A hearing held by Hongkou District People's Congress has again drawn people's attention to the city's rapidly disappearing historical architecture.

In the north of the city center, Hongkou District is famous precisely for its architecture. A quarter of the district, about 168 hectares, has been earmarked as a historical zone, but there are another 28 historical buildings scattered throughout the district that have been listed as old architecture. Some 31 buildings will be added to the list soon.

But many residents and scholars feel the speed of the listing is still too slow.

"There are so many old buildings in Hongkou which need to be listed for protection," said Wang Fengqing, a local pensioner, at the hearing.

He gave the old building of the Gongji Hospital, the earliest hospital in Shanghai, as one example of many. This is not on the protection list despite a history of 127 years. The building, which has been vacated, is facing demolition.

Three years of his research solely along Sichuan Beilu have revealed at least seven similar sites that he says are of historical importance but are not protected.

Research carried out earlier by Tongji University found between 10,000 and 20,000 unrecognized valuable historical sites citywide.

Xu Huili, a cadre in Tilanqiao Community (the community was listed as a historical zone in Shanghai), said the city should also speed up the drafting of detailed rules to put the regulations in place.

"The city has adopted the Regulation on the Protection of Historical Architecture and Zones in early 2002, but there is still a lack of implementation rules," said Xu.

One American Chinese recently visiting Shanghai found the old house his grandfather used to own had been listed for demolition.

Aiming to save the building, he attempted to pay for repairs -- but could not find out which department he should approach to get the go-ahead.

The regulations say a special fund should be set up to protect old architecture, and the local government should set up a system to run and manage the fund. No system has been set up as yet.

Xu also said it is necessary to organize experts into giving each of the old buildings a specific scheme of protection.

"How to better preserve this architecture is an important issue which has not only to do with economic development, but also the benefits of local residents," said Ying Beiyi, director of the Hongkou District People's Congress, at the end of the hearing.

The district People's Congress is also planning to issue a document to push forward the regulations, and the hearing will be a good base for decision-making, Ying said.

(China Daily August 18, 2004)