以傳播城市化專業知識為己任
2024年11月24日
星期日
設為首頁
|
加入收藏
搜索
Time: 30th, Oct Site: The Great Hall of Wuchang Government
Topic: Thoughts and Strategies on Revitalization of Historical and Cultural Districts in China and Abroad
Guided by: Science and Technology Committee of MOHURD, CIUDSRC.
Hosted by: The Party Committee of Wuchang District, The People’s Government of Wuchang, CDI (Shenzhen, China)
Sponsored by: Wuhan Wuchang Cultural Tourism Development Co.Ltd
Supporting Media: CCTV,CNR,CNS,Construction News Council,CIUDSRC.com,Sina.com,Sohu.com,QQ.com,
Sofang.com,Urbanization magazine, Hubei Daily, Hubei TV,Changjiang News, Wuhan TV,etc.
On the morning of 30th, October,an urbanization seminar named ‘Strategies and Thoughts on the Revitalization of Historical and Cultural Districts in China and Abroad’was held in the great hall of Wuchang government. The event was a great success with the participation of Chinese and EU experts as well as the dynamic interactions between the panelists and the audience.
The CIUDSRC has invited the chief EU expert on Urbanization Mr Nicolai Peitersen; vice director of the CIUDSRC,vice president of the CAEP, council member of the CESC,Ms Youyun Zhang;Mr Jinkui Li, a senior researcher from the CDI(Shenzhen)，together with many other experts discussing about the strategies for the protection and development of the Historical and Cultural District of Tanhualin.
Mr Xiyun Kuang,the Chief director of the Wuhan Planning and Design Institute and officials from Wuchang District Committee, the Political Consultative Conference of Wuchang District, the People’s Government of Wuchang District have joined the panel discussion as well. Li Wang,secretary of Wuchang District Committee of Wuhan,said:Through the format of speeches given by China-EU experts, panel discussion and interaction with audience, the belief of revitalize Tanhualin as a historical and cultural district with innovative management and humanity has been firmly strengthened.
Mr Yihong Cai,the general secretary of the CIUDSRC,together with Mr Qitong Xu has cosigned the strategic agreement of the Tanhualin Project.
Expert moderator
Ms Youyun Zhang: I am very glad to be back home. I left Xiaodongmen 57 years ago, graduating from high school in Wuhan, leaving for Beijing to go to college and then have been working outside ever since, 57 years has passed by already, so my feeling to come back to hometown and see all the folks here is beyond words.
Now we are living in a fast-changing era,with undergoing the acceleration process of new-style urbanization as well as the profound social and economic revolution, thus we do face vital opportunities of development. For more than 10 years, Tanhualin has gone through tremendous changes with the support of the Wuchang District Committee, the People’s Government of Wuchang as well as the continuous effort from Tanhualin neighborhood committees and all the stakeholders.
As a Wuhan local,my understanding for Tanhualin is far from enough.Only until this year did I realize that the neighborhood where I spent more than 10 years of my youth time has such profound accumulation of social human culture, whose historical value plays a vital part to the current and future development of people’s life here.
Therefore, today’s seminar, which is organized by Wuchang District Committee, the People’s Government of Wuchang should be very interesting. We have invited two experts to speak today, one is the chief expert of the Sino-EU urbanization partnership project, Mr Nicolai Peitersen,who is a very knowledgeable man that has published many of his works,and has been involved in many researches and practices in urbanization. The other one is a senior researcher on urbanization, Mr Jinkui Li, who is a great combination of both passion and profession, who is a thinker and a man of action. In this occasion, let us look back to the history and reorganize our thoughts then collectively make a strategy plan for this project.
Indeed this is a great opportunity for study together, but we should be practical at the same time. For a seminar is not a meeting where you can get all the answers, this is more of a meeting to stimulate and broaden our views, give us more inspiration and thoughts thus to form more innovative and creative ideas, There is never a ready answer in anyone’s words, for the path is right under our feet.
Tanhualin is a place of treasure which carries such a long and complicated history. Thus we need to discover its value together. First let’s welcome senior researcher, Mr Jinkui Li with his passionate speech! Welcome！
Keynote Speech
Road to Revitalization of the Historical and Cultural District of Tanhualin
Lots of people came to Tanhualin and found it unique somehow.But why is it? What is the historical value of this neighborhood? In short, it records the history of the transformation of the Chinese nation. Here I would like to share how I see the three times of opening up in modern history.
