On November 8th the MID classes of 2012 and 2013 traveled to visit Shanghai. The trip was organized by MID Program Office, and led by MDP Executive Director, Associate Professor LIU Zhilin. The group of SPPM students and faculty met with Huangpu government officials, visited urban renewal sites and met with international development firms to better understand Shanghai’s urban success.
Signing Ceremony
For the first time SPPM established a partnership with a local government of Shanghai. During the signing ceremony with government officials from the Huangpu District, the most central of Shanghai’s 18 districts, the Dean of SPPM Xue Lan explained the importance of this collaboration, describing Tsinghua University as a leading University in China. Despite the spatial distance between the two cities, this will not preclude the realization of a close partnership today and in the future. Moreover, SPPM as a globally acting institution that offers two master programs for students of all backgrounds and nationalities and such creating a multicultural and multidisciplinary environment can contribute innovation and ideas to that partnership from an additional perspective. The agreements signed by SPPM and the Huangpu government also aim to create a potential internship opportunity for SPPM students to get direct insight in local government projects.
Sinan Mansions and Xintiandi
The afternoon after the signing ceremony, the MID students continued their trip to visit the Sinan Mansions, where many of the elites of China used to reside; Zhou Enlai, the former Premier of the PRC and Sun Yat-sen, the founder and leader of the China revlotuion were among the few elite figures mentioned. The originally urban site was redeveloped according to Shanghai’s urban planning to preserve the historical aspect of the houses and the original area. It is now a mixed site comprising hotels, rental resident houses, and service outlets.
The second site that was visited, Xintiandi, almost shares the development of Sinan Mansions where Shanghai government entered in a market based compensation scheme with local residents to claim back the land to undertake comprehensive reconstruction in order to preserve the historical value of the place.
Both cases allowed MID students to understand how China, or at least the Shanghai government has approached the massive urbanization and the redevelopment of historical areas. The students also enjoyed a coffee break after the visit at Xintiandi.
Gensler and AECOM
Targeting to understand how Shanghai’s urban development is shaped today and in the future, the MID students visited two architectural corporations being directly involved in Shanghai’s urban planning. The first visit was made to Gensler, a global corporation for architectural and design services with products ranging from in-house design to the architectural planning of the Shanghai Tower, Shanghai’s landmark project and the second largest building in the world. After a detailed tour through the office and information about local city development projects, the MID students made use of the possibility to get first-hand information from professionals by asking questions about the problems and opportunities for China’s further urbanization.
The second visit at the next day was made to AECOM, an internationally acting provider of professional technical and management support services for various fields such as water management and transportation. After an introductory presentation about several city development projects from Professor SHEN Jie from Fudan University, the students learned about the constituents of the company, in particular how environmental sustainability can practically be integrated in urban development.
Conclusion
The Field trip to Shanghai with its focus to establish a permanent partnership with the Huangpu Government and the numerous site visits to see the urban development of the city was a large gain for the MID students and a step towards a deeper understanding of the roles of governing and corporate entities within this development process.
Contributed by Andre, David, Fred and Hoang
