Urban regeneration and social capital in China: A case study of the Drum Tower Muslim District in Xi’an

Cities 35 (2013) 14–25

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Urban regeneration and social capital in China: A case study of the Drum Tower Muslim District in Xi’an Binqing Zhai a,⇑, Mee Kam Ng b a b

Department of Architecture, Xi’an Jiaotong University, No. 28, Xianning West Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710049, PR China Department of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history: Received 22 August 2012 Received in revised form 14 April 2013 Accepted 16 May 2013 Available online 8 August 2013

Compared with the considerable number of studies on urban redevelopment highlighting the downside of wholesale redevelopment in breaking up communities, only limited reports exist on successful prevention of demolition of lived spaces in place-specific communities with strong social capital. Massive redevelopment and restructuring of the urban fabric have occurred in post-open door China. Top-down urban regeneration policies in Chinese historic cities are characterized by a bipolar approach: conservation of limited listed heritage buildings and massive redevelopment of traditional quarters. This paper examines an extraordinary story of a community in the Drum Tower Muslim District in Xi’an that counteracted the implementation of a district redevelopment plan. This study also explores how the strong religious and ethnic social capital of the Muslim residents helped them sustain the fight for their right to the place. Their fight eventually forced the district government to incorporate the retention of their ways of living and business in the revised redevelopment plan. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Urban regeneration Social capital Conservation and redevelopment Muslim community Chinese historic cities Xi’an

Introduction

Urban regeneration and social capital

Urban renewal practices in this age of globalization focus on physical restructuring and economic growth (Abramson, 2001; Atkinson, 2002; Cheung & Leung, 2008; Healey, 1991; Turok, 1992), often leading to the destruction of long-established neighborhoods or community networks (Ginsburg, 1999). Such is the case in China’s rapidly growing transitional economy where governmental and private sector-led redevelopment to restructure spaces for capital accumulation has proceeded with minimal community involvement. This paper examines the extraordinary story of the Drum Tower Muslim District (DTMD) in Xi’an, which is one of the most important historic cities in China. The Muslim community in Xi’an is rich in social capital (in the form of religious and ethnic capital) and has succeeded in counteracting governmentsanctioned urban regeneration practices at the community level. The Muslim community was able to safeguard the demolition of their lived spaces. The succeeding sections discuss the general relationships between urban regeneration and social capital in Chinese historic cities. The discussion is followed by an in-depth study of the DTMD case, which highlights the functions of religious and ethnic capital in bonding the Muslim community to fight for their right to live in the historic core of the city.

Urban regeneration is defined as ‘‘comprehensive and integrated vision and action which leads to the resolution of urban problems and which seeks to bring about a lasting improvement in the economic, physical, social and environmental condition of an area that has been subject to change’’ (Roberts, 2000, p. 17). This definition highlights the features of comprehensive urban regeneration strategies, which are aimed at the simultaneous adaption of multi-perspectives of urban areas. Despite its theoretical aspirations, urban regeneration practices in dilapidated urban areas are often dominated by property-led redevelopment (Carmon, 1997; Healey, 1991). Aside from economic development, property-led redevelopment practices often result in urban gentrification, which is described as a process of both spatial and social differentiation (Zukin, 1987, p. 131). Despite the considerable number of studies that emphasize the ‘‘dark’’ side of gentrification, including displacement of indigenous residents and destruction of established neighborhoods (Abramson, 2001; Atkinson, 2002; Smith, 1996; Wyly & Hammel, 2001), several studies highlight the ‘‘bright’’ side of gentrification (Freeman & Braconi, 2004; Vigdor, 2002; Zukin & Kosta, 2004). An example of the advantage of gentrification is the commercial activity brought about by the gentrification of part of Lower Manhattan. Zukin argued that far from destroying a community, the gentrification project suggests that ‘‘a retail concentration of designer stores may be a territory of innovation in the urban

⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 29 8266 8477 (O). E-mail (M.K. Ng).

