Local Culture and Urban Renewal: The Case of Fuzhou

Does this look familiar: the renovated blocks throughout the city with standardized street scene—much broaden streets with multiple lanes for cars, heavy traffic, high-rising shopping malls and commercial buildings along the streets. This is what has been happening in Fuzhou and many cities throughout China. Thus the saying “ one thousand cities with one face” (千城一面).

Fuzhou Oil Paper Umbrella (油伞), one of the most famous local specialties (image from the internet)

Gone are street delicacy stands and family-run workshops of local specialties as they couldn't afford the high rental fees of the shopping malls and lost out to the branded fast-food chain stores. As a result, almost all the blocks look almost the same, there is little motivation for people to stroll along the street tasting local delicacies and hunting for local specialties. Thus, gone with the local delicacies and specialties is the hustle and bustle of street life.

If you would like to experience the old street life, you will have to visit the few isolated preserved blocks mainly catering for tourists, such as San Fan Qi Xiang (三坊七巷) and Shang Xia Hang（上下杭）. In other word, the relics of the old local culture in these isolated demonstrative blocks have little or no connection with the daily life of the locals and are mainly for demonstrative and tourism purpose.

油炸春卷 (Fried Spring Rolls), a famous local delicacy (image from the internet)

 Gone with the old blocks are the personal touch and local culture. Here we see the hollowing of the local culture, as well as the separation of local culture and city memory from the daily life of the locals.

Perhaps, life is much more than shopping in the shopping malls or at the finger tips.  Life is much more than daily travel between home, workplace and recreation venues. In fact, apart from nostalgia, we have a lot to desire for the hustle and bustle of street life with local features, especially when we are striving to reconstruct and revitalize communities in urban renewal.