households share two small bathrooms, with shower heads installed above the toilet. They can only queue up to use the toilet and take a shower, and when encountering internal emergencies, that kind of embarrassment goes without saying.

Zhu Xiaorong has served as the Secretary of the Party General Branch in the residential area of Fangua Lane for many years. She pulled the reporter to see that the houses in Fanggua Lane are generally shared by three or four households with a kitchen and bathroom, with an average shared area of only two square meters per household. More importantly, the main body of the community is a small beam and thin plate house. The main body of the house has settled, and the prefabricated floor slab no longer plays a waterproof role, resulting in serious water leakage problems; 1、 The public toilet on the second floor can cause bubbles and backflow, while in severe cases, it can clog and overflow, causing great inconvenience to daily life.

Over the years, the community has undergone multiple renovations, including adding floors, leveling and upgrading slopes, to address issues such as water use and building insulation. But repairing and repairing cannot cure the root cause of the disease. Against the backdrop of the rapid development of the surrounding area, the former celebrity community seems out of place, like a stumbling old man, gradually sinking.

Four years ago in the summer, the Fanggua Lane Neighborhood Committee and the Community Business Committee took the lead in soliciting opinions from residents, and 99.7% of residents agreed to apply to the government for demolition, reconstruction, and renovation of the community. The demolition and reconstruction of the Tanggua Lane has been put on the agenda.

At the moment of advancing the work, the problem resurfaced.

A fangua lane, with a building area of about 43000 square meters, has 60 years of housing age, a total of 1122 residential housing permits, and a registered residence population of 3482 people - one house, many stories of "living"!

Every family has a difficult lesson to remember: there are several generations who live together and hope to have more space in the house after moving back; For those with many children, they hope to share the money directly without having a house; It has been proposed that elderly people cannot get downstairs due to long-term bed rest; Some people have raised concerns about the poor orientation of the house and hope to switch to the ideal orientation... Their demands vary, and in addition, the residential area is surrounded by elevated bridges and railways, as well as restrictions on various planning indicators for new construction projects.

It's not easy to gain the recognition of every resident and ensure that every household benefits fairly!

The reporter arrived at the Tianmu West Road Street Office in Jing'an District, which is located in a corner of the Fangua Lane community. The street has established a temporary party branch for this project, sinking all team members and department level cadres to the front line.

"The demolition and reconstruction project of the Fanggua Lane community is one of the largest small beam and thin plate reconstruction projects in the city after the implementation of the Shanghai Urban Renewal Regulations, and it is also an important public opinion project in Jing'an District in 2023. Dong Qimeng, Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Tianmu West Road Street, told reporters that how to achieve the" maximum common denominator "in the renovation and construction of old residential buildings, truly" do practical things that benefit people's livelihoods, do meticulous things that warm people's hearts, and do things that conform to people's will ", is what every worker involved in it thinks day and night.".

1122 certificate housing, available in 97 types, with a minimum area of 6.5 square meters and a maximum area of 101 square meters. "In order to provide the residents with the best solution, we repeatedly listened to the opinions of the residents with the design team, and made more than 20 revisions to the plan." Speaking of the house in Fanggua Lane, Wang Zhongjia, the person in charge of the complete set office of Tianmu West Road Street, is like a book of books. Finally, on the basis of 8 basic unit types, 47 different room types with different area segments were designed, and the interior area of all houses only increased without decreasing, with additional dedicated kitchens, bathrooms, and balconies added. The rental housing will increase the usable area of each room by 1 square meter to 1.5 square meters, and will be equipped with dedicated kitchens, bathrooms, and balconies; The property rights room has a larger size and a dedicated kitchen and bathroom. After renovation, it ensures that the interior area of the unit does not decrease, and optimizes the room type, orientation, and living functions.

On April 22 this year, the plan met with residents for the first time and received approval from the vast majority of residents. In less than a month, the signing rate exceeded 98%, reaching the official effective rate of the project. On July 2nd, good news came that the signing rate had reached 100% ahead of schedule! The resident clapped their hands and said, "Finally, I look forward to this day!"

"Behind this 100%, there is no shortcut. It is to put oneself in the shoes of the residents and help them calculate comprehensive and long-term accounts, especially quality improvement accounts." Dong Qimeng said, "Adopting demolition and reconstruction methods to achieve complete renovation is of great significance for the renovation of old houses, urban renewal, and regional socio-economic development."

On the early morning of July 16th, the renovation project of old houses in the Fangua Lane community welcomed a concentrated relocation of residents. After the summer rain, the air is fresh, and the planning blueprint posted at the entrance of the community looks particularly eye-catching.

Three and a half years later, a brand new Tanggua Lane will welcome the return of its neighbors. At that time, Tanggua Lane will have six multi story, high-rise elevator buildings for residents to move back, equipped with underground parking lots to achieve separation of people and vehicles; The community and surrounding public facilities include urban living centers, community health centers, community comprehensive elderly service centers, community service stations, community party and mass centers, and public welfare childcare centers, among other public service facilities

Fangua Lane is just a microcosm of the renovation of old houses in Shanghai. Shanghai has put forward a work plan for the period from 2023 to 2025: renovation of old areas, with plans to fully complete sporadic secondary old house renovation projects; The complete renovation of old housing, with plans to complete the renovation of approximately 900000 square meters of incomplete employee housing, and the basic completion of the renovation project of small beam and thin plate houses; The renovation of "urban villages" is planned to launch 30 new projects, with an average of 10 new projects launched each year.