China Perspectives 

2017/1 | 2017
Urban Planning in China

Shanghai: City Planning “With a Human Face”

The Case of the Gubei Pedestrian Promenade (GPP): The
Pedestrianisation of a Densely Populated Area

Brigitte Bertoncello, Lély Tan and Jian Zhuo

Translator: Peter Brown

Electronic version
URL: http://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/7225
ISSN: 1996-4617

Publisher
Centre d'étude français sur la Chine contemporaine

Printed version
Date of publication: 1 March 2017
Number of pages: 87-96
ISSN: 2070-3449
 

Electronic reference
Brigitte Bertoncello, Lély Tan and Jian Zhuo, « Shanghai: City Planning “With a Human Face” », China
Perspectives [Online], 2017/1 | 2017, Online since 01 March 2018, connection on 28 October 2019.
URL : http://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/7225

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 S peci al feature China per spectives

Shanghai: City Planning

“With a Human Face”
The Case of the Gubei Pedestrian Promenade (GPP): The Pedestrianisation
of a Densely Populated Area

B RI G I T T E B E RTON CE LLO, LÉLY TA N , A N D J IA N Z H UO

ABSTRACT: Ever since Expo 2010 was held in Shanghai, the city has been trying to present an image of itself as having the capacity to offer ame-
nities that are more environmentally friendly and that contribute to an improved quality of life. This article aims to show that a locally-enacted
facility – far from the much-publicised monumental developments – can constitute a high point of urban activity, an example that contributes
to cultivating the sought-after identity of a modern city concerned about the sustainability of its actions. Thanks to a singular grouping of actors
from the public, semi-public, and private sectors, the Gubei Pedestrian Promenade (GPP) in the western district of Changning laid the princi-
ples of a sustainable urban planning programme ten years before the publication of Shanghai’s New City Plan, resetting the ways for building
the city. From today’s perspective, this initiative could be seen as a manifestation of this new way of imagining the city.

KEYWORDS: public pedestrian space, urban design, urban renewal, public/private cooperation, Shanghai.

Introduction approach to urban development by moving the scale from large to small?
Which actors can bring this about or underpin the process? How can this

S
hanghai is seen by many observers (and desired by the central author- development be interpreted? Does this other way of building a city consti-
ities) as the window onto the Chinese world: a contemporary metropo- tute the basis for city-wide renewal?
lis with a quite singular history. Ever since the preparations for Expo The analysis of this singular and innovative pedestrian space (1st part) will en-
2010, (1) Shanghai has been trying to show that China can also offer a quality able us to examine the administrative and institutional systems set up by the
of life and urban amenities that are respectful of nature and the environment. municipality of Shanghai (2nd part) as well as the models influencing the fabrique
Pudong and some international poster “objects” can seem to be symbols urbaine, as posited by Hélène Noizet (3rd part). Our hypothesis is that the small
of modernity. However, the move away from such showcasing to focus at- fabrique constituted by our case study is able to feed into the large fabrique.
tention on a more modest development, carried out on a local scale but
still capable of bearing other references to modernity, especially in terms The Gubei Pedestrian Promenade (GPP), an
of sustainable development, offers something quite original. Taking an in- operation on a human scale
terest in a public pedestrian space in a city with a population of more than
24 million, at a time when density and mobility would appear to be guiding The Gubei Pedestrian Promenade (GPP) in the western district of Chang-
China’s urban planning, might seem like a gamble, but it is also about taking ning (see Illustration 1) was developed in the well-off quarter of Gubei char-
a look at where and how people actually live in the city.
Our title alludes to the speech given by Czech President Dubcek in 1968 in which he sought an
Analysing the Gubei Pedestrian Promenade project in the western district of interpretation of “socialism” (communism), calling for a “socialism with a human face.” We draw
Changning, we could say that it is not a matter of selecting an experience that a parallel with the change expected in China in terms of urban planning towards greater consid-
eration of the human factor. The majority of the documents dealing with Chinese urban planning
is representative (in the qualitative sense of the term) but rather of taking a mention the need to put people at the heart of considerations (yiren weiben). Beginning in 2014,
case study that enables us to understand what it is, how it came about, and the central government launched an appeal for a “new urbanism” (xinxing chengzhenhua), the
main idea of which is to move from a concern with the physical dimension of urbanisation to-
the actors involved. (2) This public pedestrian space constitutes an original con- wards one centred on people.
figuration that breaks with the standard model. “Adopting a case-by-case ap- 1. Françoise Ged, “De la belle endormie des années 1980 à la belle épanouie de l’expo 2010?” (From
proach” (3) has required nuanced and repeated observation, complemented by the sleeping beauty of the 1980s to the fulfilled beauty of the 2010 Fair?), in Nicolas Idier (ed.),
Shanghai. Histoire, promenades, anthologie et dictionnaire (Shanghai. History, walks, anthology
interviews and documentary analyses (4) in order to derive an understanding and dictionary), Paris, Robert Laffont, 2015, pp. 134-161.
based on specific examples. Although our goal is not to produce generalisations 2. Yves-Chantal Gagnon, The Case Study as Research Method: A Practical Handbook, Québec, Presses
as such, we will nonetheless spell out the conditions that allowed the operation de l’Université du Québec, 2010.

to be carried out in order to better understand how they might be replicated. 3. Jean-Claude Passeron and Jacques Revel, Penser par cas (Thinking by case), Paris, éd. EHESS, 2005.
4. This analysis is the outcome of a mission to Shanghai financed by the French Ministry of Foreign
This gives rise to a number of questions. What are the particular features Affairs/ Campus France in 2015. This mission, focused on the pedestrian public spaces, particularly
of this public space? How were the district authorities able to shift their enabled us to observe and analyse in situ the functioning of the GPP and to conduct interviews.

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S p e ci a l feat ure

Illustration 1 – The Gubei Pedestrian Promenade in the neighbourhood of Hongqiao,

district of Changning, Shanghai

N Neighbourhood
of Hongqiao
1. Yinzhu road
4 2. Manao road
3. Yili road
4. Gubei road
3 Underground
- - Administrative limits

1
2
Gubei Pedestrian Promenade
Graphic design: Lély Tan, 2016.

