2024 Dialogue with District Party Secretaries: Managing the “White Coffee, Night Alcohol” Dilemma – How to Balance “Lively Atmosphere” with “Civilized Behavior”?
How Will Shanghai’s Jinxian Road, Brought into the National Spotlight by the Popular TV Series “Blossoms Shanghai”, Be Renovated? How Will the “Coffee by Day, Bar by Night” Business Model Adapt and Upgrade in an Ever-Changing Consumer Environment?
On December 2, the “2024 Dialogue with District Party Secretaries” series, jointly launched by Shanghai People’s Radio Station, Shanghai Dajiaoyan, The Paper, and other organizations, premiered.
Gao Yun, Secretary of the Huangpu District Party Committee in Shanghai, was the guest on the inaugural episode. He visited the quaint and charming Jinxian Road and the newly renovated Changle Cun, sharing Huangpu District’s plans for business model upgrades and its focus on residents’ lives.
When discussing how to make the city’s vibrant atmosphere accessible yet not disturbing to residents, Gao Yun stated that it is necessary to balance the operations of businesses, consumer preferences, and the lives of nearby residents. It’s not feasible to simply ban everything, nor can we let things run wild. We need to have both a lively atmosphere and civilized behavior.
Jinxian Road: Ordered Implementation of Business Adjustment and Enhancement
Jinxian Road is where Lingzi’s “Night Tokyo” local cuisine restaurant is located in the TV series “Blossoms Shanghai”. After the series aired, this 300-meter-long street stirred up memories of the past for many Shanghainese. Despite their modest exteriors, some veteran restaurants always have long queues, exuding a strong sense of local life.
How can we preserve Jinxian Road’s original charm while improving the living environment for nearby residents? How can we enhance the overall style and quality while revitalizing the street’s appearance?
Gao Yun mentioned that Huangpu District has initiated a special project to enhance Jinxian Road this year. The goal is to implement ordered adjustments and upgrades to the regional business model over the course of three years. Designers will optimize the small shops on Jinxian Road while respecting their original characteristics, preserving the lively atmosphere while encouraging fashionable and youthful elements.
Besides visiting the street-side shops, Gao Yun also walked into the alleyways several times to experience the joys and hardships of the residents’ lives. “Many residents in the alleys still live in relatively poor conditions. Our future work is not just about Jinxian Road; more effort needs to be put into the alleys,” Gao Yun stated directly. According to the design plan, Huangpu will improve the overall image and quality by renovating key nodes and enhancing streetscapes. This includes installing urban furniture, decorating street intersections, renovating street-side garbage bins, optimizing water taps, flower stands, electrical boxes, and alley entrances to enhance residents’ sense of gain.
“The substation and garbage room here contrast sharply with the fashionable streetscape and need to be fully designed and renovated,” Gao Yun said. According to the design plan, Huangpu will conduct major repairs on old houses with high residential density, poor housing quality, and unattractive facades in the eastern section. Simultaneously, it will improve the street-facing facades and optimize residential facilities to further enhance street cleanliness. In response to urgent public needs, service facilities such as community vegetable markets and convenient fitness areas will be constructed to address the lack of public infrastructure in the area.
“We have formulated a three-year plan, starting with minor renovations followed by major ones. During the renovation process, we will repeatedly solicit opinions from nearby residents and businesses, carefully consider and optimize the plan before implementation,” Gao Yun said. He added that the opinions of the people are invaluable, and Huangpu hopes to transform Jinxian Road into a vibrant, nostalgic, and fashionable living and leisure area through this three-year plan.
Addressing the Management Challenges of the “Coffee by Day, Bar by Night” Model
In the Ruijin Erlu Street area, where Jinxian Road and Changle Road are located, many shops operate as cafes during the day and bars at night. This “coffee by day, bar by night” model, as a new cross-border business, is popular among the market and young consumers. However, it also brings disturbances, sanitation, environmental, and security issues that deeply trouble city managers.
Bars seek vibrancy, while residents desire tranquility. When commercial development conflicts with residents’ peace, how will Huangpu, located in the heart of Shanghai, resolve this dilemma amidst numerous complaints?
