The Struggle of Shanghai Tianzifang in My Eyes

I used to live near by this area called Tianzifang (田子坊) in Shanghai. This area currently houses more than 200 restaurants, craft stores, gift shops, cafes operating in rows of 1930's traditional Shanghai stone residential architectures, Shikumen.

These are not fancy old buildings. Although this area is right next to famous the French Concession, it was for locals to live. As time goes by, lots of the buildings were worn down and the area were seen unattractive and as a problem for the fast-expanding urban area.

In the 1990‘s, famous Chinese artist, Chen Yifei and a few others set up studios here as it was cheap to rent. Later on, more cafes and craft shops opens in this area. Since around 2007, this area were full of restaurants and shop and an tourist attraction. And you probably can guess the rest of the story —— gentrification came along.

I lived near by in 2009 and 2010. At that time, there were still many families live there on the second floor where their first floor were rented out for businesses. I can always see clothes hanging on the lines for drying outside. Every evening, men would shower in the alleys with a tower to scrub their backs. I also heard complains and witness conflicts almost everyday. Families would hang red banners (the same type as for Chinese propaganda) with slogan complaining the noise. It was interesting. I went there almost everyday, sometimes just to walk through it, and I kept telling everyone to go there.

Two years ago (2014) when I came back to visit. I saw no clothes or banner hanging. Half of my favorite shops and galleries were gone. I felt sad. And I wonder if gentrification is the destiny of areas like this across the world. How difficult, or is it even possible to for an area like this sustain, to keep the balance like how it was in 2009 and 2010 here.

#shanghai