District of
Changning 200 m

acterised by a strong presence of expatriates, for the most part executives The collective residential buildings lining the promenade are enclosed by
who are primarily from other Asian countries (Japan, Taiwan, and South gates with an often monumental entrance under the watch of a guard, al-
Korea). (5) This foreign presence has its origin in the history of Shanghai’s lowing movement towards the public space constituted by the GPP. Al-
economic development. The first foreign businesses invested mainly in elec- though each residence has a kind of landscaped garden as an intermediary
tronics and became implanted in this part of the city. The local authorities space with ornamental statues, covered walkways, and ponds, etc., which
provided the executives of these companies with housing that was con- mostly take their inspiration from the “Versailles style” or the romantic or-
structed specifically for the purpose, close to their workplace. Gradually, a namentation of the Italian Renaissance, it is the GPP that remains the
whole array of services, shops, and schools were set up to cater for the needs shared collective space.
of this population. By dint of these amenities, it became quite natural that The Promenade is thought of both as an extension of the apartments of
subsequent waves of workers moved into Gubei. the sector’s residents and as a public space open to the outside. At different
Formerly a street given over to cars lined with residential buildings 15-18 times of the day, it presents the scene of children and their baby-sitters,
stories high, the 4.6-hectare pedestrian promenade was conceived by the people walking their dogs, schoolchildren, people on their way to work, as
American agency SWA Group and completed in 2009 (6) at the request of well as shoppers and others doing exercise (jogging, roller blading, group
the developer Shanghai Gubei Group Co. Ltd., which specializes in real estate. dancing, tai chi, etc.). There seems to be an uninterrupted stream of users
The GPP is the fruit of a fully independent reconfiguration of the previous of the GPP, which complements the more restful practices of those sitting
situation in terms of both use and production principles (see illustration 2). on benches. (7)
On the ground floor of the residential buildings, on either side of the
A multi-purpose pedestrian space promenade, there is an array of restaurants, cafés, shops, and personalised
services (beauty salons, hairdressers, masseurs, as well as a sports centre)
The 700-metre-long promenade, which forms part of the urban renewal producing a constant hive of activity throughout the day and into the
programme, is bordered at the western end by Gubei Road (a boulevard- evening (see illustration 2). A few stalls in the public space complement the
type thoroughfare) and in the east by Yi-Li Road (which is less expansive). commercial offerings (scarves, parasols, hair accessories, flowers, etc.). Am-
It is intersected by two feeder streets for the neighbourhood, Manao Road bulant salesmen (fruit, fresh juice, etc.) come around on bikes mounted with
and Yin-Zhu Road, which divide the promenade in an equidistant manner a plate, and at the end of the day they set up shop at the entrance to the
and connect it to the rest of the neighbourhood (see illustrations 3 and 4). GPP, on the Gubei Road side; other sellers sometimes move through the
At its centre, the promenade broadens out to make way for the Central promenade parading their goods (such as small traditional musical instru-
Plaza with its water fountains in the summer and its amphitheatre that is ments).
used occasionally for shows and more routinely by children and teenagers
5. Interview with a real estate agent on the GPP, 30 August 2015, complemented by several visits
for roller games, scooters, etc. (see illustrations 5 and 6). Three architectural to apartments on the GPP, 31 August 2015.
“follies” that are occupied from west to east by a pub (Munich Beer Garden), 6. In fact, the project was conceived much earlier, as early as 2005. Prior to the SWA Group, other
a Japanese restaurant, and a bakery-patisserie (Bon matin Paris), respec- designers had unsuccessfully tried to put forward proposals.
7. The descriptions are the result of various observations made in situ aimed at analysing the prac-
tively, create a surprise for passers-by and break up the otherwise largely tices of the GPP at different times throughout August-September 2015 and October-November
leafy public space (see illustrations 7 and 8). 2016.

88 china perspectives • No.2017/1

 Brigitte Bertoncello, Lély Tan, and Jian Zhuo – Shanghai: City Planning “With a Human Face”

Illustration 2 – Development and amenities of Gubei Pedestrian Promenade

Gubei Pedestrian Promenade

Graphic design: Lély Tan, 2016.

Folly Single lane

l Conception: 2005-2008
Amphitheatre Two lanes l Completion: 2009
l Size: 700m in length - 60m across
Pond Residential buildings l Area: 35.6 ha
l Tree canopy: 47% of the Promenade
Trees Street level shops l 3 residential islands, each of 20 stories

In this way, people from different walks of life rub shoulders with each each day for the upkeep of the vegetation and water ponds as well as for
other and sometimes interact: inhabitants of the one neighbourhood, that the collection of rubbish.
is at the micro level, and a fraction of urban society, citizens functioning at An analysis of the project and its concrete realisation shows how those who
the level of the city, the metropolis, that is at the macro level, attracted by conceived it called upon aspects of Chinese history: the green-hued filaments
the offer of leisure activities and the atmosphere of places strongly charac- covering the ponds at the western entrance, which could refer to the celadon
terised by a quite exceptional natural setting. (8) green used especially in Chinese porcelain; the wooden footbridges recalling
the classical gardens of the city of Suzhou; and the design of the system for
Choices of layout and amenities underpinned by absorbing water from the soil, inspired by clay roof tiles of old.
environmental concerns The choice of materials, their composition, their reaction(s) to light as
well as their ability to be colonised by the vegetal element undoubtedly
The GPP is indeed lined with trees (ginkgo bilobas, camphor laurels, cherry contribute to a sense of spatial comfort. This feeling is enhanced by the
trees, etc.) and also with shrubs and flowers featuring a variety of species. thought that has gone into lighting the space. The outdoor furniture and
From a sustainable development perspective, this vegetal presence was accessories used for lighting serve as a reference point during the day, and
imagined not only to counterbalance the very mineral aspect of the sector, generally contribute to people being able to find their bearings and to the
marked by the presence of a number of apartment blocks (17,000 residents overall sense of space. Although a few streetlights were planned, the lighting
live either side of the promenade), but also to mitigate temperature impact, is mainly from the ground at the foot of trees and along the vegetation, but
counter air pollutants, and improve the health of the population. The veg- also at the base of the benches. The lighting, mostly diffuse and indirect,
etation here supposedly contributes to a local reduction of the effect of creates a gentle atmosphere without glare or reflection and seems to have
urban islands of heat by about 2 to 3° C. (9) Contrary to what one might ex- an impact on the kind of activities that take place there in the evening.
pect from a classical tree-lined promenade, in some respects the GPP offers The GPP can at first sight give the impression of being of a very commer-
a park-like experience. The presence of a water feature through the various cial public space. It is nonetheless quite original and innovative in terms of
rectangular (at the western entrance) and slender ponds (along the trading layout and design. Both multidimensional and intended for a pedestrian
areas on the northern side) enhances the sense of a break from the sur- purpose, it offers great flexibility of use with a whole series of open spaces
rounding sector with its traffic flows. devoted to day-to-day activities as well as to more seasonal events. The
This initiative, part of an environmental dynamic, reintroduces nature by GPP is the fruit of urban planning designed for people and communicates
juxtaposing a mineralised earth with in-ground portions of leafiness in a with the ground floors of otherwise imposing residential buildings. Yet this
slightly declining space with streaming water. This intertwined network scale of conception has not excluded a relation upwards to the sky or a
makes use of waterways for lush vegetation providing an attractive habitat sense of distance that takes in the rest of the city.
for insects, birds, and amphibians.
The conception of vegetal spaces has been combined with a particular 8. A two-hour focus group on 30 August 2015, with four couples, two men, and a woman, who were
all users of the GPP without living there.
attitude to their management. After seven years in use, the GPP continues 9. Silvia Gugu, “Gubei Promenade,” Igloo, 1 February 2012, https://www.igloo.ro/gubei-promenade/
to present a fine quality of amenity. A whole team of people is mobilised (accessed on 19 December 2016).