The first time of opening up started from the Opium War in 1840 till the Revolution of 1911,during which time the western countries broke in and we went from passively opening up to actively take up the gauntlet, and then to all-around progress.It abolished the feudal monarchy and gave birth to the Republic of China,which opened up a new era of democratic republic.
The second time of opening up was since Mr Sun Yat-sen advocated alliance with Russia and the Communist Party till the Communist Party in China started to learn from Russia in all respects,our systems of politics,economy,culture,education,news,medical care,sanitation were all learning from the Soviet Union at that time until the year of 1978. This time’s opening up, the east wind definitely prevailed over the west one.
The third time of opening up was since the year of 1978,again we connected to the world represented by western countries. This time’s opening up was on our initiative. Especially Deng Xiaoping’s two trips to the south, which emerged a new climax in China of reform and opening up.
Wuhan is an amazing city.It led twice of the opening up in Chinese history.However during the third time of opening up, Wuhan lost its glamour due to the over torment of ‘learning from Russia’ and ‘leaning to one side policy’.Among the 156 major projects supported by the Soviet Union,8 of them were located in Hubei, among which 7 were in Wuhan. Today we advocate to revitalize Wuhan is to revitalize the grand Wuhan city that was strong enough to conquer the war as the number 1 city of Asia, and called up the revolution of 1911.
Why the first uprising was in Wuchang instead of other central cities? The fact is that the first Uprising in Wuchang did not happen accidentally, but an inevitable outcome of the overall modernization of the society.Wuchang chose to open up to the outside world in a rational way: there were churches being built from Hankou to Wuchang;establishment of schools ,public libraries, indoor gyms and hospitals beside the governor’s mansion.All of these helped to bring in new thoughts,knowledge as well as life-styles.
Nowadays China is more in need of a rational choice of the world advanced civilization.Under the guilder of the Communist Party, we need to rule the country by law, and let people be the masters. Meanwhile,how do we absorb the advanced culture from the world? A huge responsibility lies in Wuchang.However Tanhualin is definitely the first and foremost area we need to look into, for it records the real history of Wuchang.
There are several things that separate Tanhualin from other historical and cultural districts. First, It is like a quiet island in a noisy city with a slow pace of life, which brings people a unique feeling and inspiration. Second, this neighborhood is of 100 hectares with outstanding historical constructions in it. Third, like many old cities in China, it has become a decayed city hinterland even with city slums inside.Forth, due to the over amount and low quality of civil constructions, continuous rehabilitation needs to be done.
At a more mundane level, since the 1970s,the recapitalization of historical and cultural districts has gone through three phases: Phase one was to protect the heritage ,single layer construction and structures that related to the great men or doctrines;Phase two was to protect clusters of ancient structures,city space and architectural environment;Phase three was about focusing on the usage of land,social structure,transportation system and the city population, emphasis are also put on investment, local economic development, raising the management standard and all-around rejuvenation.
From this perspective, Tanhualin is right in the phase three.First, Tanhualin’s ancient buildings are well-protected, more than 50 historical structures but no one claims to be cultural relics are kept, which is quite difficult to do; Second, since the distance of space is kept thus gives out a sense of reality to its history.What needs to be discussed afterwards should be the social and economic development and the all-around rejuvenation.
Normally what we do in China as the old-style revolution is to outsource the historical construction-intensive areas to the real-estate developers for demolition,business projects;with much effort put on the suburban areas, however the city hinterland kept on decaying.Its advantage is gaining commercial success,consumption innovation and a city name card. However the problem is that they are almost of single function,Disneyland-like view, commercialized operating model,households to be relocated,local life was ceased,commercial management,neat and uniformed constructions, that are all artificial without historical value.To our delight,we have seen a unique way of revitalization of the historical and cultural district in Tanhualin.It can be concluded from two aspects:First it is culture oriented,being historical,artistic, international and well-designed;social mechanism, which means the overlap of scenic areas and local communities, with the collaboration between Liangdao Street and Wuchang Tourism and Cultural Development Corporation and participation of government enterprises,social organizations,social enterprises,social investment,etc.
Wuchang District doesn’t consider Tanhualin as a single historical and cultural district or a cultural industrial park, but an organic and complex living organism.
From 2003 to 2006,Tanhualin has made up the plan for protection and put into action as well;from 2007 to 2012, they have built the art village to promote the development of culture industry; from 2013 till now, Tanhualin has started the management pattern of integrated education and opening up to the outside world.
