The Historic Bund of Shanghai was one of the earliest examples of an urban public space designated for recreational purposes in modern China. By examining “Riparian rights, 1845—1930: General” and other unpublished historical archives, this research reconstructs the three-decade urban process that led to its origin. It reveals that four stakeholders were involved in this urban process: (1) the foreign Bund lot holders; (2) professionals and general land renters in the Shanghai Municipal Council; (3) the Shanghai Daotai; and (4) and the British consuls. The combined forces of the latter three ultimately thwarted the efforts of the Bund lot holders to privatize and industrialize the land. This discovery theoretically challenges the conventional dual paradigms of “Western impact” and “colonizer-colonized confrontation” which tend to position the Western powers and the indigenous in a state of complete opposition. In practice, this historical event calls for a reevaluation on the increasingly centralized decision-making process in the contemporary urban construction, reinvigorating the importance of pluralistic and concrete social negotiations for the sustainable development of the human inhabits.

Li Yingchun is an Associate Professor at the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, the founding Executive Editor of Built Heritage journal, and the co-founder of the Digital Heritage Innovative Technology Lab. Her research focuses on the architectural and urban history of 19th- and 20th-century China, with a special interest on the everyday life of people in historic environment. She also actively pursues the sustainable development of the historic built environment.

Introduction by Lala Zuo, Director of Digital Heritage Lab, Area Head of Global China Studies, Associate Professor of Art History, NYU Shanghai.

Commentator: Lena Scheen, Director of the Center for Global Asia, Associate Professor of Global China Studies, NYU Shanghai; Global Network Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts and Science, NYU.