No.2017/1 • china perspectives 89

S p e ci a l feat ure

Illustration 3 – Entrance to the GPP from Gubei Road. Illustration 4 – Entrance to the GPP from Yi Li Road.
© Brigitte Bertoncello and Lély Tan, 2016 © Brigitte Bertoncello and Lély Tan, 2016

The GPP: An exceptional space in Shanghai fering a stop for pedestrians. As for the west, on the Gubei Road side, the
GPP alternates between a buffer zone facing directly out onto the very busy
In his work Cities for People, (10) Jan Gehl makes the observation that for boulevard and a form of transition that allows at its extremity, before the
decades little importance was given to public space or to the movement of footpath running along the boulevard, a pedestrian thoroughfare that runs
pedestrians in cities that were especially concerned with traffic flow. The parallel to the flow of vehicles. Gubei Road enables a sharing of pathways
development of the GPP facility, influenced by the action principles articu- facilitating the coexistence of different means of transport, with a cycle
lated by Jan Gehl, enables us to show how the transformation of a street, path running alongside the lanes for motorised vehicles. The shift towards
as part of an overall approach to urban renewal, can be accompanied by a a more rational sharing of public space among all modes of mobility thus
return to the idea of a city as a meeting place for people who live there. seems to be working. (13)
The GPP is very much the result of particular attention being paid to the Admittedly, the potential for reproducing such an amenity is still to
human factor, to small areas but also to the development of public spaces be determined, not only on account of the costs involved but also given
giving priority to pedestrians and making it easier for people to walk and the production and investment context for a developer attentive to the
do sports to the benefit of their health. The ensuing reduction in traffic flows needs of residents comprised of expatriates, namely the executives of
contributes to a reduction in the emission of pollutants and brings about a foreign companies that have set up not far from this well-off neigh-
calming ambiance for people. bourhood.
Providing attractive public spaces for pedestrians and a diverse range of Implementing this other approach to urban renewal more generally re-
urban functions injects a new dynamic into neighbourhood life. Considera- mains linked to the administrative and institutional mechanisms set up to
tion of the connections between residential buildings and external spaces, manage the city. The district in Shanghai that has authority for urban plan-
and between residential buildings and the city, is accompanied by an in- ning and development enjoys some autonomy in this regard, and by decid-
creased frequenting of public spaces, which is related to security issues. ing to link its projects to sustainability, it is laying the groundwork for a
Making a space secure involves users making it their own. A social control change of direction. The GPP can be a simple case of opportunistic urban
seems to favour the peace and quiet of this space. Little regulation of public development that contributes to an array of projects without any particular
use has been envisaged in spite of the presence of water and the dangers coherence, (14) or become a “demonstration project” (shifan xiangmu 示范
that this can represent for children. The GPP appears as a public space char- 项目 ) (15) of urban renewal, the next stage of which would be for it to be
acterised by a regulated cohabitation. All these elements contribute to pro- taken up by the Municipality.
ducing an “animated, secure, sustainable and healthy city,” “a city that is at
once attractive, functional and pleasant,” such as that imagined by Jan Gehl.
Referring to the other pedestrian spaces of Shanghai, (11) which are more 10. Jan Gehl, Cities for People, Washington, Island Press, 2010.
11. We have observed and catalogued other types of pedestrian public spaces (Nanjing Dong Lu, the
often than not associated with commercial functions such as a mall (12) or Bund, the embankments of West Bund, Lujiazui, Damuzhi, Cham Time Plaza, Ferguson Lane, Tian-
tourist spaces listed in guidebooks, enables us to gauge the originality of zifang, Xintiandi, Hongmei Lu, M-town, etc.). It is with regard to an analysis of them that we have
been able to determine the specific nature of the GPP.
the GPP marked by its residential function, which may appear as a new type
12. Piper Gaubatz, “New Public Space in Urban China. Fewer Walls, More Malls in Beijing, Shanghai
of pedestrian space: a neighbourhood pedestrian space that remains open and Xining,” China Perspectives, No. 4, 2008, pp. 72-83.
to the outside. What then becomes important to understand is how the 13. Jian Zhuo, “Chongfangongxiang de jiedao” (A return to sharing street space), Mizhangzhi (Minax),
GPP fits in with the rest of the fabrique urbaine, particularly the provision No. 2, 2010, pp. 84-88.

for the flow of motorised traffic. There has been a real effort to think about 14. Tingwei Zhang, Striving to be a Global City From Below: The Restructuring of Shanghai’s Urban
Districts, Shanghai, Shanghai Rising, 2009.
connections in the east by extending, on the other side of Yi Li Road, a de- 15. In Shanghai’s 2040 City Plan and other related documents, reference is made to pilot projects
veloped public space leading to the entrance of a residence while also of- and model projects.

