China Starting to Save its Hutongs

"China's northern metropolis, Harbin, is working to save early 20th-century, Russian-influenced stone and wood buildings, repointing brickwork and reaffixing frieze-work facades. Taicheng, a small city in the Guangdong province, is restoring old family dwellings and ancestral temples. In response to citizen pressure, Jinan, a sprawling agricultural center on the North China Plains, has preserved 18th-century waterfront pavilions and one-story buildings, previously scheduled to be torn down and rebuilt in a pseudo-ancient style."

"The newfound interest in preservation is an about-face for a country that for the past three decades has made economic development its absolute priority. In southern Guangzhou, a major urban center on the Pearl River Delta close to Hong Kong, the city has implemented public hearings on urban reconstruction. In the past, whole neighborhoods were razed for commercial development, with homeowners forced to take sometimes substandard apartments on the edge of town. Now, redevelopment plans can be passed only if 70% of an affected area's residents agree."

"In many cases, these preservation efforts are focused on attracting tourists to historic areas. Harbin's renovated district, for instance, will include a shopping area with galleries and cafes, while Jinan's restored buildings are now home to new restaurants. The restorations also reflect more than two decades of lobbying -- particularly by academics and architects -- to preserve what is left of China's architectural treasures, many of which were lost to its Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and '70s or to rapid building and modernization in more recent years."