In response, Gao Yun said, “First, we cannot simply ban everything because there is a group of young consumers in the city who need these activities. In this case, we need to balance the operations of businesses, consumer preferences, and the lives of nearby residents.” He also emphasized that, on the other hand, we cannot let things run wild. We need to have both a lively atmosphere and civilized behavior.
To this end, multiple departments in Huangpu District have formed a task force to conduct in-depth research and field investigations. They have compiled a “Summary of Laws and Regulations Applicable to Bars,” covering over 50 items related to fire safety, bar decoration, social security, noise disturbance, and store sign management. This document clarifies the basis for law enforcement, penalty standards, and responsible entities, providing a basis for legal governance and comprehensive supervision.
Meanwhile, Huangpu has further clarified the legal responsibilities of bar owners, specifying that bars must not engage in prohibited activities such as unauthorized electrical wiring for charging, indoor smoking, street vending, playing music loudly at night, or holding commercial performances without approval. A “Negative Behavior List for Bars” and a self-regulatory convention have also been established.
So, can bars “expand indefinitely”? The answer is no.
The Huangpu District Commerce Commission and the sub-district office have jointly developed the “Guidance on the Layout of Bar Business in Key Areas of Huangpu District,” focusing on density analysis and business layout suggestions for bar-concentrated areas such as Jinxian Road and Nanchang Road. The sub-district office and the district market supervision bureau, among other departments, have established a mechanism for sharing information on bar opening approvals. Based on the “Guidance,” they comprehensively consider the locations of new bars and provide guidance to bar operators applying for opening. At the same time, a hierarchical and classified management mechanism is implemented for bars to allocate management and control resources more reasonably.
Through multifaceted efforts, the management of Huangpu District’s “coffee by day, bar by night” model has entered a normalized and long-term phase. There are currently 129 bars in the district, and both “110 police reports” and complaints related to bars have shown a downward trend.
Century-Old Residence, “Eternal Happiness”
As the conversation deepened, Gao Yun visited Changle Cun. This residential area, located at 39 Shannanxi Road, was originally named Verdun Garden and was designed by the Anli Trading Company in 1925. Feng Zikai once mentioned that he lived here very comfortably and happily, leading to the renaming of the area as Changle Cun, with the name written by Feng Zikai himself.
Changle Cun is located within the Hengfu Historic and Cultural District and is a typical French-style garden lane residence. As Feng Zikai’s former residence, Changle Cun holds significant cultural and artistic value. However, after a century of weathering, Changle Cun faced issues such as wall erosion, structural looseness, water leakage in floor slabs, and outdated facilities, prompting the urgent need for renovation and improved living conditions.
In response to these problems, in 2021, the Huangpu District Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, in conjunction with the Hengfu Historic District’s historical building renovation plan, initiated a project for the renovation and environmental enhancement of Changle Cun, which commenced in 2022. During the renovation, the principle of “restoring the old to its original state” was adhered to, with detailed research and meticulous work on distinctive features such as the Mansard roof and fish-scale scraped walls, addressing the challenges of restoring the original style. In the latter half of 2023, the renovation project neared completion, with corridors, staircases, shared kitchens and bathrooms within the buildings, as well as the facades, landscaping, and public pathways outside, all refreshed, making it a popular destination in the Jufuchang area (referring to the commercial district formed by Julu Road, Fumin Road, and Changle Road).
During the renovation of Changle Cun, many details were decided upon after consultation with the residents. In designing the garden, the community’s “self-governance homeland” listened to public opinions and pooled wisdom, leading to three adjustments to the plan. Ultimately, rockery landscaping and rest areas were added, and the variety of plants was enriched. The “garden landscaping” at each resident’s doorstep achieves the goal of “seeing greenery through the window,” recapturing the charm of “Verdun Garden.”
“Now, Changle Cun has become a public garden that everyone can enjoy from outside without disturbing the residents living inside,” Gao Yun said under the ginkgo trees in Changle Cun. He added that the renovation and upgrading of Changle Cun are also a microcosm of Huangpu’s urban renewal efforts. Huangpu’s Bund Second Facade, Old City Area, Hengfu Historic and Cultural District, and areas near People’s Square along Beijing Road have a long history, with complex ownership, usage, and leasing relationships. “First, these complex relationships need to be sorted out. Secondly, the original buildings have not been renovated for