90 china perspectives • No.2017/1

 Brigitte Bertoncello, Lély Tan, and Jian Zhuo – Shanghai: City Planning “With a Human Face”

Illustration 5 & 6 – Amenities fostering inter-generational meetings: the central circular space as a children’s playground and the
amphitheatre. © Brigitte Bertoncello and Lély Tan, 2016

Cooperation and division of tasks: Some oughfare as a pedestrian pathway and authorising the setting up of small
tried and tested methods “temporary” residential buildings without the right of land use.
The other difficult task was to coordinate with other services, in particular
It is not the actual operation that sets the GPP project apart. It falls under the Office of Urban Infrastructure and the Municipal Police. The pedestrian-
a classical procedure of urban renovation involving public, private, and semi- isation of the thoroughfare has an impact on the public road system of the
public actors. After more than 20 years of urban development, the roles and district as it does on the underground network. This kind of transformation
functions of each of these actors are now well established. A closer exam- is not encouraged by these two services, and all the experience and skill of
ination of this partnership will enable us to understand not only how it the District Planning Office was needed to bring about this coordination.
functions but also especially to identify “the harbingers of innovation” Lastly, it was a matter of informing and consulting the population on the
within this setting. project via the website of the district’s Urban Planning Office. Such public
consultation is an obligation that is stipulated in the management proce-
District authorities with a strong background in dures for development projects. The consultation dimension is more or less
urban planning important relative to the importance of the project itself. Regarded as being
at the level of “management” (guanli 管 理 ) rather than “government”
Confronted with the huge backlog of renovation work needed after 40 (guanzhi 管制) in the manner of a municipal rung or the urban district, the
years of under-funding of cities, Shanghai adopted in the 1990s a system local neighbourhood office (jiedao banshichu 街道办事处) plays a role with
and an organisation that enabled it to restore its infrastructure and bring respect to large-scale projects in order to seek out the views of the residents
residential buildings up to an acceptable standard. This system is based on concerned. (18) Its role is real, even if it is not an administrative level as such.
the principle of “two tiers of government, three tiers of management” In spite of this, its operation is modelled on the other two. Thus, each jiedao
(liangji zhengfu, sanji guanli 两级政府，三级管理). “Two tiers” refers to the is composed of several residents committees (juweihui 居委会). They are,
two administrative levels: the municipality and the city district. The latter as it were, the “transmission belt” between the inhabitants and the author-
has important powers in terms of city planning. (16) While the municipality ities. The other public actor involved in the GPP is the contractor, Shanghai
sets out the overall policy direction, draws up the principle planning docu- Gubei Group Co. Ltd.
ments for the city – a kind of grand design – and determines the technical
regulations and follow-up procedures for major works projects, the district The contractor, a semi-public actor
authorities are responsible for the day-to-day management of their locality.
Thus, even prior to the start of any works that would have a significant im- Shanghai Gubei Group Co. Ltd. is a type of structure that one often finds
pact on the area, a whole series of administrative steps need to be taken. in urban developments in China. Laurent Théry made the following com-
In the case of the GPP, as it concerned the development of a thoroughfare, ment in a roundtable on Chinese cities:
the approval of the Municipal Urban Planning Administration Bureau was
not required. (17) Nonetheless, turning over to pedestrians a large section of 16. Anthony Gar-on Yeh and Fulong Wu, “The Transformation of the Urban Planning System in China
the GPP that had previously been available for vehicles was an issue. Indeed, from a Centrally-planned to a Transitional Economy,” Progress in Planning, Vol. 51, No. 3, 1999,
pp. 167-252.
as in any city, the GPP is managed by the Detailed Development Control 17. Interviews with Gouyi Shen, Deputy-Director of the SUPDRI/subsidiary of the Municipal Urban
Plan. This urban planning document has a strong legal status, as it is binding Planning Administration Bureau, Yu Zou, SUPDRI project manager, and Wenqin Xi, Director of the
on third parties. In order to avoid going through the revision procedure of Department of Urban Design, SUPDRI, Shanghai, 8 September 2015.
18. We provide the following note on the administrative rungs operating within a large city in China:
the DCP, which is difficult and time-consuming, the District Planning Office shi is “municipality,” qu is “urban district,” jiedao banshichu is “neighbourhood office,” jumin
had recourse to a whole raft of measures, including reclassifying the thor- weiyuanhui is “residents committee.”

No.2017/1 • china perspectives 91

S p e ci a l feat ure

Illustration 7 – One of the three follies. Illustration 8 – Street level shops.

© Brigitte Bertoncello and Lély Tan, 2016 © Brigitte Bertoncello and Lély Tan, 2016