Tanhualin is a live neighborhood.Because people can see that the local residents’ life are not affected by the revitalization of this area.There is an 83-year-old lady who wears a red armband in Tanhualin helping to educate tourists not to litter. This is the first time I have seen anything like this in all the historical districts in our country.Only in Tanhualin, in Wuchang, can we actually be able to see this harmonious co-autonomy situation.
Even though there is no standard answer for the revitalization of Tanhualin, but the innovative governance of this community could well support it. What is innovative governance? You might ask. We would suggest to form a committee in charge of the revitalization project, which is an integrated decisive agency rather than an office nor a cultural and tourism company.Also a promotion center can be built under the guidance of the committee that acts like an executor,using funds from the government to help with the public finance.After that,the cultural and tourism company should start one-stage development together with social NGEs,instead of acting on its own as a state-owned enterprise. At the same time, a fund for revitalization should be raised by the government to encourage and support the research of Tanhualin.Besides,we should bring in social organizations, social enterprises to supply with professional services as an investment to social impact,therefore people from all walks of life would be able to contribute to this project.
What is the vision of Tanhualin? In the future, the historical buildings should still be there with the dynamic atmosphere around them; It should be the real China in foreigners’eyes and an outside world for all the Chinese people.It should be the window for the elders to look back to the past and the youngsters to look forward to the future.It should be a relaxing place like Barcelona or Lijiang,where people seek for love and inspiration.
The reason for us to revitalize a historical and cultural district is not to memorize the past but for the present,for the future development of the city.If you were to ask me what is the future Tanhualin in my mind, I would tell you the answer quoted from Confucius, ‘those who are around here should feel pleasant to live and those from afar should be pleasant to come.’I wish the local residents would be happy to say that ‘I love Tanhualin for I am the master here.’And for those who come to visit,they would say ‘I have heard about this amazing neighborhood and I am so glad to be here.’
Youyun Zhang: The passionate applause from the audience is a great proof of the great speech made by Mr Jinkui Li ,thank you again for your input!
Even though I am a Wuhan local,today is the first time for me to hear such a comprehensive intruduction of the Chinese modern history from Mr Li and to discuss the value of Tanhualin,the importance of Wuchang and Wuhan from a historical angle,which I believe is inspiring to all of us.
Nicolai was so excited about what he saw in Tanhualin even though he only spent 2 hours here in June.Because he has seen the advantage and value of this district.Now we would like to welcome Mr Nicolai Peitersen to share his view on the historical and cultural districts that are undergoing urbanization and his thoughts about the revitalization of Tanhualin.
Nicolai Peitersen:Cultural Heritage as a driver of innovation and creativity
This year, the Chinese version of my book Ethical Economy was published in August.In this book, I brought up a concept of socialized economy,which means we should use a new,ethical way to develop economy in a social environment.Thus I think we should also bring this idea to the revitalization of Tanhualin, to use the action of protecting cultural heritage as a driver of innovation and creativity.
There are three fundamental elements in a social economy system.First, who decides what is of most historical and cultural value? Second, who creates the future value? Third, what can we do to protect and create new values. From a macroeconomics point of view,all of above are very meaningful for the revitalization of Tanhualin.
Who decides the historical and cultural value of Tanhualin? By government officials? History experts? Or local citizens from Wuchang and Wuhan city? After deciding who should be the decider of the historical and cultural value of this neighborhood, what we should talk about is the practical measures to protect and develop the values.Then the next step should be discussing how we can protect these values. If we were able to finely built these value systems, then the revitalization of Tanhualin should be a great success, which also promote the cultural and economy development of Wuchang and Wuhan city.
Nowadays the economic society is no longer hunger for the maximize of profit but collaboration with different stakeholders from economic and cultural sectors.Thus in the revitalization of Tanhualin, we should put people’s feelings as priority to attract more business value.
Take the case from France for example, like many European countries,France started the protection of cultural heritage long time ago.In fact, it has been a tradition from medieval monarchy to today’s republic.Here is a picture of one of the most famous buildings in France-Le Louvre. During the past 800 years, it has been continuously fixed and rebuilt.In France, the cultural heritage belongs to no one but the public.Thus the protection of cultural heritage is not only to keep its cultural value but the practical use is of same importance.This is the new idea coming from the French Revolution.Government support is vital in the protection of cultural heritage.And France is being quite ambitious in terms of policies for the protection of cultural heritage.And a new initiatives from communities is to promote cultural heritage as a way of economic development.
