Jing’an Villa residents not going anywhere

Jing'an Villa will remain a quiet and peaceful residential neighborhood tucked away in a noisy downtown pocket of the city by Nanjing Road West, authorities said Monday, shutting down a bid by Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Shanghai Committee members on the last day of the city's Two Sessions.

The members had advocated earlier this week for the relocation of the area's residents to facilitate the preservation of the historic site.

But, the idea of moving local residents elsewhere in the city would be a task far too involved to meet end purposes, not to mention that changes in land usage would require strict approval for some 30 historic buildings before officials could even consider the feasibility of preservation plans, said Wang Lei, vice director of the local planning and land resources bureau's historic heritage administration.

"Such a project would also call for special measures to protect the old Shanghai architecture of the buildings," he told the Global Times Monday.

"While preservation of the site maintain a priority, relocation efforts would cause needless headaches for the area's small business owners and local residents comprising some 985 households, and hurt commercial interests in the neighborhood," he added. "It would also not provide a solution that keeps the interests of involved parties in mind as a whole."

Wang was responding Monday to a proposal submitted by CPPCC Shanghai Committee members, which was in favor of relocating people living in Jing'an Villa, an old residential compound prided on its architectural-style from Shanghai's 1930s heyday, which retains a strong sense of local culture even amid the city's modern and ever-changing times.

"The relocation of residents would help to better preserve the city's architectural culture and protect it from increasing commercial interests preventing the area from retaining its former celebrated glories," CPPCC Shanghai Committee member Tu Haiming, who spearheaded the proposal and also serves as chairman of Shanghai Overseas Chinese Association, told the Global Times Monday.

Shanghai People's Congress (SPC) delegates at the Two Sessions Monday, meanwhile, voiced ideas for further development of the area - a topic that has in recent years clashed with proponents of preservation, who fear that the growing number of cafés and boutique shops moving into the 26,000-square-meter compound could turn the neighborhood into another Xintiandi or Tianzifang.

SPC delegate Zhu Zhirong, also president of the Shanghai Property Management Trade Association, argued that opening up more to commercial interests could continue to create more daily conveniences for local residents, while also building a more versatile neighborhood.