There is in China both the political will and the means to undertake This “mixed structure” partly explains the speed with which real estate
very significant public works. However, it is the same people (…) who developments in Shanghai have been instituted and realised. Through their
are responsible for doing this and its implementation, and whom the well-established connections dating back some time, dealings with the var-
administration or the state authorises to become developers (…) This ious rungs and services of the bureaucracy are greatly facilitated and ad-
sort of collusion between public administration and a traditional and ministrative procedures streamlined. The closeness, even permeability,
classic form of capitalist development is peculiar to China, but it is between these public companies and the authorities sometimes allows for
done under the control of, if not in close partnership with, the central the resolution of problems through, for example, changes being made to
state bureaucracies and the local authorities. (19) urban planning rules or land and property transactions.
In terms of urban development, nothing can occur without the participa-
When the neighbourhood of Gubei was opened up to urban develop- tion of public bodies. They are the ones that organise and control the reg-
ment, the municipality and the urban district proposed this entity by ulatory and administrative aspects of urban projects. But they also play an
bringing together some of the city’s public companies. Shanghai Gubei operational role through public companies that ensure their presence
Group Co. Ltd. was handed responsibility for several real estate projects, throughout the various stages of projects. Shanghai Gubei Group Co. Ltd. is
in particular for the housing of the executives of foreign companies that a body that tells us a lot about the way in which influences and innovations
had recently been set up in the district as it was at the time (around in trends and methods become factors in the Chinese market. It is a struc-
1990). This real estate development was carried out in several stages. The ture that combines the skills and know-how that public players lack. This is
company had several missions: first, it served as a land and property or- not an insignificant element in a rapidly expanding real estate market.
ganisation by taking responsibility for the resettlement of expelled resi-
dents and rural workers present in this area at the time by reallocating The project manager, SWA, vector and bearer of
plots of land to various developers. It also drew up the development plan another kind of urbanism
for the district, programming, and implementing infrastructure work and
amenities. But it also acted just like a developer by investing in residential The client and contractor, Shanghai Gubei Group Co. Ltd., called on the
buildings and apartments in its own right or by acquiring holdings in other American agency SWA after three earlier disappointments with other firms.
real estate companies. As such, it takes charge of property management SWA, a world leader in environmental landscaping, has been active in the
and marketing. In the case of the GPP, one of its subsidiaries takes care of Chinese market since 2000, having won the contract for several important
site maintenance. projects (in Beijing, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, etc.).
It has, however, little experience in up-market real estate, and combined Clients have gotten into the habit of offering their most important pro-
with its limited financial basis for such projects, the company felt obliged jects to international agencies of standing. (21) On the one hand, this ensures
to call in the foreign capital of more seasoned external real estate develop- that they are at the forefront of ideas, trends, and techniques in terms of
ers, particularly in Hong Kong. It is especially in the area of property man- design and construction, and furthermore that they will raise the profile of
agement that public enterprises such as Shanghai Gubei Group Co. Ltd. will a project and improve its commercial quality. Lastly, the presence of an in-
increase their skill base thanks to the input of capital from Hong Kong. (20)
If Hong Kong developers have a reputation for know-how in the luxury real 19. French views of Chinese cities, Roundtable in the publication “Villes chinoises en mouvement”
estate market, it is due to the maturity and highly competitive nature of (Chinese cities on the move), Urbanisme, March-April 2005, No. 341, pp. 45-50.

their domestic market. They therefore have long experience behind them. 20. Jun Wang and Stephen Siu Yu Lau, “Forming Foreign Enclaves in Shanghai: State Action in Glob-
alization,” Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, Vol. 23, No. 2, 2008, pp. 103-118.
Thanks to these skills and to new financing arrangements, Shanghai Gubei 21. Fulong Wu, “Re-orientation of the City Plan: Strategic Planning and Design Competition in
Group Co. Ltd. was able to totally finance the GPP. China,” Geoforum, Vol. 38, No. 2, 2007, pp. 379-392.

92 china perspectives • No.2017/1

 Brigitte Bertoncello, Lély Tan, and Jian Zhuo – Shanghai: City Planning “With a Human Face”

Diagramme 1 – Actors of the Gubei Pedestrian Promenade

l Connections with the administrations
and institutions l Experience/ skills
l Knowledge of the local market l Capital
Municipality
of Shanghai
Public enterprises Hong Kong
Mandarin Property
Management Ltd

District of
Changning

Authority for town planning

Shanghai Gubei
Group Company Ltd
Graphic design: Lély Tan, 2016.

Gubei
Pedestrian
Promenade
SWA
(USA)
Project manager

ternational agency enhances the client’s ability to exert influence in nego- thinking about these possible developments. Two research projects can help
tiations with the public authorities. us examine the GPP through the lens of urban production. The first, under-
In the case of the GPP, the agency first had to convince the client. The spec- taken by researchers involved in the transformation of a French city, refers
ifications included a whole programme featuring top-flight businesses, art to the concept of “fabrique urbaine.” (22) The second, by an American scholar,
galleries, a generous area in which people could relax, restaurants, and out- is a study of urbanism, its nature, and its relation to modernity. (23)
door cafés. The other requirement was to respect the European style adopted
at the time of the external refurbishment of the apartment blocks. But by Articulating the small and large “fabrique urbaine”
2005 this style was already passé in many places in China, and in particular
in Shanghai. The conception of certain new urban spaces has accordingly Researchers working on the programme launched by the Plan Urbain Con-
had greater recourse to traditional Chinese materials and techniques, inte- struction Architecture (24) have looked into the articulation between a small
grating environmental or ecological considerations. SWA was aware of these and large fabrique urbaine, (25) both of which correspond to “particular urban
developments, and being made up of landscape specialists, architects, and transformations, that is structured, organised, publicised […]. The small fab-
urbanists, it tried to convince its client to abandon the “classical French gar- rique would be the ordinary one, with the large being the result of grand
den” style. The outcome of a week-long workshop was that both parties designs.” Accordingly, “the large fabrique is the one that their putative au-
reached an agreement on the idea of creating a contemporary space with a thors gladly talk about, including amongst themselves, between urban mar-
sense of discretion that harked back to the atmosphere of the old Shanghai keting and a good practice duly stamped.” Beginning with the identification
quarters or to the gardens of the cultivated elite of Suzhou. The agency also of these two fabriques, the researcher’s role would be to “show how much
managed to have its proposal of a “cultivar garden” accepted – that is, the the large one owes the small one, and systematically.” (26) This analysis can
idea of a garden of hybrid plants carefully selected for their properties.
SWA is more than a mere project manager or sub-contractor. The origi- 22. See the definition proposed by Hélène Noizet, “Fabrique urbaine,” in Jacques Lévyet Michel Lus-
sault (eds.), Dictionnaire de la géographie et de l’espace des sociétés (Dictionary of geography
nality and singularity of the project derive from their vision and their pro- and space of societies), Paris, Éditions Belin, 2013, pp. 389-391; See also, by the same author,
posal having a strong naturalist dimension. The GPP is a complete break “Fabrique Urbaine: A New Concept in Urban History and Morphology,” Urban Mythology, 2009,
Vol 13, No. 1, pp. 55-66.
with a certain form of urbanism, a “cosmetic urbanism,” that has been in
23. Mary G. Padua, “New Cultures and Changing Urban Cultures,” in Maggie Roe and Ken Taylor (eds.),
vogue since the beginnings of China’s urbanisation. New Cultural Landscapes, Abingdon, Routledge, 2014, pp. 202-222.
24. The Project Observation Platform and Urban Strategies Program, PUCA/Ministry of Ecology, En-
Aligning the small and large fabrique ergy, Sustainable Development and National Development, http://www.popsu.archi.fr/ (accessed
on 20 December 2016).
25. “Introduction,” in Laurent Devisme (ed.), Nantes. Petite et grande fabrique urbaine (Nantes. Small
On a completely different scale and in another context entirely, the op- and large fabrique urbaine), Marseille, Éditions Parenthèses, 2009.
eration of the Gubei Pedestrian Promenade can be seen as feeding into 26. Ibid.

