Before/After Skyline Of Your City

[jg6544]

Originally Posted by tech12

Definitely. But most freeways in SF remain, including 95% of what you see in the before pics above. The only parts that were demolished were the embarcadero freeway (not yet built in the before pics) and the northern end of the central freeway, which you can see in the lower left of before pic #1, crossing market street (where it now ends). There were plans for more freeways crossing the city, but thankfully those were stopped.

Correct, but they got rid of those eyesores along the Embarcadero and the one that effectively built a wall across Market St. in Hayes Valley.

[MNMike]

Another Minneapolis comparison. The 2nd pic is taken from the bridge over the freeway you see in the first pic. Not the most flattering angle of the city.

Minneapolis 1972:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...enter_1972.jpg





http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...skyline_51.JPG

[muppet]

Originally Posted by JManc

Does Shanghai still have any of its traditional housing/ architecture left?

Yes, it has loads, but they're obviously threatened due to the boom. Most of the stuff we see on this forum is about the new Pudong side of the river, but few of us see the
Puxi side, which is pretty much the world's largest amount of highrises dotted over the world's largest old town, which was purposely kept in aspic by the Communists -
Shanghai is prone to political rebellion; it's where the dangerous extremes of capitalism, fascism and communism was born/ played out.


www.concierge.com Rachel Gouk, https://www.flickr.com/photos/rachelgouk/8220596630/

http://en.people.cn/mediafile/200908, www.cultural-china.com



They're mostly made up of the shikumen housing on longtang lanes, a proto British-Chinese style, similar to the terraces (rowhomes) of northern Britain. Amazingly most
were self-restored after the war by the resilient residents (over 300,000 died in what was known as 'Asia's Stalingrad'). These buildings range from Victorian to Edwardian
to art deco styles, from tenement blocks to detached villas. They have English rowhome footprints but also with traditional Chinese courtyards inside, and alleys outside.
Roof tiles are British, roof eaves (curves) Chinese.


http://chinaexpat.com, www.shanghaihighlights.com

http://www.china.org.cn/travel/trave...t_16431002.htm, www.culinarybackstreets.com

http://magazine.fourseasons.com/trav...ai-attractions, http://feihelish.travellerspoint.com/11/

www.cultural-china.com


Many are crumbling and regarded as slums


www.theworldofchinese.com, www.bochic.com

http://designhistorylab.com


but some are being restored - the ultra commercial Xintiandi district a victim of it's own success (think Gap and Starbucks)


www.travelchinaguide.com

www.mildchina.com


and Tianzifang, an utter maze of boho alleyways full of cafes, independent shops and bars:


www.chinahighlights.com, http://bedazle.com

https://yasminsalfati.files.wordpress.com, www.lintel-shanghai.com


Beneath the highrises the sea of russet coloured roofs makes the city appear brown from above


www.informatik.uni-bremen.de

www.putao.com.tw


Many have been lost to the wrecking ball - note the art deco being demolished for nouveau deco development:


http://shanghaistreetstories.com



but thankfully new builds are starting to realise the desirability in the market for the former style:


http://evanchakroff.com/2011/05/22/c...inite-present/

http://evanchakroff.com/2011/05/22/c...inite-present/

http://evanchakroff.com/2011/05/22/c...inite-present/
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[muppet]

Also Shanghai has no less than 5-6 Old City's.

The Old City was the Chinese city still extant when the British took over (back in Middle Ages SH reached 300,000; although a nondescript Chinese town it would have been the 3rd largest city in Europe). Today it's pretty much an open air mall to tourists:


www.layoverguide.com

http://www.viator.com/Shanghai-attra...otos/d325-a180

http://site.silkroadcollection.com, www.awaygowe.com


though still has functioning more authentic areas still:


http://travelblog.viator.com, http://images.travelpod.com/tw_slide...y-shanghai.jpg


Then there's Zhujiajiao, a swallowed up former water town


www.gracechinatours.com, www.itourbeijing.com

chinahighlights.com, http://echinatravel.com/blog


And Qibao, as above. Both towns are overrun with tourists by day


www.chinatouronline.com, www.kankanblog.com

www.airasia.com


The French Concession - this is where the restored areas of Xintiandi and Tianzifang listed before can be found


www.ft.com, http://jennykrasner.com


http://jennykrasner.com

www.lintel-shanghai.com, www.urbanphoto.net/blog, www.chinaodysseytours.com


The Bund area - the waterfront and streets behind leading to Nanjing Road, the main shopping district


www.topchinatravel.com, www.chinatourguide.com


www.chinatourguide.com, http://us.123rf.com


And lastly Hongkou, the former Jewish district that's now a large area of unrestored former industry taken over by artists - and simultaneously being demolished and restored at the same time

decay, demolition & restoration


www.nileguide.com, www.everytrail.com





www.informatik.uni-bremen.de


www.szetsungleong.com, www.urbanghostsmedia.com

www.datelineshanghai.com, Alan Chang, https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanchan/6964324899/


www.archilovers.com/projects, www.timeoutshanghai.com

[giallo]

The destruction of these old shikumen neighbourhoods had slowed down in to the early 2010s, but that's all over. The all-out destruction of them is insane right now. I can think of five major neighbourhoods that have/are in the process of being wiped off the map, and all within the last year. I got quite the surprise when I went to photograph my favourite neighbourhood in Zhabei last week. It looked like a bomb had hit it. Two months ago it was fine.

done and done 1 by matteroffact, on Flickr



done and done 3 by matteroffact, on Flickr



done and done 4 by matteroffact, on Flickr



done and done 5 by matteroffact, on Flickr



done and done 2 by matteroffact, on Flickr

It's so depressing. It's like the 1990s all over again.




whatever by matteroffact, on Flickr



more than enough by matteroffact, on Flickr


I took these pictures about a month ago. It's old Shanghai, and the last completely intact old neighbourhood (that isn't named the Former French Concession) left in the city. It's getting eaten away at its sides, but has managed to survive the full-on onslaught of destruction from developers. The Bund Financial Centre is the first, of what will be many, AAA developments along the south Bund that will erase it from the landscape for good.


