2010 Mar 30 Pessimistic Outlook for Gulou
Following the forced cancellation of the March 27 public meeting to discuss the fate of Gulou, a more low-key Foreign Correspondent’s Club of China (FCCC) meeting was successfully held last night (March 29) at the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center (CHP) office in Fangjia Hutong. The talk was an hour and a half Q & A between CHP founder and cultural heritage law expert, He Shuzhong, and a group of 20 concerned homeowners, tenants and journalists.
While Professor He did not provide too many details about the number of households that would be forced to relocate and which developers and officials were spearheading Gulou’s transformation into a “Beijing Cultural City,” he did reveal that RMB 500 million had already been allocated to the project and 12.5 hectares would be “converted.”
Professor He named one company – Boston International Design Group – as one of the probable developers for the project. He alleged that one of the owners of the company is Chinese, and a look at their website suggests that the only thing truly international or Boston-related about the firm is their name. He claimed plans for the Gulou project had already been removed from the site, and a search today found no references to the project.
He also referred to pressures on local district mayors to compete with each other for highest GDP, and with the “success” of Qianmen’s multi-national makeover in the eyes of local bureaucrats, Gulou is an easy mark. While laws for cultural heritage sites exist, He explained, they are rarely followed or enforced.
The meeting ended with a sense that changes to the plans for Gulou were not likely due to massive systemic problems and centuries of neglect of the hutong neighborhoods.
The Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Centre is planning a major English-language event on preservation in China in late May – stay tuned for details.
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Beijingers Debate Why Preservation Matters in Light of Gulou Redevelopment
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CHP Gulou Proposal: An Alternative to Wholesale Demolition
Back in January theBeijinger.com was one of the first English-language news outlets to report on plans to redevelop Beijing’s historic Gulou area and replace the hutongs with a “Time Cultural City.” Since then a public meeting on the redevelopment called by the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center (CHP) in March was forcibly canceled by police and the wrecking balls have started swinging, with much of the area north of Gulou already destroyed. The CHP hasn’t given up the fight however, and late last week they released a long official statement outlining an alternative plan to wholesale demolition.
Vanishing Beijing - Roundtable on why preservation matters
Beijing’s redevelopment is constantly in the news as the last vestiges of the old city disappear before our eyes. Now English speakers have the chance to become more involved in the issue with the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center (CHP) event Vanishing Beijing: Why Preservation Matters.
Gulou Meeting "Squelched"
On Friday we broke the news that the public meeting called last Saturday by the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center (CHP) to discuss controversial plans to “restore” the area around Gulou had been canceled. The CHP was only able to say the event had been canceled for “various reasons,” but today the Global Times has a report stating “police squelched” the meeting.
STOP PRESS: CHP Meeting on Gulou Redevelopment Canceled
On Monday we reported on a public meeting this Saturday called by the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center (CHP) to discuss controversial plans to “restore” the area around Gulou and build an underground “Beijing Time Cultural City.” The CHP just announced the meeting has been canceled.
lynxlynx
Re: Pessimistic Outlook for Gulou
Ah, the way this is done by the officials is such a shame; I never thought I would have to call these CP cadres hardcore capitalists...
bigsisjiejie
Re: Pessimistic Outlook for Gulou
BIDG is definitely a Chinese company, despite a Boston phone number. Part of the Lanwa Group, a developer. Check out the website here and picture #6 of Zhu Junfu the chairman of BIDG. The "About Lanwa" tab on the website will tell you what you need to know about where this Gulou project is likely to be going.
Jerry
Re: Pessimistic Outlook for Gulou
Their site kind of reminds me of this one:
http://www.yuwanmei.com/
knulp
Re: Pessimistic Outlook for Gulou
is there a minute of the meeting maybe with some images of the development?
danedwards
Re: Pessimistic Outlook for Gulou
Hi knulp,
As far as we know no plans have been publicly released, though the CHP has a google earth-style map showing the area the development will cover:
http://en.bjchp.org/?p=1905#more-1905
The CHP have a public event planned in May, so stay tuned to the Beijinger blog for details on that event.
Regards,
Dan Edwards
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