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be applied to the GPP and its relation to the urban production of a great cities, which took several centuries. This reinvention can be put down to
metropolis, provided that there is a review of its contents. The operation of three major changes, namely the economic reforms consisting of opening
the GPP concerns only a small area, and in the first instance it can be un- up the Chinese economy to the market, a local government with broader
derstood as meeting the needs of a neighbourhood development open to powers in terms of development and urbanism, and finally a clear influence
all. But if we look more closely, we see that the references and the know- from outside with regard to urban design. While no one questions the speed
how underpinning the conception of this promenade find their sources in of these transformations, some people do wonder about the quality and
the West and tell us about another way of making a city. Although the GPP the nature of these new urban landscapes. Kongjian Yu and Mary G. Padua,
project has been particularly discussed in foreign online journals (Romanian both researchers in architecture and landscape, have used the concept of
architectural press; (27) websites such as Architecture of Life, (28) Landscape “cosmetic cities” to characterise Chinese cities. (36)
Voice, (29) etc.) emphasising its qualitative character and its balanced, human The economic opening up of China has forced municipal authorities to elab-
dimension, attentive to the surrounding environment, it has not been the orate a strategy or at least to implement policies with a view to attracting
subject of specific attention in the municipality of Shanghai itself. foreign capital. The local administration has generally opted for an embellish-
This approach that focuses more on the human element (yiren weiben 以 ment of the city that consists of replicating the Western architectural ele-
人为本) seems nonetheless to be one that seeks to contribute to the advent ments that supposedly embody China’s new modernity (skyline, business
of a “new urbanism” (xinxing chengzhenhua 新型城镇化) such as that called centres, malls, etc.). With the support and backing of their city and the Chinese
for by Premier Li Keqiang in March 2013. (30) The publication in March 2014 Communist Party (CCP), local officials went to major American and European
by the central government of the “National New Urbanisation Plan 2014- cities. Once back from this “grand tour” that took in Las Vegas, Disneyland,
2020” (Guojia xinxing chengzhenhua guihua [2014-2020 nian] 国家新型城 Beverly Hills, Irvine, Washington DC, Paris, Versailles, and Rome, they asked
镇化规划 [2014 2020] 年) confirms the new direction. (31) their urbanism institute and their various offices and firms to construct plans
Ten years after its creation, the GPP asks questions of those who conceived by copying what they saw abroad. This internationally-inspired design has
the City Plan for Shanghai, insofar as its founding principles already laid out easily taken hold also by dint of the fact that a growing number of architects
the main lines of this planning document that were revisited in the course and designers have been trained in the United States and Europe. (37)
of its elaboration in 2015. The Master Plan 2040, designed to set the major In Shanghai, this foreign influence in terms of architecture and urbanism
direction of the urban strategy for the entire city of Shanghai, fully integrates is not new. In the wake of the so-called unequal treaties in the mid-nine-
quality of life objectives and calls for an improvement in the city’s ability to teenth century, the French, American, and English legations set up their ac-
deliver development mindful of ecological issues. It is presented as a docu- quired concessions in the image of cities of their respective countries. Later,
ment that would make of Shanghai “a liveable city with an ecological system, Soviet influences held sway: broad avenues, neo-classical architecture, a
a harmonious society, and a smart transport system, with low carbon emis- large public square, a circular road system, (38) all of which remained in place
sions, safe, and practical.” (32) These objectives were applied during the con- right up to the break with the USSR in 1961.
ception phase of the GPP, which thus became a pioneer in the field. The 1990s, the first decade following the economic reforms, saw China’s
The GPP, whose components and shape have been discussed above, is in a cities take on a frenzied consumption of Western trends involving, on the
position to feed into the large fabrique. This is not a matter of indulging in
the “copy and paste” exercise of the developer, as analysed by Jean-Paul 27. Silvia Gugu, “Gubei Promenade,” art. cit.
Blais, (33) with a view to reproducing the initiative identically in other parts of 28. Begüm Tarakçi, “Gubei Pedestrian Promenade By SWA Group,” Architecture of Life, 4 January 2012,
http://www.architectureoflife.net/en/gubei-pedestrian-promenade-by-swa-group/ (accessed on
Shanghai. At a time when some researchers and practitioners are raising the 19 December 2016).
alarm about the return of the model either as an injunction or a fad, (34) the 29. “Gubei Gold Street,” Landscape Voice, 3 March 2013, http://landscapevoice.com/gubei-gold-
concern is not to advocate for the duplicability of this operation or to make s t r e e t- % E 9 % B B % 8 4 % E 9 % 8 7 % 9 1 % E 5 % 9 F % 8 E % E 9 % 8 1 % 9 3 % E 6 % A D % A 5 %
E8%A1%8C%E8%A1%97 (accessed on 19 December 2016).
it a model but rather to reflect on the approach itself and the principles un- 30. At the 12th NPC (National People’s Congress of the PRC) on 17 March 2013, China’s Prime Min-
derlying its conception. For it is very much the approach and the underlying ister Li Keqiang declared for the first time that this new urban planning had to have a human
focus. “Li Keqiang: Xinchengzhenhua yi ren wei xin,” Xinhua, 17 March 2013, http://news.xin-
principles that not only correspond to the goals of the new city plan but also huanet.com/2013lh/2013-03/17/c_115054227.htm (accessed on 20 December 2016).
allow for a different way of creating a city, with greater attention being paid 31. State Council (Guowuyuan), “Guojia xinzhi chengzhenhua guihua (2014-2020 nian)” (National
to urban comfort, the people who live there, and their health, etc., that it New Urbanisation Plan, 2014-2020), 16 March 2014,  http://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/
2014/content_2644805.htm (accessed on 20 December 2016).
would be worth spreading on a city-wide scale in the context of the devel-
32. Extracts from the panels of the Shanghai Museum of Urbanism – September 2015; author’s own
opment of other public spaces. The GPP could thus become a reference for translation.
Shanghai beyond the framework of the major national operations that are 33. Jean-Paul Blais, “L’aménageur, roi du copier-coller? Réflexions d’un urbaniste à partir de ses derives
part of the new principles of sobriety, respect for social context, and improve- professionnelles” (The developer, king of copy-paste? Reflections of a town planner from his pro-
fessional derivatives), Métropolitiques, 26 November 2014, http://www.metropolitiques.eu/L-
ment in the quality of the environment. Our speculation is that taking an in- amenageur-roi-du-copier-coller.html (accessed 20 December 2016).
terest in an approach and not in a finished object to be reproduced should 34. See the dossier coordinated by Claire Carriou and Olivier Ratouis, “Actualités des modèles urban-
istiques” (News from urban planning), Métropolitiques, 18 June 2014, http://www.metropoli-
allow greater respect for the identity of the areas under transformation. tiques.eu/Actualite-des-modeles.html (accessed on 20 December 2016).
35. John Friedmann, China’s Urban Transition, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 2005.
Chinese public spaces, from cosmetic urbanism to 36. Kongjian Yu and Mary G. Padua, “China’s Cosmetic Cities: Urban Fever and Superficiality,” Land-
hybrid modernity scape Research, Vol. 32, No. 2, 2007, pp. 255–272.
37. Peter G. Rowe and Seng Kuan, Architectural Encounters with Essence and Form in Modern China,
Cambridge (MA), London, MIT Press, 2004.
China’s cities have carried out their physical metamorphosis in a little less 38. Laurence J.C. Ma and Fulong Wu (eds.), “Restructuring the Chinese City,” Restructuring the Chinese
than 20 years, (35) a situation that is very different from that of Western City. Changing Society, Economy and Space, London, New York, Routledge Curzon, 2005, p. 1.

