A Case Study in Conservation: The Ancient City of Nantou

One of the tragedies of rapid urbanisation and gentrification is the irretrievable loss of character and diversity, resulting in homogenous architectural landscapes and experiences. This side effect of globalisation – in some ways inevitable – also entails what is considered in peace and conflict studies as a violent silencing of certain histories and peoples. Those considered unimportant, unworthy or undesirable can literally be erased – demolished in the name of 'renewal'. But Nantou Village, in the historic centre of Shenzhen (in China's Guangdong province), has been guided through an architectural intervention as a truth-telling process that welcomes and honours all it has been, and can be.

Even amongst the wide and diverse multitudes of China's cities, Nantou holds a unique position. Founded during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (331 CE), it played an important administrative and commercial role for centuries, before its decline in the mid-20th Century, in what is now the Shenzhen-Hong Kong region. Over time, elements of the historic ancient town have vanished, whilst an informal village grew around it; then in 2004 a mode of '100 per cent urbanisation' was instigated when the city became China's first to be officially free of rural administrative divisions and social systems.

Government, state-owned enterprises and real estate developers led a 'top down' urbanisation process; whilst at the same time, unofficial construction (with over 1000 illegal 'handshake' buildings¹) also contributed to Nantou's rapid development. Needless to say, the result was messy, unplanned and complex: a historical town within an urban village, encircled by a modern city.

Initially, the urban villages that had haphazardly appeared across wider Shenzhen were considered flaws against an ideal of 'perfect urbanisation'. To create a mirage of uniform success, many of these authentic villages in other areas were completely demolished and rebuilt. High-rise office buildings, shopping malls and high-density residential buildings appeared, delivering great profits to developers and short-lived satisfaction amongst villagers, who received compensation packages to sweeten the transition.

As a practice focused on architectural design and urban research in the context of contemporary Chinese cities, URBANUS noted, however, the long-term, irretrievable losses of this process. "The original lifestyle disappeared instantly and thoroughly, as if they never existed…", laments Luo Yiqian, researcher at URBANUS, in a piece titled 'Towards Cities Grow in Difference', which continues:

"Losing their affordable living space, millions of tenants had to move to other surviving urban villages or leave the city for good. As these communities move away, the city's operational cost rises, its memory fades, and the urban identity becomes hard to accumulate. This regeneration model comes at the cost of the distinctive feature, history and one of multiple future possibilities of Shenzhen".

As the perception of urban villages gradually shifted from one of deficiency ('urban disease') to something vital ('urban organ'), URBANUS recognised that tensions between village and city in fact represented Shenzhen's unique history, character and value. "Both [are inseparable] narratives… Shenzhen cannot move toward a future discarding its own history," argues the author. Taking cues from an updated urban regeneration policy that instructed integrated renovation (rather than demolition and uniform replication of selected buildings), URBANUS saw an opportunity for a community-based curatorial approach.

In early 2016, URBANUS, who operate less as traditional architecture practice and more as a think tank, was invited to conduct a comprehensive spatial study of Nantou Old Town. There, they've conducted rigorous research and elastic experimentation through an innovative city-as-exhibition model to reconcile the city's multiple histories, through a process that's deep on engagement and light on intervention – and community-led rather than imposed. Through historical documents and field research URBANUS developed a regeneration strategy focused on rejuvenating Nantou through incremental revitalisation that impacts larger clusters with micro-scale interventions, as well as organising cultural events.

In 2017, URBANUS served as the curatorial team and brought the "Shenzhen-Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism \ Architecture" to Nantou Old Town. It marked the commencement of preserving and revitalising Nantou Old Town through integrating spatial renovation with exhibition. As the main venue, Nantou city would become a living exhibition site, which would reveal its plural identities, functions and potential, via a deep process of co-design with citizens. An Urban Village Laboratory paired designers and residents who intended to have their houses renovated, with several cooperative projects enabled. More community consultation was invited through forums that explored wider social, cultural and spatial issues through a series of resident and local business storytelling, studies and research by urban planners and architects – and even art performances enacting daily life in urban villages. To ensure the longevity of visions, an additional forum brought together residents, government representatives and directors, social organisations and industry professionals to explore pathways for Nantou beyond the biennale.

Then, in 2019, URBANUS extended its work in Nantou Old Town, applying the concept of "Urban Coexistence" to the transformation of the Nantou Hybrid Building. This project demonstrates a progressive regeneration approach, focusing on preserving historical layers through collaging and juxtaposition, rather than replacement.

Through the project, several exhibition venues were identified for renewal to act as nodes in the public space journey and provide the structural framework for future city development. 'Baode Square', the old threshing venue at the centre of the old town, became a terrazzo basketball court and plaza. Temporary sheds became permanent public buildings with shared rooftop 'viewing steps' providing access, welcome public space and integration with surroundings. The existing Public Stage was renovated with new sloped seating areas and a fabric curtain inserted under the existing steel roof truss. The jewel-like symbol of plurality is the Nantou Hybrid Building: a cluster of five individual buildings from different periods of history. An elegant adaptive reuse design showcases their diverse materials, structures and styles; a celebration of "complexity, contradiction and conflicts".

Eschewing the top-down, unilateral decision-making approach characteristic of many urban renewals and 'starchitect' practices, URBANUS' consultative intervention in Nantou "emphasised the engagement of various parties, [striving to] respect residents' daily life and stimulate cultural awareness and confidence of the community," as the authors of 'Towards Cities Grow in Difference' explain. The result of this – arguably longer, slower, quieter – process is a greater sense of agency, ownership and collaboration amongst the community. It is a process that respects multiple stakeholders, perspectives and rights, with URBANUS acknowledging that "the production of space in urban villages is not only a process of creating spatial products, but also a process of recreating social relations". This social intention seems obvious for public spaces, but can be subsumed when physical outcomes become the 'hero' of the architectural process, or when warring egos and power dynamics divest projects of their creative, social and economic potential.

Processes like these also embed social sustainability, in the sense that shared ownership is the foundation for ongoing care and custodianship. People, businesses and organisations are likely to stay and support a project, idea or place they've emotionally invested in through co-creation. In Nantou the city can continue to authentically 'become' as a reflection of its participants when not forced to adhere to an imposed, sanitised, singular architectural narrative. And this is why — whilst the architectural interventions of Nantou are beautifully conceived and executed — the deeper value of this project is its cultivation of dynamic, healing and transformative relationships: between people, between places, and between Nantou's past, present and future.

‍

¹ These are buildings that have been built so close together that residents could literally shake hands through their windows.