Int’l cities must hold onto cultural roots

In case you missed it, the wrecking ball is poised to swing on yet another piece of Beijing's history. It's a demolition that might have gone unnoticed had it not been the historic home once occupied by über-famous fashion and media mogul, Hong Huang.

On June 23, she posted a relatively low-key message lamenting the demise of the area she had once lived in, and expressed shock that historical and cultural protection of the quaint hutong had been largely removed.

Let's just stop right here. There is to be no outrage at the loss of another cultural relic, no mourning of Beijing's disappearing hutong and certainly no cinematic montage of locals playing mahjong or an old man sitting in the street plucking the erhu (two-stringed traditional Chinese musical instrument).

The time for daydreaming is long over. Let's be honest, if Beijing's government didn't learn its lesson after knocking down renowned architect Liang Sicheng's former home or spearheading "fakeovers" of Qianmen and Nanluoguxiang, it certainly isn't going to see the error of its ways after demolishing a small hutong near Dongsishitiao. Officials from Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage visited the site at the weekend, but the fate of the hutong appears sealed.

For the residents of the low, shack-like buildings with poor amenities, this probably isn't a big deal. There's a general understanding that Beijing is working toward "improving" its infrastructure, although the Chinese definition of "improving" includes bulldozers. In doing so, Beijing hopes to become an "international city."

Beijing is following the trend of its older brother to the north, Russia. After Joseph Stalin's death, when Nikita Khrushchev took over the Soviet reins, he pushed to make the architectural style of the city "functional," rather than what he called "excessive."

This was to take care of an overcrowded population with poor living standards. Subsequently, shoddy buildings shot up and cities lost some of their original cultural identity.

The result is the lingering modern-day stereotype of Soviet-style architecture, a far cry from the defining spires and domes with which people today identify with Russia.

In order to become an international city, several criteria have to be met. Beijing has mastered most of them; atrocious traffic, cellphone-addicted citizens and grossly expensive living costs. However, it has overlooked one key factor - cultural preservation.

This isn't to say there aren't problems with retaining older buildings. The Palace of Westminster in London is thought to be at risk of sinking into the Thames in the future. Likewise, the Eiffel Tower in Paris was only built to last 20 years when it was constructed in 1889.

Of course, it would be far easier to knock these buildings down and reap the fruits that a large multinational fashion company or hotel chain would offer. But what would these two cities be without their landmarks?

Beijing is free to knock down any old cultural site it wants, but each time it does it compromises its reputation as an international city.

Worryingly, the Chinese capital could serve as a role model for other generic cities poised to blossom in the future, be they in the East or West. They might already be enlisting the services of Dutch architect and China Central Television tower mastermind Rem Koolhaas to draw up their blueprints.