94 china perspectives • No.2017/1

 Brigitte Bertoncello, Lély Tan, and Jian Zhuo – Shanghai: City Planning “With a Human Face”

one hand, the rejection of everything that could appear to be Chinese (and ity. (48) In a more sustainable city, where development reconsiders the scale
therefore “outmoded and retarded”), and on the other hand, the juxtaposi- of daily life, streets and other arteries for the movement of people are con-
tion of architectural styles that clashed. Liberalising user rights offered mu- sidered afresh. It then becomes a question of seeing how the new urban
nicipalities the means to finance the modernisation of their city, mostly landscapes that result participate in the emergence of a different form of
calling on Western architects in the process. In actual fact, these can do Chinese urban culture.
little more than sell their ideas, which are subsequently implemented by
local firms. This separation between creation and construction explains why Conclusion
the finished product is different from the original plans. It is no doubt in
this gap that we must look for the hybrid style of the urban landscapes of Taking as a starting point the analysis of the particular features of the
contemporary Chinese cities. Gubei Pedestrian Promenade, we have sought to understand if this opera-
The other characteristics of these new urban settings are their incompat- tion was an epiphenomenon or whether it could be an advance in the fab-
ibility with their environment from both a functional and cultural point of rique urbaine imagined on a city-wide scale.
view. All these elements have led Kongjian Yu and Mary G. Padua to develop The GPP provides a concrete application of certain principles of sustain-
the concept of cosmetic urbanism to show the vacuity and superficiality able development and shows the possible integration of the environmental
of these new urban arrangements. (39) It is probably in the treatment of pub- question into the project from the moment of its conception, including an
lic spaces that this type of urban conception is the most glaring. The names anticipation of management modalities. The reversibility of a development
given to the major arteries, such as “Century Avenue” in Shanghai or conceived by the project and linking thereby the issue of housing to external
“Olympic Avenue” in Beijing, are testimony to the ambitions of Chinese spaces and the immediate environment constitutes another strong aspect
metropolises and to the size of their development harking back to a Com- of the GPP that gives priority to actions aimed at producing a unified com-
munist legacy. It is about expressing the desire of the political leaders to position. (49) The creative designers have succeeded in making this automo-
show their power without concession to the environment and without wor- bile traffic artery a living space characterised by people meeting and
rying about the drawbacks of this kind of thoroughfare. Consequently, these engaging with each other on both a neighbourhood and city-wide scale.
broad urban corridors produce barriers and obstacles for pedestrians in the Far from being an urbanism that is monumental and/or globalised/stan-
city, or present possible dangers stemming from their poor conception (lack dardised, the treatment of this public space, conceived on a human scale in
of pedestrian passages, accident-prone intersections, etc.). (40) Their intensive a densely populated neighbourhood with high-rise apartment blocks, has
lighting and the limited amount of space for trees or, conversely, the aug- generated a new landscape whose components put residents first and speak
mented space for them without thinking through how this can be man- about Chinese culture. The GPP then becomes a bearer of meaning and iden-
aged, (41) are characteristic of cosmetic urbanism. Such examples illustrate tity for those who use it, whatever their cultural background; it offers a
the need to improve control of the processes and a certain inexperience on sought-after urbanity in a city that has hitherto been built on functionalist
the part of service suppliers and clients alike. (42) principles that left scant space for the human dimension.
This stage-managed urbanism is especially visible in the new designation This really is a new form of habitation that is being created around this
of green spaces for public use. These have mostly been enlarged, with many initiative, promoting, as Jean-Marc Besse suggests, “a silent conversation
Western-style decorative elements that are frequently interpreted in a par- that is taking place right through our ordinary day-to-day lives with the
ticular way and produced using various materials that are often costly. These place in which we live.” (50)
new spaces are there to magnify local power, which underlies the works.
39. Kongjian Yu and Mary G. Padua, “China’s Cosmetic Cities: Urban Fever and Superficiality,” art. cit.
The local inhabitants are seen as spectators rather than users of these public
40. Hongbin Geng, “The Analysis of the Main Problems Came from the Urban Renewal of the Chinese
spaces. (43) The same fate befalls public parks. Here again there is a firm desire Major Cities in the 1990s,” City Planning Review, Vol. 7, 1999, pp. 13–17.
to show off these symbols of success of local politics. Native vegetation 41. The over-abundant foliage along the arteries of Beijing for the welcome of the Olympic Games
and plants are replaced by exotic varieties. These redesigned parks then be- brought about the clearing of many natural areas.
42. Kongjian Yu and Mary G. Padua, “China’s Cosmetic Cities: Urban Fever and Superficiality,” art. cit.
come tourist attractions, but their very design cuts them off from their en-
43. Denis E. Cosgrove, Social Formation and Symbolic Landscape, Madison, University of Wisconsin
vironment and causes a rupture in the urban and social fabric. Press, 1998.
In opposition to this cosmetic urbanism, Mary G. Padua (44) proposes the 44. Mary G. Padua, “New Cultures and Changing Urban Cultures,” art. cit., pp. 202-222.
concept of “hybrid modernity” providing a new frame of reference to un- 45. Arjun Appadurai, “Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy,” Theory, Culture
derstand the interaction of local and global dynamics and aspects of the and Society, Vol. 7, No. 2, 1990, pp. 295-310; Quoted in Mary G. Padua, “New Cultures and Chang-
ing Urban Cultures,” art. cit.
identity of China as a nation. This writer takes up the approach of Arjun Ap- 46. Zhen Yang and M. Xu, “Xifang shijiao de zhongguo chengshi gonggong kongjian yanjiu,” (Western
padurai, (45) who prefers to see in China’s development a singular trajectory research perspectives on the public spaces of Chinese cities), Guoji chengshi guihua, Vol. 23, No.
4, 2008, pp. 35-40.
that belongs to a particular civilisation rather to analyse it in terms of an
47. Jane Jabobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities: The Failure of Modern Town Planning,
opposition between “developed country” and “developing country.” Thus London, Penguin Books, 1961 (6th edition in Chinese since 2005); Allan B. Jacobs, Great Streets,
the national narrative written by the political powers, in this case the CCP, Cambridge, MIT Press, 1993 (Chinese translation 2009, currently 5th edition); Stephen Marshall,
Streets and Patterns: The Structure of Urban Geometry, London, Spon Press, 2005 (Chinese trans-
finds expression in this hybrid modernity. lation 2011).
Public spaces that over the past decade or more have once again become 48. Jian Zhuo, “Urban Mobility, a New Vision for People-Oriented Urban Transport Development,”
the subject of study for Chinese researchers and practitioners (46) who defer Planners, No. 7, 2014, pp. 5-12.
in particular to Western, essentially American, references, (47) could serve as 49. Serge Thibault, “Composition urbaine, projets et territoires” (Urban composition, projects and ter-
ritories), in Composition(s) urbaine(s), Proceedings of the CTHS Conference, Tours, 2012.
a laboratory. This interest in public spaces should be related to the conse- 50. Jean-Marc Besse, Habiter: Un monde à mon image (Living: a world in my image), Paris, Flammar-
quences of rapid urbanisation, especially as they concern issues of mobil- ion, 2014.

