Urban renewal improves lives in Shanghai

Adding happiness

In the new buildings, each household will move into an apartment with a bedroom that is at least 2 sq m larger than their original ones. Within the apartment, there will also be other space of at least 10 sq m for a bathroom, a kitchen and a balcony.

"We really appreciate the government's efforts to improve living quality for us. We'll be living in new buildings with lifts and brand-new infrastructure and surroundings. We feel very grateful and happy," said 68-year-old Yu Cunguo, who once lived with five other family members in two rooms totaling 25 sq m in the old residential compound.

In the new apartment complex, there will be public facilities, including a canteen for the elderly, community activity rooms, reading rooms, a sports center and a nursing home.

Working with architects, the subdistrict authorities have tried their best to help residents increase their sense of happiness.

"For example, in the original buildings there were as many as 282 room types. The smallest room was 7.2 sq m, while the largest was over 100 sq m. It took two months for our workers to measure and calculate the size of each residence," said Ren.

The calculation was really hard work, he said. In some cases, four households shared a bathroom. While in some others, as many as eight shared one. Differences also lay in that some had independent or shared balconies and storage rooms, while others did not.

"We held discussions with residents multiple times so that they would feel what they were given in the new buildings was good and fair," Ren said.

Regarding the design of the apartments, the district authorities frequently collected ideas from residents to ensure their needs were met. For example, it was requested that there be windows in each section of the apartment, including the kitchen and the bathroom, and that all the bedrooms must have good sunlight.

"It took us 12 months to come up with the final design of all the apartments after revising the plans more than 20 times. The final design was accepted by all the residents," said Ren.

Sports enthusiast Xin is already imagining his new life in the new building — with an elevator and a sports center.

"Our residential compound is in a very good location. It's just next to the Pengpu New Village metro station, so it will be convenient to get around," he said.

zhouwenting@chinadaily.com.cn