Now we have a general understanding of the protection of cultural heritage.Then how to protect Tanhualin? How do we implement the theories into practice? For that I have several thoughts as below:First, we need to know what is the cultural fabric of the landscape? Second,we need to have a clear picture about the context and circumstance of Tanhualin;Third,what is the overall climate of Tanhualin with the outside world;Forth, what kind of human capacities and skills can we bring to Tanhualin? Fifth,what is the existing and potential study fields of Tanhualin? Sixth,who are the stakeholders of this project? Seventh, how do we build the relationships among the stakeholders? Eighth,what are the collaboration projects ongoing in Tanhualin? Ninth,based on a comprehensive understanding of the above questions, we should form the future ideas with support from the government policies.
I was very honored to have the opportunity to visit Tanhualin this June.I was totally fascinated by this neighborhood. Now I would like to talk about how do we recreate value of the cultural heritage through an innovative and creative way according to my visit last time.
At that time I saw a public library in Tanhualin which symbolizes co-sharing of the intellectual resources,through which we will be able to protect the historical and cultural heritage of Tanhualin in terms of soft power. Hundreds of years ago, there has already been a library school to train library managers, but how we bring this idea to a higher level? Which means how we train more outstanding managers who can run the cultural industry or other industries? This is something worth discussion.In my point of view, only through a fully understanding of the existing cultural heritage could us discover the future potential value it can bring to us. What I felt in Tanhualin is that it is of a strong cultural atmosphere with happy and friendly local residents. During the past 2 and half years I have been invited to visit many places in China, but what I have seen here is definitely unique.
The revitalization of Tanhualin should not only be driven by policy but by people’s needs. Thus, we would have to ask what are the real needs of the local residents? Only after the local residents feel happier that we could attract more outsiders to come to Tanhualin to visit and live. In fact,for the revitalization of an old district like Tanhualin, it is more of the protection of its cultural value rather than to the original buildings.The inputs of the protection should be in return with more output to create more economic, cultural and social values.
In a report about Mapping the EU-China Cultural and Creative Landscape published by the Ministry of Culture, I contributed some ideas related to this topic, now I would like to share some with you:First,individual cultural entrepreneurship is on the rise in China.
Second,cultural exchange is going beyond ‘learning from each other’towards ‘co-creating’.The revitalization of Tanhualin is the same, we not only need to learn from the successful cases of western countries through newspapers and magazines,but to involve us with those creaters to discuss a fiscal solution for recreating value for Tanhualin.It is actually quite difficult to make this come true though. For example, the government could offer certain public space to invite foreign innovative artists together with some creative local residents to co-establish an art or cultural project which we can put in Tanhualin.
Third,CCI’s development mechanism is shifting from ‘build clusters’to the need for social innovation for the creative class,for they are the driven force of the overall economic development.
Currently we have a project--the Wiki Factory,which is supported by the China Youth Development Foundation,aims to use a innovative collaboration as driven force to promote social development at the same time enables people to customize their own product.For instance we can build an online library which contains all the innovative resources by everyone.Or the local residents from Tanhualin could customize some interesting furniture for the creatively-designed local buildings here .Through the 3D printing, a lot of innovative projects could be realized with very low costs.As a matter of fact,this innovative idea could be applied in the revitalization of a historical district to turn it into a dynamic innovation hub of social impact. Meanwhile,by working together at the innovation hub, local residents shall become the social entrepreneurs who will create value for the economic development of Tanhualin.The core value of the Wiki factory is to provide place and opportunity for the emergence of social entrepreneurs and incubation of innovators.With the policy supported by the government,the innovative project shall be implemented and the training platform shall be established,through which Tanhualin will become more international and attract more talents,social entrepreneurs and innovators to collaborate.This way, Tanhualin will be a place of global and social impact after the revitalization.Thank you!
Youyun Zhang: This is a wonderful speech! He was fascinated by Tanhualin during a short term visit at the first time which also reflects its value.
There are too much temptation in today’s world, our choices represent our values.How do we properly understand and inherit our history and culture? We won’t go far on this road without the culture bases.
Just now Nicolai has mentioned some successful cases of revitalization of old districts in Europe and how we are in line with the international standards.Tanhualin is in Wuchang,in China, but we do need international vision for its development.China is a grand nation which should be occupied with a vision of great nation and modern consciousness.
Tanhualin carries our past history as well as our dream for the future.Tanhualin should not only be a model for the revitalization of historical and cultural districts in China but also an international recognizable one.Now our vision is to work towards this direction,adding international collaboration into the revitalization of Tanhualin.
