Nine families on Friday morning bid farewell to their homes at the historical Zhangyuan, a well-preserved shikumen community in Jing’an District.
Zhangyuan, a 46,000-square-meter residential compound between Weihai Road to the south and Wujiang Road to the north, is the latest compound to be redeveloped under the commercial makeover of the Nanjing Road W. area.
It has about 170 historical buildings, in a variety of styles from shikumen structures to garden villas. More than 97 percent of the local families there have agreed to move out.
On Friday morning, the first batch of nine families packed up their belongings and set off for new homes.
They include Shao Baofeng, who has lived in Zhangyuan for more than 30 years.
“Four of us had stayed in a room of only 12.3 square meters, where we could hardly enjoy natural light and we didn't have any privacy,” she said. “My husband and I have been looking forward to moving to a new apartment.”
Shao said she woke up at 4am, four hours earlier than the truck was scheduled to come and transport her belongings. “I’m so excited, but at the same time I felt so sad to leave my old neighbors.”
Her neighbors came to her home especially before she moved. Some of them couldn’t help bursting into tears, and they've set up a WeChat group to maintain contact. “We’ve promised that we will gather, even though we live far apart,” she said.
Of her belongings, an old mail box stood out. “I especially took it from our gate because it was the only thing here that I’ve used for so many years to date. I will take it to my new home as a souvenir,” Shao said.
She said she will move to the Quyang community in Hongkou District where her daughter lives. “We’ve rented an apartment there. Once we find a suitable house, we will buy it and move in,” she said.
Most of the local families will move out before March 8. After that, an overall restoration of local historical buildings will begin, according to officials from the Nanjing Road W. Subdistrict.
As part of full-scale renovations, almost all of the 170 historic buildings in Zhangyuan will be retained. They will be repaired and restored based on original drawings, and they will be renovated to become boutique hotels, small guesthouses, art galleries, museums and other cultural venues.
The same day, the first 10 families to be relocated from an old community in Baoshan Road Subdistrict said goodbye to their cramped, decrepit quarters.
In the community, between Baoxing E., Baotong, Zhongxing and Zhijiang M. roads, most of the buildings are old shikumen with shared toilets and kitchens, and the area abounds with unlicensed jerry-built shelters and some houses built by the government in the 1960s and 1970s.
More than 5,700 residents will move out in the near future.
Zhu Chengliang is among the first 10 families.
“We've been too excited to sleep for several nights. We couldn’t believe our dream has finally come true,” he said.
He had lived in a 12-square-meter room with his wife, his son, his mother and his bed-ridden father for many years.
Besides families, the relocated also includes the Shanghai Film Technology Factory.
Built in 1957, it was once the country’s most important film processing base, but in recent years it has become obsolete. Production lines were closed and workshops were rented out.
Under the plan, the old factory buildings will be preserved and renovated into an industrial museum.
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