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Two Water Towns in the Qingpu District of Shanghai Semprebon

The local government promoted
renovation actions in 2016, but, unfortunately,
the bulldozers turned down several historic
buildings, leaving Liantang in problematic
physical and sociocultural conditions: lacunas
within the built fabric and people evictions
[Figure 15]. This unexpected episode
stimulated investigative works to document
the historical values of Liantang and to
propose strategies for sustainable
sociocultural development.

4.4 The impact of heritage tourism on the
two historical water towns
The architectural and urban features of
Liantang and Zhujiajiao show significant
parallelisms in the relationships with the

canals, morphological patterns, building
Figure 11. A resident of Liantang reporting about the
difficult living conditions and the preoccupation of typologies, architectural style, structural
losing her house after government-led renovation technologies, and ornamental apparatus
works. Source: Photo by the author, 2016 [Figure 1]. In particular, along the canals,
comparable built fabrics were found, given by
similar urban grains with dense combinations
of courtyard residences and tiny lanes, as well
as the same systems of primary and secondary
pedestrian circulations.
Nevertheless, the massive tourism-led
development that occurred in Zhujiajiao filled
the built fabric with leisure facilities,
substantially altering its spatial experience.
As confirmed in other research [68, 69] , the
ethnographic campaign revealed that the
Figure 12. One of the stone bridges featuring the
traditional ambience of Liantang. Source: Photo by the pervasive substitution of old houses and
author, 2016 workshops with souvenir shops, restaurants,
and tourist facilities, in general, has altered
the social tissue, eventually compromising
the site’s sense of place. It has to be remarked
that such a controversial development
strategy has met the appreciation of many
urban citizens, as emerged from
conversations held on-site. For instance, in
the perception of a middle-aged Shanghainese
woman, periodically visiting Zhujiajiao
represents a convenient way to spend free
time, immersed in a relaxing cultural

environment far from the frenetic, congested,
Figure 13. Memorial Hall of Chen Yun in Liantang.
Source: Photo by Luca Maria Francesco Fabris, 2016

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