Q&A Session
Q1:Value for the government investment to the revitalization of Tanhualin
Development and Reform Commission of Wuchang: As we all know that the existence of historical and cultural district will bring tremendous social and economic value to a city,however the government will be mainly responsible for the investment of its revitalization.I would like to ask Professor Jinkui Li,are there any practical methods for government to support and control during this process? Any successful cases for reference?
Jinkui Li: The protection of a historical and cultural district must be involved with government participation.But the money from the government investment should be fairly,efficient and well spent.Meanwhile this investment should be visible to the public for it is cultural heritage belonging to the whole society after all.
One successful case I would like to talk about is the project named‘The project of activating historical buildings’,launched by Hong Kong Government , it successfully brought back the lives of many historical buildings and embodied them with new economic values through collaboration with civil society.
Therefore,the first thing the government needs to do for investing the revitalization of old districts is to establish spaces open to the public.Second, we should make the investment better spent with social value, just like Mr Nicolai Peitersen just mentioned the investment of social impact, we should make evaluation from respects of risk,public affairs and social impact.Meanwhile,the government should attract more social investment for the revitalization.
Youyun Zhang: The new style of urbanization is all human based, thus the government investment to the development of historical and cultural district is no longer for the capital renewal but more focuses on the social and cultural impact which influence people’s livelihood.Therefore the revitalization of Tanhualin should be valued integrally from aspects of society,culture,ecosystem and civilization rather than the short-term economic feedback.
Q2:The educational function of Tanhualin
The Education Bureau of Wuchang: We have talked a lot about the cultural function of the revitalization of Tanhualin,but how do we integrate the educational function into this project to make Tanhualin an education base for patriotism education as well as a place for social practice of the students?
Qitong Xu: I believe there are three ways for us to integrate educational function of Tanhualin.
Firstly,we should involve our students in the revitalization of Tanhualin by visiting and being educated about the historical and cultural background of this neighborhood so to feel proud and honored;Secondly,we should give an all-around history introduction to the local Wuchang students, helping them to understand who they are and where they come from through the window of Tanhualin;Thirdly,since Tanhualin is the cultural and spiritual essence of our city’s development,what is the background story of this history and who were the actual movers? We shall put all these elements into the education to our students.
Xiyun Kuang: The revitalization of historical and cultural district is not only an education but also an awakening of awareness to our own history.The educational value also lies in through revitalization by generations.
Nicolai Peitersen: As far as I am concerned, the educational function should be the center of revitalization.As the new techniques,skills and systems are brought in because of the revitalization, new opportunities for future development will certainly been created to Tanhualin.For it will establish a learning and communication platform for Wuchang district and Wuhan city,which is of great value to this nation.And the establishment of this platform allows more western countries’ students to come to Wuchang to interact and brainstorm with the local students. If we were to protect a historical building, while bringing the advanced ideas from foreign experts, should leave more opportunities to the younger generation to learn to protect their own cultural heritage.This is what I have been advocating that the revitalization of historical and cultural district shall be the best opportunity to educate the younger generation.
Youyun Zhang: This is a great question.I have always been focused on education, thus I believe we should understand this in a larger perspective rather than classroom study.Nicolai’s speech has mentioned about the Wiki factory,which is supported by the China Youth Development Foundation.Our vision is to build a wiki factory here in Tanhualin, to train our own social entrepreneurs through innovative design,production and sales.People always picture entrepreneurs of owning their own factories and employees,but the new notion we are discussing here is aimed
For the public,everyone can participate in the customized production.Also the learning and training platform for innovators and social entrepreneurs will benefit not only Tanhualin but Wuchang as well as the Wuhan city, which all calls for a deepened understanding of education.During the same time we shall establish a foundation of committee to activate all the stakeholders to participate in the process of training and learning,forming a lifelong learning habit.
Q3:Capital balance of the revitalization
Wuchang Cultural and Tourism Corporation Limited: Nowadays, most cases of revitalization of historical and cultural districts in China can hardly reach the balance of capital,thus I would like to ask Mr Nicolai Peitersen to share some successful cases from European countries.
Nicolai Peitersen: I have been to many cities during my stay in China.I realize that most governments develop land by trade. Whenever a government wants to make profit out of certain land, they would sell it out to the real estate developers,by which the historical and cultural value of that area will be lost in this process.In Europe, the government will evaluate the real value of the land whenever they want to invest in revitalization of an old district,and then impose tax on the local investor.This way,the historical and cultural value of the neighborhood will be kept while developing its economy.
