Redrawing the Map

By YIN PUMIN

Redrawing the Map

By YIN PUMIN

Cities across China are making changes to their administrative divisions

LIU HAIFENG

July 1 marked the first anniversary of the reorganization of Beijing’s central districts. Just a year ago, Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chongwen and Xuanwu districts that comprised the core of Beijing were merged to form new Dongcheng and Xicheng districts.

On June 8 this year, the Shanghai Municipal Government said the State Council, China’s cabinet, had approved its plan to merge Luwan District with Huangpu District to create a new Huangpu District.

In recent years, several other major cities in China also redrew their administrative borders.

In 2006, Dongli District in Harbin, capital of northeastern Heilongjiang Province, was merged into Xiangfang District. In November 2009, Binhai New Area was established in Tianjin on the basis of the merger of Tanggu, Hangu and Dagang districts. And in June 2010, Liangjiang New Area was offcially founded in southwestern Chongqing.

“With the development of the economy, the original administrative structures of many cities have become outdated. In order to adapt to the new situation, the merger of small-scale downtown districts has become an irresistible trend,” said Liu Weixin, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Strength in unity

Yu Zhengsheng, Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), said at a news conference on June 8 the merger of Huangpu and Luwan districts would help further integrate and optimize the resources of downtown Shanghai. The government, however, has not yet given a specifc date by which the merger will be completed.

Currently, Huangpu District covers 12.49 square km in the heart of Shanghai, including the famous Bund area. Its population is about 429,900. Luwan District covers 8.03 square km and is home to about 269,400 residents.

The districts are home to a large number of fnancial institutions, corporate headquarters and entertainment venues. They also have some of the city’s most famous tourist destinations and shopping districts, such as the Bund, Nanjing Road, Huaihai Road, Xintiandi and Yuyuan Garden.

Though relatively small in terms of area and population among Shanghai’s 18 districts and counties, Huangpu and Luwan districts are extremely central and rank at the top in terms of overall economic development and per-capita assets.

Data from Shanghai’s tax authorities show the revenue generated by Luwan and Huangpu districts stood at 15.8 billion yuan ($2.47 billion) and 13.7 billion yuan ($2.14 billion) in 2010, respectively.

Despite this, the two districts have been plagued by economic slowdown in recent years and their overlapping functions are seen to be an obstacle to growth.

Local offcials said the merger plan was proposed with the aim of facilitating the long-term development of both districts, and was expected to enhance the efficiency of their urban functions and reduce administrative costs.

“The merger will help consolidate the advantages of the original two districts and form a new economic growth point,” said Yu Hongsheng, Director of the Urbanization Development Research Center of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

The Huangpu-Luwan merger marks the third time Shanghai has adjusted its administrative divisions during the past 10 years. Early in 2000, Huangpu District absorbed its neighboring Nanshi District and in 2009 Nanhui District was merged into Pudong New Area.

But unlike the previous rounds of consolidation in which “a strong district took over a weaker one,” Yu said in the latest case, “the change should beneft both districts.”

One of the potential benefits would be to integrate their cultural and economic resources under one administration.

For example, much of the famed shopping street Nanjing Road is in Huangpu District and Luwan District has Huaihai Road, an iconic strip for fashion retail in Shanghai. “The new district will greatly facilitate urban planning,” Yu said.

Lu Qilin, a researcher with the Shanghai-based real estate agency Shanghai Deovolente Realty, said commercial properties in Huangpu District would be upgraded after the merger.

“Central Huaihai Road in Luwan District, for instance, is more developed than East Huaihai Road in Huangpu District. They are in fact two parts of the same road. When the two districts are combined, the two roads will be developed as a whole,” Lu said.

As the Huangpu River passes through both districts, it’s hoped the merger will help unify the development of much of the city’s riverside, and perhaps help the redevelopment of the venue of the 2010 World Expo, which were built along the Huangpu River in the two districts.

“The merger will contribute to more reasonable overall planning. Each area is expected to develop different but complementary functions,” said Chen Xian, a researcher at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

The merger is also considered a major step forward in the city’s development as an international fnancial center.

“It is not simply a merger of two administrative divisions, but an attempt to build up Shanghai’s new central business district,”Yu said.

“The merger will bolster the develop-ment of the Bund financial zone,” said Sun Lijian, a professor in economics with Shanghai-based Fudan University.