It's a tough sell to preserve these old neighbourhood, unfortunately. They're the cheapest areas to live in the central city, but they're pretty gross; open sewage, poorly maintain infrastructure, shared outdoors bathrooms, rotten food and garbage everywhere. Most people that have to live in these houses want to get upgraded, so they welcome being relocated to another part of the city (normally it's Pudong) in new digs. It's just too costly to renovate these houses, especially when land is at such a premium.

[Zapatan]

My goodness Shanghai is huge

[niwell]

Seeing those Shanghai neighbourhoods go is really quite sad. I get that they are in pretty grim condition, but many of the places we love in North America were in a similar position in the 1920s/30s. I assume the French Concession is well protected at least?

[giallo]

^The French Concession will remain relatively untouched because it's the most desired neighbourhood to live in the central city. It's absolutely worth paying the high cost to renovate when you can charge premium rents. A typical three story, renovated lane house can rent from anywhere between 25,000RMB ($4,600USD) per month to 50,000RMB ($9,000USD+) per month. My wife's friend just sold her lane house in the Xuhui district for a cool $5,000,000USD.

[muppet]

godammit, where is that neighbourhood located giallo? I realise a city centre needs highrises, but is there not a market for converted lane housing more than apartments? That area needs a preservation order.

It pretty much echoes the loss of working class terrace housing in large parts of London during the 60s-90s.

Once considered slum housing these are now worth a small fortune, as the last such surviving street in the centre, out of hundreds. It's hidden in one of the backstreets near Waterloo Station, and is often used for film locations. Growing up in the UK I never, ever thought these streets would become so endangered, being so common before - but coming across it the other day it felt like entering a different time all of a sudden.


https://lvbmag.files.wordpress.com, http://www.snapthepix.com/Roupell-Street/132238/photos/


www.philipsportfolio.se


I wish developers could be restrained by better legislation.

[nw290]

nice.....Houston....nuff said....

[giallo]

Originally Posted by muppet

godammit, where is that neighbourhood located giallo? I realise a city centre needs highrises, but is there not a market for converted lane housing more than apartments?

It pretty much echoes the loss of working class terrace housing in large parts of London during the 60s-90s.

It's in the Zhabei district which borders the Jing An, Huangpu and Hongkou districts. It's in the heart of Shanghai, and is currently going through a MASSIVE transformation. Almost everything is gone.

Shanghai residents will definitely regret the destruction of these neighbourhood in 15-20 years. It's pretty hardcore out there right now. So much is being lost.

[muppet]

waaah! The mayor needs to do something . I wonder if his finger is in the pie.

Or more likely there isn't even a pie. It's not even controversial.

Goddamit.

[niwell]

Ugh that sucks. Echo what muppet said about this kind of old housing being rehabilitated. The old parts of Shanghai look amazing and seem to have so much potential.

[Urban Zombie]

Originally Posted by giallo

It's in the Zhabei district which borders the Jing An, Huangpu and Hongkou districts. It's in the heart of Shanghai, and is currently going through a MASSIVE transformation. Almost everything is gone.

Shanghai residents will definitely regret the destruction of these neighbourhood in 15-20 years. It's pretty hardcore out there right now. So much is being lost.

On the flip side, a lot of the more grandiose/interesting older buildings/housing in these disappearing neighborhoods are being salvaged, preserved and incorporated into the new planning. So, at least there are some preservation efforts in process.

[giallo]

That's true. They're preserving that mansion just off of Nanjing Rd.

Here are a couple more pictures.

I used to roll through here, but not anymore

steady creeping by matteroffact, on Flickr



A massive chunk of Old Shanghai was lost last year. Probably 200+ lane houses.

gonegonegone by matteroffact, on Flickr

[10023]

Originally Posted by muppet

Still better than the alternative, though. I was told that this area almost became a massive mall/highrise (like "Xintiandi Style") until it was bought by a Hong Kong developer who decided to restore the existing structures.

[giallo]

As much as I dislike Xintiandi for its touristy vibe and bland chain restaurants, it's a lovely urban experience. I'll sometimes walk from my place to my friend's apartment, and have to go through Xintiandi to get there. It's well woven in to the urban fabric, and despite how many of us make fun of it in SH, the city would be less without it. I'd take a thousand Xintiandis over the destructive alternative.

And really, how can you hate on an area that has streets like this?

xintiandi autumn by matteroffact, on Flickr

[chris08876]

They don't play around in China. Some of these sites are huge. Projects on the scope of HY, only numerous.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by muppet

Also Shanghai has no less than 5-6 Old City's.

The Old City was the Chinese city still extant when the British took over (back in Middle Ages SH reached 300,000; although a nondescript Chinese town it would have been the 3rd largest city in Europe). Today it's pretty much an open air mall to tourists:
...

omgomgomgomg those so much makes me want to visit again. Maybe this year will be a good year to do it, since it was 2005 that I was there last.

[muppet]

Yep, catch it before it gets flattened