No.2017/1 • china perspectives 95

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In order to enable the re-imagining of this type of production put in place At the time of writing, we learned that the Municipal Urban Planning Of-
with an eye to sustainability, a set of conditions must first be satisfied. Be- fice, in order to implement this new process of urban renewal and to get
yond the required budget, it is vital to have the right actors, and in particular the district authorities involved, has selected 12 pilot projects across four
the ability of public officials to listen to other points of view and adopt new categories: a neighbourhood that would be open and shared; a neighbour-
approaches. The permeability and the very closeness generated by semi- hood for innovation and creativity; a neighbourhood for culture and her-
public entities such as the Shanghai Gubei Group Company Ltd. have un- itage; and networks of (gentle) modes of activity. The GPP figures among
doubtedly facilitated the spread of a conception of urban planning that is these projects for its exemplary nature in terms of gentle mobility. This is a
more sensitive to the places and the users, even if the initial impetus for it pointer to urban planning that is more mindful of people and spaces in a
came from a foreign agency. way that we would like to think is not the sole reserve of the wealthiest
In an article taking up the subject of “the harmonious urbanisation” that neighbourhoods.
was promoted prior to the Shanghai World Fair in 2010, Nicolas Douay states:

“Even though the traditional planning model is still largely present, z Translated by Peter Brown
strategic, collaborative and environmental influences help envisage
the formulation of new practices for Chinese town planning.” (51) z Brigitte Bertoncello is Professor and Director of the IUAR (Institut
d’urbanisme et d’aménagement régional)/ Aix-Marseille Université.
An analysis of the Gubei Pedestrian Promenade can be seen in the context Laboratoire LIEU EA 889, 3 avenue R. Schuman - 13628 Aix-en-
of the developments to which we have referred. While this project is on the Provence (brigitte.bertoncello@univ-amu.fr).
scale of a city neighbourhood, it could also point to the future in terms of z Lély Tan is a doctoral research student, IUAR (Institut d’urbanisme
a new conception of urban planning, provided that the Municipality of et d’aménagement régional)/ Aix-Marseille Université.
Shanghai takes proper account of this other way of creating a city. Laboratoire LIEU EA 889, 3 avenue R. Schuman - 13628 Aix-en-
The next City Plan, which has been in the pipeline since 2015, will be a Provence (lelytan@yahoo.com).
turning point in the city’s development that has to move from an “expan- z Jian Zhuo, Co-author correspondent, is Professor and Deputy-
sive” model to one of urban renewal. As the spaces to be urbanised become Director, Department of Urban Planning, College of Architecture
increasingly scarce, urban development will consequently have to be based and Urban Planning (CAUP). 
on a rational exploitation of what already exists. This is an opportunity to University of Tongji, Shanghai ( jian.zhuo@tongji.edu.cn).
work on the scale of the plot and to practise a neighbourhood urban devel-
opment that is part of an overall plan. Manuscript submitted on 21 June 2016. Accepted on 9 December 2016.

51. Nicolas Douay, “Shanghai: Urban Planning Styles in Evolution. Emergence of a ‘Harmonious Ur-
banisation’?”, China Perspectives, No. 2008/4, p. 23.

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