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0264-2751/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2013.05.003

B. Zhai, M.K. Ng / Cities 35 (2013) 14–25

economy, producing both a marketable and a sociable neighborhood nod’’ (Zukin & Kosta, 2004, p. 101). By juxtaposing both sides of gentrification, Zukin argued that different interpretations on this issue are related to different study subjects. Several studies focus on gentrifiers, whereas ‘‘other studies examine property that is gentrified’’ (Zukin, 1987, p. 131). Different study foci may yield diversified conclusions on the effects of gentrification. The effects of gentrification may seem even more multifaceted when the context of a study attempts to integrate more diversified perspectives. Advocating for urban regeneration strategies, which tend to improve multifaceted development aims, several researchers argue that urban regeneration strategies tend to disguise the social goals of urban development (Slater, 2006; Smith, 2002), given that gentrification is closely related to displacement. Smith argued that displaced people’s actual living situations are seldom on the government’s action agenda (Smith, 2002, p. 445). In the case of ‘‘social mix,’’ Slater asserted that the social effects of gentrification, which assume a socially balanced society through interactions among different classes and thus serve as a substantial part of urban regeneration policies, are often covered by the ideologically trending term ‘‘urban regeneration’’; this term ‘‘anaesthetizes our critical understanding of gentrification’’ (Slater, 2006, p. 751). Against the disadvantages of the social effects of gentrification, this paper contends that local people’s collective activities affect the eventual outcomes of urban regeneration projects. Before discussing how social activities affect the urban regeneration process, this research initially investigates the influence of urban regeneration practices on local communities through residential relocation, especially in historic cities. Residents behind old dilapidated facades in urban areas have a strong attachment to their place of residence. Jacobs (1993, p. 365) asserted that the sense of trust and security developed in old neighborhoods ‘‘glue’’ the concerned residents together and lead them to perceive their relationships as ‘‘unique and irreplaceable’’ and ‘‘remarkably valuable in spite of its [physical] shortcomings.’’ These residents naturally exhibit strong objections to proposed relocation plans. A number of issues frustrate and hinder residents from accepting relocation plans. Residential displacement increases the economic burden of the relocated indigenous residents. A study in South Korea indicates that the focus of local urban redevelopment policy on economic growth or boosting housing stock often leads to escalated housing and rental price. Consequently, many original house owners and tenants can no longer afford the high living costs and have to relocate to cheaper and more affordable areas (Ha, 2004). In addition to escalated economic burdens, relocated residents also tend to be ‘‘adversely affected in terms of job accessibility, commute time, housing consumption, and disposable income’’ (Day & Cervero, 2010, p. 762). The aforementioned problems generally exist among relocated residents. This paper contends that relocation of original residents has more serious implications for historic cities.

Urban conservation, community participation,1 and social capital Conservation is a substantially important strategy in the regeneration of historic urban areas. Widely accepted urban conservation practices focus not only on tangible elements such as heritage buildings and monuments but also on intangible elements such as indigenous lifestyles and customs (Ahmad, 2006). Conservation of local indigenous lives, that is, indigenous residents interacting within their living environment, is a noteworthy strategy in local comprehensive development plans (Miura, 2005). The 1 In this paper, terms such as community participation and involvement are used interchangeably.

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participation of indigenous residents in the conservation process is important in comprehensive urban conservation (Khouri-Dagher, 1999). Arnstein (1969, p. 216) defines participation as a channel for ‘‘the redistribution of power that enables the have-not citizens . . . to be deliberately included in the future.’’ The World Bank defines participation as ‘‘an active process whereby beneficiaries influence the direction and execution of development projects rather than merely receive a share of project benefits’’ (Paul, 1987, p. v). The first definition focuses on the critical requirements for citizens to effectively participate in urban development in which the redistribution of power to community members is highlighted. The second definition by the World Bank focuses on the impact of participation on urban development and the outcome of corresponding development projects. The World Bank’s definition of participation is adopted in this research; participation is examined at the community level. Taylor (2007, p. 300) claims that during urban development, local communities are potentially valued ‘‘both for the new knowledge and expertise they can bring to hear, and also for their resources – tangible and intangible.’’ Including the community members in the decision-making process for local development projects is necessary to improve the well-being of the entire society. A number of researchers emphasize that community participation essentially concerns community empowerment (Arnstein, 1969; Taylor, 2007; Yung, Chan, & Xu, 2011). An empowered community would participate in local development projects through participation ‘‘spaces’’ created by themselves, which differ from the invited participation offered by local authorities (Cornwall, 2004). By participating through community-created spaces, the empowered community members can determine how information is shared, how policies are set, and how benefits are divided (Arnstein, 1969). Arnstein (1969, p. 217) asserts that ‘‘community participation without redistribution of power is an empty and frustrating process.’’ Without citizen empowerment, decision-makers would make decisions that are declared beneficial to the general public but would eventually benefit only a proportion of the people. Social capital plays a significant role in the participation of empowered community members in urban regeneration. Putnam (2000, p. 19) defines social capital as the ‘‘connections among individuals – social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them.’’ High levels of social capital normally facilitate active community participation in group activities, which in turn augment intra-community trust, norms, and social networks (Devine-Wright, Fleming, & Chadwick, 2001). The established trust and networks further contribute to community members’ involvement in group activities (Hutchinson, 2004). Based on his extensive empirical studies on community collaboration practices in Italy, Putnam (1993, p. 4) eloquently pointed out that successful collaborations and trust on one issue tend to facilitate further collaborations on other issues. Similarly, a local community that embodies strong social capital might be more active in local urban conservation and regeneration. Active participation by the community members contributes to the conservation of local indigenous lives and intangible heritage. However, where do the high levels of social capital come from? Literature indicates that various factors contribute to close community connection or strong social capital in urban development. Many studies (Brown & Perkins, 1992; Brown, Perkins, & Brown, 2003; Kasarda & Janowitz, 1974) support the positive correlation between physical built environments and community interactions. In these studies, place attachment serves as the positive bond between residents and their socio-physical settings. Brown et al. (2003, p. 259) assert that attachment of local residents to their place is nurtured through their daily encounters with the

