ECONOMICS UNIQUENESS

BOX 5.5
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND PROPERTY VALUES ■ 133
Urban Upgrading and Keeping Residents in Place
Conserves Historic Neighborhoods in Shaoxing, China
China, Zhejiang Urban Environment Project (Project number 066955)
Total Project Cost: US$334.3 million
Total Loan Amount: US$133 million
Approved: January 2004 – Closed: June 2011
Under the Zhejiang Project, the city of Shaoxing has repaired and upgraded
modest Ming and Qing dynasty housing in the canal-side neighborhoods of
its historic but deteriorating city core. To conserve streetscapes and housing
patterns, it was necessary (as it is in many cities) to decrease the extreme residential
densities that had evolved over time. However, the goal of Shaoxing’s
housing program was to create a healthier living environment while keeping as
many of the neighborhood residents as possible in place. This was important to
conserve the existing social fabric and networks that support daily life, especially
for the poor. In the end, about 8,000 low-income households remained in place
and benefi ted from upgraded housing and services, and around 700 households
were resettled to modern apartments outside the historic city core. Today,
the historic neighborhoods and their traditional waterside lifestyle continue as
they have for many decades. Shaoxing’s leaders see the neighborhoods as an
important tourism asset, with tourists’ spending providing a source of income
for the neighborhoods’ low-income residents.
Source: Ebbe, K., G. Licciardi, and A. Baeumler. 2011.
their common experiences and social ties. As the neighborhood renewal process
evolves, increasingly attracting new residents with a diff erent (and likely
higher) level of income, as well as political and social infl uence, long-term
residents may feel a loss of power and ownership that can have an adverse
eff ect on community ties and structures.
• Potential confl icts between new and long-term residents. Th e shift in the sense
of power and ownership can spark confl icts between new and long-term residents.
Lifestyles may also be decidedly diff erent, and what one group considers
the norm another group might fi nd off ensive.
Th us even an economically successful heritage-based regeneration program
may result in unanticipated and negative social and political consequences. But