Merging administrative districts has become a trend in Chinese cities as a means to integrate resources, but some residents fear the loss of history.
(Ecns.cn)—Ms. Shen was not happy on June 8, when the Shanghai municipal government merged the two administrative districts of Luwan, where Shen lives, and Huangpu into one larger district.
The merger meant that Luwan District, where the first congress of the CPC was held in 1921, would disappear from the map.
Born and raised in Luwan, Shen said it was difficult to describe how she felt in words. "When the name is lost, everything here seems meaningless."
The "old" Huangpu District is mostly known as the home of the Bund, the financial center of the "Far East" in the 1920s, and located in downtown Shanghai. Its revenue was 13.7 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) last year. The area is also known for the Shanghai World Expo in 2010, which was built along the Huangpu River in the two districts.
The new merged district, which has retained the name of Huangpu, lay in the south of downtown Shanghai, covering an area of 20.5 square kilometers with a population of more than 909,000 people.
Such mergers are not new to residents of Chinese cities, however.
Harbin, the capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, merged its Xiangfang and Dongli Districts into a new Xiangfang District in 2006.
In November of 2009, Tianjin Municipality merged its three coastal districts of Tanggu, Hangu and Dagang into the New Binhai District.
Beijing also announced the combination of four key administrative districts into two on July 1, 2010. The former Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chongwen and Xuanwu Districts located at the core of Beijing eventually became the new Dongcheng and Xicheng Districts.
Merger of interests
The consolidation in Beijing, the city's first since 1986, initiated a redistribution of resources flowing from developed northern districts to less-developed southern ones, according to Beijing Vice Mayor Ji Lin.
Similar ideas have been shared by other municipal governments, such as in Tianjin, whose merger integrated industrial resources along its coastline; financial centers in Beijing and Shanghai also expanded their territories to boost more evenly-distributed development.
Although the mergers took place in different cities, they share one thing in common – all of them form a "marriage" between an economically-central district and a comparatively impoverished one.
For instance, the first impression of Beijing's old Xicheng District, where the "Financial Street" is located, is of transnational banks and businessmen dressed in suits, while slum-like dilapidated flats characterize old Xuanwu District.
"Every time I walk by these houses, which to me are no better than slums, I wonder when Xuanwu will become a modern district," said Mr. Xiao, who has lived in Beijing for decades.