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local environment and their neighbors, seasonal celebrations, continued physical personalization, and other factors. Physical interactions contribute to the development of familiarity, security, and trust among residents. Thus, place attachment has a remarkably strong association with community interactions. Residents who express high levels of place attachment also exhibit intimate neighborhood interactions or high levels of social capital (Kleinhans, Priemus, & Engbersen, 2007, p. 1083). Interactions and connections among local community members can be further enriched when the concerned community is embedded with religious or ethnic features. Religion and ethnicity are two vital factors that strengthen intimate community relationships (Furbey & Macey, 2005; Marty, 2010; Yang, 2007). Marty (2010, p. 40) probed the connections between religion and trust and disclosed the positive ties connecting religion with trust. He argued that the concept of trust lies at the heart of religions by nature. Trust is the base for prayer and worship in religious practices. Yang (2007) also indicated that one significant function of religion is to construct, arrange, reiterate, and intensify social values. He claimed that the contributions of religion to intimate community relationships are manifested in five aspects: religion as a social–structural model, religion provides common values, religion mitigates conflicts and hatred among community members, religion intensifies community management, and religion agglomerates the entire community (Yang, 2007, p. 358). In other words, a religion that centers on mutual trust establishes intimate relationships and high levels of religious capital. Although a member’s religion may contribute to his or her involvement with specific group members, many researchers pointed out that religion also tends to hinder a member’s involvement with other groups (Levi, 1996; Putnam, 2000; Uslaner & Conley, 2003). In his seminal book Bowling Alone, Putnam (2000, p. 23) explicitly indicated that ‘‘by creating strong in-group loyalty,’’ social capital among members of particular groups tends to ‘‘create strong out-group antagonism.’’ This finding is echoed by other studies. Uslaner and Conley (2003) reported that acculturation association of closely tied community members with other groups might be affected by the ethnic features of the members. When a group of people has close religious or ethnic ties, they are easily aware of the strangers to their groups and are unlikely to take the risk of trusting people outside of their groups (Levi, 1996, p. 51). Nonetheless, given its limitation or ‘‘dark’’ side (Ostrom, 1997), the substantive role of social capital in promoting religious or ethnic community members’ involvement in the decision-making process of redevelopment projects is documented in many studies, which will be discussed in the succeeding sections of this paper.

Urban regeneration and social capital in urban China Since 1949, urban development in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has not been particularly successful in nurturing social capital in general, including historic cities, despite considerable effort and changes. In the pre-1980 centrally planned economy, development ideologies and various political movements exerted great influence on human relationships and the tendency of people to participate in urban affairs (Xie & Costa, 1993). Researchers contend that people back then were inclined to maintain a moderate relationship with one another to obtain limited resources without being involved in political issues (Walder, 1986) when limited national resources were largely distributed by the central government through the ‘‘Danwei’’ (economic units) system (Bray, 2005; Yang, 2005). Public participation in urban development is obvious in various forms of political movements, especially in

