Forever Shanghai China Close Up

Shanghai, city of grand designs,

and battleground for architects and developers

fighting to make their mark.

One man who dares to challenge them is Ruan Yisan, outspoken campaigner

and defender of the city's past.

Ruan Yisan is Professor of Urban Planning at Tongji University.

As Shanghai comes under growing pressure to modernise,

his work becomes more urgent.

Professor Ruan's passion for old buildings won him the opportunity

to restore the city's two finest landmarks -

the first of them along the waterfront.

Shanghai grew into a thriving port in the mid-1900s,

after Britain forced the Qing Emperor

to open it to international trade.

The British had developed a taste for Chinese tea,

silk and porcelain, which it paid for with opium from colonial India.

As trade increased,

Western financial institutions

sprouted along the river's west bank,

known as the Bund.

With the advent of Communism, these buildings fell into disuse,

and they would have stayed that way but for Professor Ruan.

In the '80s, he pushed for funding

to restore them to their former splendour as banks and hotels.

Professor Ruan designed an award-winning promenade

to replace the narrow pavements.

Elevated above the road, it gives people a better view of the buildings and the river.

He plans to convert the entire road into a pedestrian area.

Forcing traffic underground will mean cleaner, safer streets.

Once a dirty waterfront,

it's now a popular spot for families and tourists.

Nostalgia lingers for 1920s Shanghai, Pearl of the Orient,

renowned for its affluence and its glamour.

Nanjing Road - in the 1930s,

commercial centre for the whole of Asia.

Known as China's Golden Mile,

it sold luxury goods from Paris, London and New York,

and drew a staggering 400,000 shoppers daily.

Today, that figure has more than doubled.

The professor won his case. The buildings were kept,

and the whole street was turned into a pedestrian precinct.

Another award-winning design.

Pudong - the new face of Communist China...

..launch pad for economic reform and architectural innovation.

SIREN WAILS

After Pudong, where next?

Shanghai has a burgeoning population of 16 million.

Half this number lives in the central core of the city, making it

one of the most densely populated in the world.

Congested roads have nowhere to go but up.

Families are being relocated to outlying districts.

There's little room to breathe.

Creating open areas where people won't feel cramped

is a constant challenge for urban planners.

"Greening" is the new creed - good for citizens and good for tourism.

Chenghuangmiao is the old city,

a cluster of pavilions dating back some 500 years.

The professor wanted to retain

the traditional flavour of the buildings

by giving what he calls "a good scrub and new dentures",

but his plan was turned down.

Professor Ruan isn't fazed by controversy.

His achievements have made him an established figure in urban planning.

He regularly gives lectures to officials from other parts of China,

a good opportunity to spread the word.

In Shanghai, awareness is growing.

Now it's in the rural areas

that Professor Ruan concentrates his efforts.

It's a fight against time. Mistakes have already been made.

The surrounding areas of Shanghai

are crisscrossed by a network of rivers and canals

which flow into the mighty Yangtze.

Over the centuries, towns and villages

flourished on their water trade.

Professor Ruan was born in a water-town

and he strives to save these places from losing their identity.

Though he's 69 and in semi-retirement,

he's fired by these hidden treasure houses.

He's visiting the yet-unspoilt town of Xinchang in south-east Shanghai.

STORYTELLER DECLAIMS

Storytelling is a favourite pastime,

especially when it involves tales of heroic deeds.

The professor explains to local officials

that these traditions and buildings are their greatest asset.

Preserving them could bring in tourists.

Whether the locals will do a proper job

is a gamble.

When China launched its economic reforms in the '80s,

many of these towns lost their charm.

Some now realise that antiquity has tourist appeal.

But excessive zeal has its own drawbacks,

as in the town of Zhujiajiao.

Against Professor Ruan's advice, they put up structures

that are historically and aesthetically out of place.

"Fake antiques", he calls them.

Now he's been asked back by local government to rectify the damage.

He's brought two of his research students along

to explain what the problems are.

In present-day China,

where everyone is hurtling towards modernisation, few take the time

to glance back at their historical roots.

For Professor Ruan,

the best kind of progress takes the past with it.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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