Intervening in the historic residential tissue of shanghai’s shikumen: Xintiandi as a paradigm

Abstract

After decades of decay and widespread razing, the shikumen residential typology of Shanghai is experiencing a renaissance. However, the preservation methods that are being implemented are both controversial, from the perspective of urban heritage conservation, and bold, from the point of view of the practice of architectural and urban design. This paper critically lays out the possibility of producing new urban conservation models that could accommodate both approaches, scientific preservation and contemporary design, in the context of Shanghai’s entrepreneurial from of governance and its consideration as a heritage city.