the 1960s. As China’s political economy continues to become increasingly market oriented, human relationships become ‘‘instrumental’’ (functional) and ‘‘commoditized’’ (money oriented) (Gold, 1985, p. 662). Social capital in China, which is frequently in the form of human relationships or guanxi, has evolved from being based on political ideology to being based on the realization of selfinterest (Yue, Wang, & Wang, 2002). The evolving human relationships in China aggravate the reduced involvement of concerned residents in local redevelopment projects. Urban land and housing reforms established in the late 1980s in China allow local municipal governments to generate as much economic profit from local redevelopment projects as possible. Leasing land-use rights to private developers have become the main channel of increasing necessary financial resources for local urban renewal projects (Yang & Wu, 1999, p. 116). Urban renewal activities have become a means to maximize economic returns because of the involvement of private developers. As a result, redevelopment-led urban renewal activities pose tremendous challenges to the conservation of physical and socio-cultural environments in Chinese historic cities. These activities not only destroy the historic urban fabric but also encroach on agricultural land and consume a great amount of energy and resources (Fang, 2000). In the early 2000s, the Chinese national government began revisiting urban development projects and proposed alternative multi-dimensional development policies and strategies. China’s Tenth Five-Year Plan (2001–2005) redirected the focus of national development to comprehensive considerations in formulating national and societal development plans (Hu, 2001). A peoplecentered and multi-dimensional concept of development was introduced in 2003 through the slogan ‘‘Scientific Outlook on Development’’ in the Third Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee. Comprehensive and sustainable development has become central to China’s national development policies since the new concept of development was introduced (NDRC, 2007). China’s national development policies were eventually reduced to urban development guidelines and plans at the local level. This transformation of national development policies resulted in implications on the conservation and regeneration of historic cities in the country. Many problems associated with urban regeneration practices in Chinese historic cities are related to the lack of necessary laws on public participation mechanisms (Yang & Wu, 1999; Zhao, Lee, & Sun, 2006). The 2007 Urban and Rural Planning Law is the only legislation at present that stipulates public participation in urban planning in China.2 Article 26 of the legislation stipulates that ‘‘before filing an urban or rural plan for examination and approval, the organ establishing it shall announce the draft of the planning and collect opinions from experts and the general public by way of argumentation, hearing or other. The draft shall be announced for at least 30 days.’’ The Article continues by stipulating that ‘‘the organ establishing the planning shall fully consider the opinions of experts and the general public, and attach an explanation on the adoption of the relevant opinions and an explanation to the materials filed for examination and approval.’’ However, the local government has absolute control of the release of planning information in China’s current top-down decisionmaking institution and executive-led government jurisdiction.

2 In the 1990 City Planning Act of the PRC, the issue on public participation in urban planning was reviewed in Article 28, which stipulates that ‘‘city planning should be promulgated by the people’s government of the city after it has been sanctioned.’’ Nevertheless, many scholars argue that when plans are conceptualized by the authorities, there is no guarantee that the plans are for the interest of the public. This concern persists in the 2007 Urban and Rural Planning Law in which more detailed requirements on how to promulgate the plans are laid out. The proposed plans by the authorities still cannot guarantee that the general public’s needs are considered.

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When announcing a proposed plan, many local governments simply present the artistic impressions of the projects to the public. Critical information related to the interests of the local residents is not released until very late in the planning process or prior to the start of the project (Lu, 2005, p. 23). This situation substantially undermines the right of local residents to participate in urban regeneration. Social capital, community collective resistance, and urban redevelopment process Given the lack of official and substantive public participation mechanism, community collective resistance is considered a passive and bottom-up means of community involvement in urban redevelopment. Collective resistance of local residents to residential relocation succeeds in several cases, whereas such resistance fails in other cases (Abramson, 2001; Hsing, 2012; Jin & Li, 2011). The outcomes of collective resistance, as Cai (2010, p. 185) indicated, are associated with two issues, namely, forcefulness of citizens’ resistance and ‘‘the cost of concessions incurred by the government in accommodating the demands of the citizens.’’ The central government and local governments may have different responses when confronted with the same collective resistance. Cai (2010) asserted that the rationale lies in the differences among the governments’ perceived cost of their responses. The central government’s major concern is to protect the regime’s legitimacy and social stability, whereas the local government focuses on policy implementation and local development (Cai, 2010). The central government’s concerns on the regime’s legitimacy make it more tolerant of residents’ collective activities than local governments (Jin & Li, 2011). Although the central government is more tolerant than local governments, Cai (2010, p. 7) argued that the central government is unlikely to become involved in local residents’ collective resistance until ‘‘the central government feels pressure to stop the resistance and protect regime legitimacy.’’ In this situation, the local communities’ determination to fight for their lawful rights often pays off (O’Brien, 1996). Several studies highlighted the opportunities protesters may seek from their connections with upper-level elites or government officials to strengthen the power of collective activities (Klandermans & Oegema, 1987; Shi & Cai, 2006). Protesters are provided with crucial information and resources by virtue of such political spaces. Social organizations and non-governmental organizations serve as intermediary agencies that ease the communication process during interactions between governments and collective protesters (Hu, Xie, Chen, & Li, 2006). Many studies have indicated that close connections or high levels of social capital among collective protesters can substantially influence the outcomes of local redevelopment practices by complicating or extending the decision-making process (Buckland & Rahman, 1999; Halpern, 2005). Shi and Cai (2006) believe that close networks among community activists promote group solidarity and participation in collective activities. These social networks are significant factors in overcoming free-riding problems and contribute to community collective actions (Shi & Cai, 2006, pp. 315–316). Closer networks among participants would exert pressure on the participants themselves by providing a threat of future repayment to community members who do not participate (Putnam, Leonardi, & Nanetti, 1993). Therefore, close networks based on intimate factors such as family and long-time neighbors substantially strengthen local residents’ participation in collective actions (Hsing, 2012, p. 89). Collective actions sometimes force the central government to intervene in favor of local residents to protect social stability and regime legitimacy (Shi & Cai, 2006).