“Luwan, with large former World Expo plots available for development, can help the 2.6-square-km Bund Financial Zone develop fnancial service industries that will complement the Lujiazui Financial Zone in Pudong New Area that focuses on banking services,”Sun said.

Shen Hanyao, President of the Shanghai Wharton Economic Institute, said as a worldclass metropolis with 23 million residents, Shanghai should have a larger central business district to develop its economic potential.

Balanced development

The establishment of new Dongcheng and Xicheng districts last year is the largest change in Beijing’s administrative divisions since 1986.

The new Dongcheng District, composed of the original Dongcheng and Chongwen districts, has an area of 41.84 square km and a permanent population of 865,000. The new Xicheng District incorporates the original Xicheng and Xuanwu districts and covers 50.7 square km, with about 1.25 million residents.

A report of the Xinhua News Agency said the relatively limited geographical area of the original four districts had restrained their development. As an added beneft, merging the economically weaker southern districts, Chongwen and Xuanwu, with their northern neighbors is expected to make Beijing’s growth more even.

For example, the original Xicheng District is home to hundreds of financial institutions, including multinational banks, insurance companies and securities frms. Clustered on the well-known Financial Street, these firms generate more than 100 billion yuan ($15.65 billion) in revenue for the district annually. While Xicheng District has experienced rapid growth, its southern neighbor, Xuanwu District, has seen comparatively little investment. In order to change the situation, the government of new Xicheng District is making detailed plans to expand the Financial Street to the south.

“The merger is also conducive to optimizing social resources and providing more opportunities for the further development of southern areas of downtown Beijing,” said Song Yingchang, a professor of urban development and environmental research at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Before the merger, Xuanwu and Chongwen districts’ educational resources were relatively weak. They had only a few high-quality high schools. Xicheng and Dongcheng districts, on the other hand, boast many outstanding high schools.

Current regulations, however, stipulate teenagers should only be admitted to schools in the same district where their residency is registered.

“The consolidation is good news for those school-age children in the original Xuanwu and Chongwen districts because they can freely choose good schools in the territories of new Xicheng and Dongcheng districts,” Song said.

“Meanwhile, the merger will reduce administrative costs and improve effciency by trimming the number of government institutions in the districts,” said Wang Yukai, a professor with the Chinese Academy of Governance.

The State Council has demanded local authorities streamline governmental institutions, cut expenditures and improve administrative efficiency in the merged districts. This requirement suggests local government posts will be eliminated as the merger is consolidated.

“Though the posts for many civil servants will not immediately disappear, the prospects of their posts are not necessarily guaranteed in the long run,” an anonymous offcial with the Organization Department of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee told the Xinhua News Agency.

Heritage protection

The increasing adjustments of administrative divisions of cities have also raised concerns about the protection of historical sites in the areas.

The revoked Chongwen and Xuanwu districts in the south of Beijing, for example, had a number of invaluable cultural sites.

In ancient times, areas belonging to original Chongwen and Xuanwu districts were located outside the imperial inner city and were predominantly reserved for people from the lower classes. Therefore their historical sites refect aspects of folk life in old

Beijing.

But, before the merger in 2010, these districts lacked fnancial resources to protect these cultural sites by themselves, Song said.

Cheng Yongtao, Party chief of the Commission of Culture of new Dongcheng District, said protecting cultural heritage is one of the main targets of the merger.

“Historical sites will be better protected by the efforts of one larger district,” he said. “The merger will speed up the renovation of Beijing’s old city, almost all of which falls within the four districts involved in the merger, and make for the better protection of cultural sites.”

In Shanghai, Yu Hai, a sociology professor at Fudan University, said he was worried that the culture of Luwan District might gradually disappear after its merger with Huangpu District.

“The new district authorities need to consider how to protect the culture of Luwan District after the merger,” he said.

“Luwan District is significant because among all the districts and counties of Shanghai, it most represents the regional culture known as ‘Haipai,’which refers to a cultural fusion of Western and Chinese elements,” said Qian Nairong, a professor of liberal arts at Shanghai University.

“The history of Luwan District could be seen as a microcosm for modern Shanghai as it shows the city’s development trajectory,”Qian said.

But, Qian believes it really doesn’t matter whether Luwan District’s cultural heritage sites falls under the administration of one district or another.

“Cultural and historical sites are only meaningful when people remember the history behind them,” Qian said. “Otherwise, they just become another commercial facility to entertain people.”