Another notion I would bring to this topic is the community enterprises.There are many enterprises of this kind in Denmark who are very interested in investing in the historical and cultural districts,so the public will raise funds together to invest in the project.This way not only more job opportunities are created for the local community but also many outstanding citizens are trained, besides,it will also help to attract more investment from government and outside investors to contribute and create value for the neighborhood.
Q4:The vision for Tanhualin
Shuiguohu Neighborhood Committee: Today’s seminar has helped us to see the real value of Tanhualin, which is quite different from the current reality.How do we lead our local residents together with the government to revitalize this neighborhood is our first imperative.I would like to ask Mr Nicolai Peiter that what the vision for Tanhualin is ? What should we do to realize this vision?
Nicolai Peitersen: To build a co-vision for the revitalization of Tanhualin is of great importance.I strongly believe that all the stakeholders including the local residents should be involved in this revitalization,everyone should have a say in this matter.We should hear more voice internally rather than externally, jointly discussing the essence of Tanhualin with the experts and local residents,so to find out the real vision for Tanhualin.
To build the co-vision calls for the establishment of brand strategy.Therefore we should come to a consensus to foster a value that contributes to the future development to Tanhualin. At the same time it helps to attract more enterprises and investors bringing value and benefit in terms of economic,social and cultural development.
We shall bring in all stakeholders, a think tank and government officials into further discussion for the practical strategies and plans to put our theories into practice and finally reach the destination.
How to bring a vision into reality? I will give an example of a small town of Sweden. About 20 years ago,the local government has set a vision to build their town as the cleanest,flexible and most dynamic town in the whole world. Each year they brought in experts,think tanks and government officials for discussion about practical strategy of each year.Finally they made their vision come true.
Youyun Zhang: Besides consulting with the local residents for their opinions we should also bring in the social enterprises with social responsibility into discussion.The enterprises are not supposed to simply move in to Tanhualin but also support the revitalization of it,thus to build a strategic partnership of the revitalization of Tanhualin with participation from all social circles.
Q5:Core value of the revitalization of Tanhualin
CCTV: As a historical and cultural district,Tanhualin carries the memories of generations in Wuchang.How do we combine the human concern with the value of Tanhualin? What is the core value of the revitalization and why we are doing this?
Qitong Xu:If I were to think about your questions in a philosophical way,then two answers need to be given, one is what the other is why.
What is the revitalization of historical and cultural district? From my perspective, I suppose the historical and cultural district should be the place where lies the most inspiring,advancing culture and spirit.
Looking back to the history of Wuhan,we had a glorious time after the opening of trading ports in Hankou in 1860 to Zhangzhidong was in power in 1981 and till right before the 1911 revolution.Wuhan reached all-around development of economy,culture,international exchanges in 50 years’time.The revitalization we are talking about today is to regain the achievement we had during that period of time.The area which will be able to hold such memory of a city and be able to pass on the spirit and culture to generations should be considered as a historical and cultural district that is worth being revitalized.
Why Tanhualin then? Looking back to Wuhan’s history, during the 50 years of glory, the city’s construction and economic development are merest appearance, the essence of development was the inner energy,which was after opening up the trading port,the ideology of ‘traditional Chinese values aided with modern Western management and technology’by Zhang Zhidong has accelerated the transformation. Thus we consider Tanhualin as a window to the cultural exchange between China and the western world. Under the guidance of Zhang Zhidong’s ideology,Tanhualin went through tremendous political and economic change.All the economic activities of Wuhan happened in Wuchang at that time,and numbers of kindergartens, primary schools, middle schools and colleges were built at that time, thus a complete modern education system was established due to the emergence of western culture.Tanhualin made it possible for the coexistence of Chinese local residents and westerners.And speaking from an architectural perspective, the buildings in Tanhualin are a great combination of blending the Chinese and western culture.For all reasons above, we believe Tanhualin posses the most of the cultural heritage from the glorious time of Wuhan thus revitalization should be done in this area.
We are looking back to the history so to face the future.The revitalization of old district should be considered as an encouragement to today’s city planners,at the same time to bring the revitalization of Tanhualin to an international level.Wuchang is a district of grand cultural background, it should fully demonstrate its historical and cultural value and lead the development of Wuhan as the location of Tanhualin, and this is the core value of the revitalization of Tanhualin.
Q6:Social construction and community governance
Wuchang Bureau of Civil Affairs: Mr Li Jinkui has mentioned the innovative management to support the revitalization of Tanhualin in his speech.How do we integrate social construction and community governance into the revitalization? And how to integrate all stakeholders into the governance of the community?
