2005—Urgently Prepare the Detailed Construction Plan for the Lishui Scenic Belt (Part 2)
II. Be highly vigilant against the tendency of the current state of the Lishui Scenic Belt area to seriously deviate from the city's Master Plan. South bank of the Lishui River: the Xixiping and Guanliping sections, since flood dikes have not yet been built, are still largely a "blank sheet" along the river. The main lingering problems are in the Nanzhuangping section. As is well known, this section was hastily developed without planning...
This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.
II. Be highly vigilant against the tendency for the current condition of the section covered by the Lishui River Scenic Belt to seriously deviate from the city's "Master Plan."
South bank of the Lishui River: in the Xixiping and Guanliping sections, because the flood-control embankment has not yet been built, the riverside area is on the whole still "a blank sheet of paper." The main aftereffects are in the Nanzhuangping section. As is well known, this section was hastily developed without planning, so many buildings along the river have their backsides facing the riverbank, which is truly an eyesore; some buildings reach directly to the flood-control embankment, showing that in the minds of the owners and approvers at the time, there was simply no concept of a riverside avenue.
North bank of the Lishui River: the area around Lusiwang Bridge (down to Hongbiyan) is still acceptable at present because no flood-control embankment has been built; the area from Baotagang to Dayong Bridge is a densely populated old urban area of private homes, especially the area from Lishui Bridge to Guanyin Bridge, which developers favor. So far, those that have moved in include the Hardware and Building Materials Market (east side of the north end of Guanyin Bridge), Golden Coast (from the Shoujinyan section on the east side of the north end of Lishui Bridge to the bus station), and the "Cross Street" shopping mall under construction by Baoqing Real Estate Development Company (east side of the south end of Nanzheng Street). A large area on the west side of the south end of Nanzheng Street is currently in intense negotiations with businesses.
From research and on-site inspections, we have learned that the prominent problems currently existing in this section are, first, the absence of a detailed construction plan; and second, that although the "Zhangjiajie City Master Plan" (hereinafter referred to as the "Master Plan") contains relevant conceptual provisions, they have not been implemented according to the requirements of the "Master Plan."
(1) Regarding architectural style.
Article 36 of the Master Plan states: "In conjunction with the construction of local-style architectural complexes along the river in the old city," and "the sections on both sides of Nanzheng Street and the riverside sections on the east and west sides of Nanzheng Street shall be transformed into commercial service areas with local and ethnic characteristics." Article 81 of the Master Plan states: "In conjunction with urban greening and the construction of tourism facilities, create a number of high-quality new scenic spots with rich local characteristics, such as riverside buildings in the Xiangxi folk dwelling style." Article 79 of the Master Plan states: "In the urban area and the city center, man-made landscapes shall predominate, forming a dialogue with natural landscapes through means such as view corridors. When constructing man-made landscapes, especially in the transitional zones from natural landscape to man-made landscape, such as the construction of riverside green spaces, natural forms and materials as well as architectural forms with local characteristics, such as Xiangxi stilted houses, should be adopted as much as possible." The reason boldface was deliberately used in these quotations is to emphasize exactly what kind of architectural style should be adopted for the riverside sections of the Lishui Scenic Belt—the Master Plan, formally implemented in early 2003, already has clear provisions. But when we compare this with the buildings on both sides of Nanzheng Street, the riverside sections on the east and west sides of Nanzheng Street, and the buildings after old-city renovation along the riverside sections, how many of them actually meet the requirements of the Master Plan? Some might say that the Hardware and Building Materials Market, Golden Coast, and others were products of the period before the Master Plan was issued; but the "Baoqing Shopping Mall" (now renamed "Crossroads Shopping Mall"), which only broke ground in 2005, had an originally planned architectural style that did not conform to the Master Plan at all, with no local or ethnic characteristics to speak of. Must our functional departments only have the obligation to follow developers around, without any responsibility to the Master Plan? Fortunately, Mr. Su Yuewu, the major shareholder who joined as general manager in September of this year, possesses uncommon quality and courage. He overrode all objections, tore it down and started over, and redesigned it in an architectural style with local and ethnic characteristics. (Supplementary note: Mr. Su Yuewu initially also proceeded with a non-ethnic style. The author of this article first led a research group composed of some CPPCC members to conduct on-site investigation; then, as a member of the expert review panel for the project's planning and design, together with other panel members, twice rejected the design proposals provided by the company. Afterwards, the author patiently reasoned with and worked on the company side represented by Mr. Su, and Mr. Su, who is quite cultured and level-headed, finally accepted our viewpoint.) Otherwise, this large area—from the southern end of Nanzheng Street in the west, to the Yongding District Grain Depot in the east, from Huilong East Road in the north, to the east side of the southern end of Nanzheng Street in the south—would again be filled with a bunch of low-grade architectural burdens. Then the core section of a garrison city over six hundred years old would, in perfectly good condition, be ruined by low-grade old-city renovation! Look at Shanghai's City God Temple, look at the "Jinli Ancient Street" newly built during Chengdu's old-city renovation, and you can fully understand this simple truth: building architecture with northwestern Hunan characteristics in this section will surely become a city landscape; building other mediocre mosaic architecture will merely add a few piles of fat to the city. The 2005 Asia-Pacific City Mayors Summit severely criticized the tendency of some cities to blindly pursue so-called modernization of "integrating with international standards" while neglecting their own individuality and characteristics, resulting in architecture that is out of harmony with the city's traditional appearance. I wonder whether this criticism can trigger any reaction and reflection in us?
(2) Regarding the flood control embankment.
Article 85 of the Master Plan states: "The development and regulation of the Lishui River shall, on the premise of ensuring its flood discharge function, also take into account such functions as greening, tourism, leisure, landscape, and riverside traffic." The two sections of concrete flood control embankment already built are embankment projects with flood control as their sole purpose. Due to insufficient attention to environmental effects and ecological compensation, they have led to the artificial channelization of a natural river, including the straightening of river morphology and the hardening of embankment materials, and clearly do not possess tourism, leisure, or landscape functions. Since our urban area is being built as a landscape tourism city and tourist destination supporting the Wulingyuan core scenic area, and since the Lishui River flowing through the city is an extremely important landscape axis of this city and an important carrier for shaping the city's individuality and spirit, then the embankment project, as an organic component of the Lishui Scenic Belt, must possess ecological and landscape functions in addition to flood control. As for whether the flood control embankment yet to be built will meet the requirements of the Master Plan and take into account the above functions, we can only wait and see with doubts in our hearts.
(3) Regarding the reserved sections for green belts.
Article 86 of the Master Plan states: "Along both banks of the Lishui River... between the year-round water level and the flood control embankment, a riverside green belt 70 to 100 meters wide shall be provided." But the actual situation is that the area of this planned green belt is being reduced and narrowed step by step, and at its narrowest point it is only 5 meters wide!
(4) Regarding the existing planning and design for the riverside sections.
During the investigation, it was learned that from 1993 to 1994, the Municipal Design Institute was commissioned to carry out the planning and design of a "Riverside Food and Shopping Street"; in 2000, because the Hardware and Building Materials Market was under construction, the Municipal Economic Investment Company was commissioned and hastily organized a "Riverside Green Belt (Scenic Belt) Plan" and a "Street Scene Plan." In the words of professionals in the planning department, these documents were actually just designs for road systems and the like, and were not planning in the true sense.