Yangpu Riverside Development, Shanghai

The development of the Huangpu riverside in Yangpu is one of the more intersting attempts at heritage in Shanghai that we’ve seen, I think (!). Of course it’s hard to tell from anything the Shanghai Daily says, plans change, the Party and developers lie and alter their intentions…but it appears interesting at least.

Positive is that the plan (as relayed to us from the state media of the Shanghai Daily in this article) does seem to take note of the district’s (the old Yangtszepoo or Y’Poo) industrial heritage as the powerhouse of Shanghai. They are acknowledging the paper mill, shipyard, water plant, textile mill, coal gas plant as well as the 1946 fish market. They claim that some industrial buildings will be renovated – though which ones remains unstated. An industrial heritage museum is planned (though personally I’d rather they just preserved the industrial heritage as opposed to destroying it and replacing it with a museum). Clearly it is not intended that all existing buildings will remain – in fact, one interpretation of the article could be that 60% of what remains (which is far from all that was there in 1949) will still go. Yangpu took a pounding in the run up to the EXPO in 2010 and road widening and “redevelopment” (i.e. destruction) has continued ever since. However, notions of industrial heritage in the district have always been extremely hazy and, this article at least, seems to indicate some greater clarity.

Here’s some of my previous blogs on Yangpu from the last eight years or so:

Shanghai’s Smokestacks

Mapping Yangpu

Yangpu Holds On…Just (mostly around Yulin Road)

The Massive Clearances on Pingliang Road

The Yangtszepoo Docks (1934)