Jinkui Li : I think you have seized the key point of the community governance of bringing in all stakeholders.At the third plenary session of the 18th Central Committee,the general objective in the coming decades is decided to perfect the socialism with Chinese characteristics and to modernize the governance system, which makes governance a key word for the deepening reforms in the future.The reason for the past failed cases of revitalization of old districts is that they were pure government actions without consideration of civilians and other stakeholders involved. But what Tanhualin is doing today is a human-based revitalization which people have a right to choose, and local residents can realize self-governance rather than being governed by authorities.
Q7:Relationship between local residents and tourists
Changjiang News: The revitalization of historical and cultural district should be focused on both architectures and human being.There are two types of architectures, those belonging to cultural heritage category should definitely be protected but what about those with historical value but yet to be recorded as cultural heritage?There are two types of people, local residents and tourists.How do we arrange the local residents and show the human concern for the tourists at the same time? How do we handle the relationship between those two in a harmonious way?
Jinkui Li : Many other historical and cultural districts have excluded their local residents outside,thus to create another Disneyland for tourists.But the local residents of Tanhualin are still there, thus what the tourists witness there is an alive neighborhood. But whether will tourists affect the daily life of local residents? Are they able to provide enhanced value to the tourists? This is a great question, for many of the old districts in China are out of the possibility to even face this challenge.The difficulty Tanhualin is facing now should be considered as a tremendous treasure at the same time.
Q8:Strategies and plans for the revitalization of Tanhualin
Wuchang Bureau of Land planning: Both the people’s government of Wuchang and Wuhan City have paid close attention to the revitalization of Tanhualin by scaling a number of practical plans. We would like to invite Mr Kuang to talk about the possibility to implement these plans and his thoughts on the strategies of the revitalization.
Xiyun Kuang: The implementation of the revitalization plan of Tanhualin is both vital and luxurious.There are many differences between China and Europe,for example our legal systems are of great difference.Comparing to Europe, we are lack of the definition of human rights and property rights in our General Rules of the Civil Law, which caused huge difficulties.Thus it calls for more creativity in the revitalization under such difficult circumstance,for which we should pay more respect to the great efforts done by the Wuchang government.Actually the implementation of the revitalization of Tanhualin is on pause right now for it is a street after all. But why? Because the city construction and social development in our country have always been revolutionary, many of which are destroyed in this process.In my point of view,we should see the revitalization of Tanhualin from a larger perspective, combining with the inner city of Wuchang and river bank of Huanghelou area.
Summary of the Seminar
Li Wang:Revitalization of historical districts in Tanhualin is a beneficial exploration Secretary of Wuchang District Committee of Wuhan
I am very happy to be here to listen to the pertinent opinions and suggestions made by people from home and abroad who care about the development of Wuchang district. These opinions and suggestions indicate that we should view our city from a higher, wider, and more open-minded perspective in the following steps. I constantly ponder the questions like where should we head to? How can we move forward? After listening to this seminar, I concluded three points and I would like to share with you.
First of all, the seminar encouraged me greatly. I want to quote Chairman Mao as saying that a foreigner makes light of traveling afar to China in the commemoration of Doctor Bethune. Likewise, Mr. Nicolai Petersen traveled from Europe to a thriving China, and today he is here with us in Wuchang. In order to focus more on the Sino-European city organization, he had made a premier observe and study in Tanhualin earlier. He made an investigation on spot because of the consideration of involving Tanhualin in the Sino-EU Urbanization Partnership program.
What's more, Mr. Jinkui Li has been caring about the development of Wuhan and Wuchang since 2010. He helped us in strategic thinking and detailed working by proposing practical and operable paths with his devoted efforts in the study of the revival of Tanhualin.
We should express more appreciation to professor Youyun Zhang who was born and bred in Wuchang. She has been working on the important international issues, and she is now studying the urbanization process. Her presence today encourages everyone here and in the whole district, as it represents the attention of the Chinese who has Wuchang origin. Since they care about the development of Wuchang and China in all parts of world, we are obliged to transfer this expectation to a powerful driving force.
Secondly, this is a cogent responsibility. How can our generation exploit the traditions and advantages that the city brought us to the full? How can we lead the residents and the history behind the district to a better future? These are historical questions that every administrator and leading cadre should answer. This is a test on our wisdom, capability, and value orientation. Strictly speaking, it is an actual responsibility to our work, society and history.
