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Culture relic chief opposes blind reconstruction

By Jia Xu (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-08-03 13:55

The nation’s cultural relics chief is opposed to the blind reconstruction of old city towns, the Beijing times reported Tuesday.

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Shan Jixiang , director of China’s Cultural Relics Bureau, made a public speech on ancient culture relics protection citing several wrong concepts that are popular among city planners during reconstruction.

"Old city towns own more than functional values, it contains more culture and historical values which is rare and unique." he said. Many unsatisfactory reconstruction projects which rebuild with the standards of many metropolitan cities however lose charm among the public, Shan said.

Beside culture values, reconstruction in second-tier cities are a waste of resources and a threat on the living environment Shan said, because most of reconstruction items are in good condition.

"Urbanization syndrome" prevails so much that administrators needs to aware when making decisions Shan warned.