Page 90 - JCAU-5-1

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Revitalization through community empowerment

3. Research methods and case introduction Laoshan community is a typical old neighborhood, which

3.1. Research methods was built in 1982, with less public space and supporting
service facilities, and a high rate of aging population.
Fieldwork and participant-based observation were
adopted as research methods in this study. The fieldwork As Figure 2 shows, Laoshan community is surrounded
was conducted during the author’s tenure as a principal by rich resources: a natural recreation park (Laoshan City
planner in the case study area, i.e., from 2019 to 2022. As a Recreation Park) in the north; the district government
member of the principal planner team, the author was fully and many business districts (Galaxy Business Center,
involved in the process of community empowerment, and Wanda Plaza, Wanshang Business Center) in the south; the
had both the “top-down” perspective of a planner and the characterized cultural district (Babaoshan Revolutionary
resident’s perspective gained as a communicator. This case Cemetery and Langyuan Park) in the east; and the Laoshan
study aims to use the author’s in-depth first-hand work stadium complex (Beijing Olympic Cycling Stadium and
experience to fully investigate a local case with regional BMX Park), which is used as a competition venue and
characteristics, and to draw up a local practice model that training venue for the Olympics, and a large amusement
can be used in an operational way. This study attempts to park (Shijingshan Amusement Park) in the west.
depict the operation and role of community empowerment As a supporting residential area for Shougang,
in the context of resource-depleted communities and to Laoshan community became a typical resource-depleted
provide a generalized summary of effective community community left behind after the relocation of Shougang.
empowerment work methods. Shougang initiated the relocation in 2005 in conjunction
with the Beijing Olympic Games bid, and officially ceased
3.2. Case introduction production in 2010. The shutdown involved the layoff and
This study takes Shougang Laoshan community (Figure 1) re-employment of more than 20,000 workers. At this time,
(hereinafter referred to as “Laoshan community”), which Shougang workers suddenly lost their stable jobs, and the
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is located in Laoshan Jiedao , Shijingshan District, Beijing, psychological gap was inevitably large. In the following
as the research site. Shijingshan District is positioned in 10 years, Laoshan lost 2500 people who were relocated
the official planning as a national demonstration area elsewhere (Beijing Shijingshan Bureau of Statistics, 2021).
for industrial development and transformation, and The principal planner institution is an institutionalized
a demonstration area for ecological livability, where community planner system that has been piloted in
2
Shougang and its supporting industrial areas were located several Chinese cities in recent years . The scope of work
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before the relocation. Laoshan Jiedao (i.e., subdistrict) is
located in the eastern part of Shijingshan District, with a 4 Beijing officially implemented the principal planner system in
street area of 6.1 sqkm and a resident population of about 2019 as an important initiative to strengthen neighborhood
43,000. The Laoshan community is located on the west renewal and grassroots governance. In March 2019,
side of Laoshan Jiedao and is a supporting residential Beijing’s newly amended Beijing Urban and Rural Planning
community for Shougang, consisting of four Shequs . Regulations formally proposed to “implement the principal
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planner system to guide the implementation of planning
1 In Chinese urban administration system, Jiedao is the level and promote public participation.” The “Implementation
directly under district. In other words, The term Jiedao equals Measures of the Beijing Principal Planner System (for Trial
to sub-district. Implementation)” was released immediately afterwards,
2 China Shougang Group is a famous state-owned-enterprise marking the formal establishment of the principal planner
(SOE), which mainly produces steel. Shougang’s old plant is system at the Beijing municipal level. In 2020, the “Guidelines
located in Shijingshan District, Beijing, only 17 kilometers for Principal Planners in Beijing (for Trial Implementation)”
from Tiananmen Square. After the founding of New China, and “Assessment Measures for Principal Planners in Beijing
Shougang became the benchmark of Beijing’s industry, (for Trial Implementation)” were issued in September and
accounting for a quarter of the city’s total tax revenue in November respectively, further clarifying the functional
its heyday; however, as the capital’s urban areas developed, positioning, work content and evaluation methods of
regional conditions and environmental pressures limited its principal planners. As an independent third party, the
further expansion. Shougang’s production not only caused principal planner is selected and hired by the district
serious air pollution, but also water shortage, which restricted government (Jiedao and township), and planners, architects
Shougang’s further development. and relevant social organizations can be hired to guide the
3 In Chinese urban administrative system, Shequ is the implementation of planning, promote public participation,
grassroot level of governance. Usually, the scope of a Shequ and provide professional guidance and technical services for
may be a residential estate, and a dozen of Shequs consist of planning, construction and management actions within the
one Jiedao. scope of responsibility.

Volume 5 Issue 1 (2023) 5 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.0351