Giulio Verdini & Shengkang Fu Research

The Future of Urban Conservation: Learning from Huangtai and Wudi Roads regeneration area, Qingdao, China

An interdisciplinary design workshop on urban conservation in Qingdao, China, was organised by Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University and ILAUD (the International Laboratory of Architecture and Urban Design), with support from the state-led developer Qingdao RIM Group and Qingdao Baiyang Zhuozheng. Partner institutions included Tongji University and the University of Westminster. The workshop is part of a larger research initiative led by WHITRAP Shanghai (the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO) aimed at rethinking urban heritage conservation in light of current urban management challenges, such as climate change, technological innovation, overtourism, and selective remembrance. The University of Westminster is an official partner of WHITRAP and is in the process of joining the ‘International Network for Urban Heritage Conservation in Higher Education Institutes.’

The study area has undergone significant transformation in recent decades, with the addition of dense modern residential compounds over the old urban morphology, which still features a scattering of historic Japanese- and German-style courtyard houses and villas. These buildings now stand empty and are in need of renovation and re-use. During the workshop, scenario planning methodologies were applied to reveal potential pathways for sustainable local development. Due to the lower real estate and tourism pressures in the area compared to other central areas of Qingdao, the risks of gentrification and tourism congestion are less likely. Local developers are, therefore, more open to testing innovative approaches to enhance the area’s environmental and economic resilience through nature-based solutions and sustainable tourism. The scenarios developed provided an overview of sustainable place-making strategies that could be applied in similar semi-central urban settings. An action plan, comprising short-term tactical interventions and long-term transformative design strategies for the site, was proposed and will be documented in an ILAUD Working Paper (www.ilaud.org). The publication will highlight the necessary skills and competencies in urban conservation and address what is currently missing to achieve truly sustainable and resilient urban transformations.