Thirdly, this is also a beneficial exploration. The outstanding historical district is regarded as a big problem in city construction in all parts of world, because the origin, the heritage, the value orientation, and the influence on people should all be taken into consideration. Every government and every politician should figure out the answers to the questions of how to provide people with more welfare and how to liberate individuals in different aspects.
It was difficult to make a summary since we needed foresight, vision, and capability. It is more difficult today to fully develop the residents and to make the city a greater place because of those who are developed. Meanwhile, it is most difficult to predict the future based on the past and present, to keep pace with the regulations of development of history and industrial innovation, and to meet the special needs of people in every era. Under this situation, strictly speaking, Tanhualin historical and culture district that we create proves to be a beneficial exploration, along with the architecture, organization, construction, protection, and renovation, for there is no existing experience to refer to so that it requires us to gather the ideas and come up with an all-rounded solution. It is different from other renovation of old cities because we have to protect the 1800 years， history behind it and to consider the adding into more elements in happiness, industry, living environment and value-added services, etc. Among these elements, what we have to lay more stress is regarding people's feelings and sensations as the foundation of every innovation and revival work, which is a hardship.
The seminar posed certain challenges and duties to the government officials. In the following days, I expect that my colleagues can apply your intelligence and wisdom in making contributions to this great city, and at the same time motivate the citizens to be bellwethers in this renovation by creating more benefits for them, so that Wuchang people can carry forward their history and culture.
Youyun Zhang:Let Tanhualin be a good example of historical districts protection
I am very excited to take part in the seminar held in my hometown Wuchang. In addition to the achievements we have made on the revival of Tanhualin historical and cultural district in the past years, today we meet a new historical moment and a new start for the coming hard work. Thanks to the national and international resources, we are extremely confident that we can carry out our revocation to a more profound level with the cooperative elements that we brought in from abroad.
Our committee of urbanization promises to promote and conduct this project with you. Personally speaking, I will undoubtedly do everything I can to carry it through to the end, as Tanhualin does not only belong to Wuchang or Wuhan, it belongs to China as well. It is a historical obligation that we must undertake.
For the past years, only a small number of successful cases of protecting and striving the historical and cultural district had appeared. Why can't Tanhualin be a successful case? Due to the fact that there is no existing mode in such aspect, it is our job to fish out practical solutions with our wisdom, courage, and knowledge. Revival doesn't mean that we only rebuild the ancient constructions, it is more of inheriting and innovating based on the spirit and mind of the new era, just as president Xi stated that it is essential to realize the creative transition and development of tradition culture. We should carry out this project strategically and comprehensively, and avoid fragmenting it into different activities. We also have to innovate by referring to experience from our country and abroad.
The spirit of Wuhan dare to be the first, pursue the excellence which demonstrats the spirit of daring to explore and fail motivates us to work hard in the process of making Tanhualin part of the Sino-European Urbanization Partnership program. We will not only work on it, and we will also make great efforts to make it an excellent project and one of the most successful cases of historical and cultural district protection in China. Thank you!
Feedback
User3627337891: The Seminar organized by Wuchang District provided Tanhualin with a new platform which exerts a great influence on its future development, especially on its international connections. The seminar commenced with the entry point of city organization and construction and developed to the issue of social governance, which broadened the horizon of related departments. It is also a reference to the solving of certain problems.
Art Tanhualin: Professor Li has made a believable and practical analysis on Tanhualin based on years of study and practice. He inspired us by explaining the features and routes and dissecting the necessity and feasibility of protecting the district. The experts of urbanization also enlightened us with their unique perspective, clear thoughts and passionate delivery.
nhxh_82385: good job!
Wuchang Xu: I have participated in several seminars, but I find this one fresh and new. The theoretical presentation of the foreign specialists, practical analysis of the local experts, and the interaction between the lecturers and the audiences impressed me to a great extent. Most of the lecturers are the experts and scholars who have been studying on the historical and cultural district for a long time. They formed the ideological unity in all cadres of the district and firmed our confidence and determination of protecting and reviving Tanhualin. I believe that a classic case will be presented to all.
Mhui29052: Thanks to professor Zhang's passion for her place of origin, her speech was vivid and refreshing. Tanhualin becomes what it is today because of the attention and affection of people of all walks of life. I wish it a larger group and a better future.
Hufei_1986: Tanhualin is a pleasant district where stories take place. I hope we will show to the world its past, present and future, as well as it will become the Tanhualin of Wuhan, China, and even of the world.
Lucky_yangli: Signing the strategic contact indicated a better and brighter prospect of Tanhualin.
nhxh_82385: So many talented people in Tanhualin!