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Research methodology This research adopts case study to provide an in-depth examination of the role of social capital in the regeneration of a historic urban quarter in the city of Xi’an, China. Xi’an is a Chinese historic city undergoing massive and comprehensive development. According to the Conservation Regulations of Xi’an City, DTMD is one of the few historic quarters in Xi’an; a suitable comprehensive development strategy for DTMD is currently being studied (SCXPC, 2002; XMHDPPO, 2003). DTMD, which is located at the center of Xi’an’s historic urban core, is a controversial area that has attracted considerable attention because of the implementation of the local regeneration plan (Hoyem, 1989, 2001; Hoyem et al., 2002; Xiao, 2004; Zhu, 1998). The DTMD case offers many theoretical and practical implications to this research. The key actors in the regeneration projects in this study follows the definition provided by Li, Ng, and Skitmore (2012, p. 334), which refers to ‘‘those who can influence the project process and/or final results, whose living environments are positively or negatively affected by the project, and who receive associated direct and indirect benefits and/or losses.’’ Based on Li et al.’s field surveys, the key actors in the regeneration of DTMD include local authorities, local professionals, development companies, and local community members (including local residents, private commercial dealers, and concerned groups). The data utilized in this study were obtained from both firstand second-hand resources. The data from second-hand resources were mainly derived from several previously conducted field studies by local researchers. Various methods were employed to collect first-hand data, including field observation and face-to-face interview, which were conducted in June to July 2006, May to June 2007, and February to March 2008. Considering the occurrence of unpredictable situations, the survey methods were applied ad hoc in the field study. Conducting field studies on social capital and community participation, which local authorities consider highly politically sensitive, is difficult because of the current political situation in China. Through the assistance of the author’s personal connections in Xi’an, several members of local authorities agreed to be interviewed. These officials are from Beiyuanmen Street Office (Beiyuanmen jiedao banshichu) and Construction Bureau of Lianhu District (Lianhuqu jiansheju). These interviewees are generally low-ranking officials such as junior engineers and office secretaries; however, all of them are directly involved in the DTMD regeneration project. The local professional interviewees are mainly academics, and most of them are either directly involved in the production of the DTMD regeneration plan or have conducted previous research on the case. These professionals, including the former dean of Xi’an City Planning and Design Institute and three professors in local tertiary institutions, are of senior status in their respective institutions. This research aims to understand how the regeneration plan for DTMD is determined, how the plan is implemented, the individuals involved in the plan, and how local authorities perceive the local residents’ collective actions during regeneration. This research categorized DTMD residents into three groups based on the Xi’an Statistical Yearbook (2007). The groups are young people (aged 20 below), adults (aged 21–64), and elderly people (aged 65 and above). This study initially surveyed the same number of respondents for each age group to obtain a holistic understanding of local residents’ opinions on the regeneration plan. The respondents in each group were randomly selected and surveyed. A total of 60 local residents were successfully surveyed with the help of several community representatives. The final group of 60 respondents consists of 14 respondents from the young people group, 19 from the adult group, and 27 from the elderly

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group. Several local community representatives significantly contributed to this study by reflecting the general opinion of local residents on the regeneration plan as well as community relationships. This research explored the following questions during the field observations and face-to-face interviews. (1) What are the opinions of local residents on the governmentproposed regeneration plan? (2) What hinders local residents from accepting the government-proposed plan? (3) How do local residents perceive neighborhood relationships in the area? (4) What are the major factors that positively and negatively influence local neighborhood relationships? (5) What is the mechanism of local residents’ collective activities? (6) Why do some residents participate in collective activities, whereas others do not? The case of Xi’an Located in Northwest China, Xi’an had been the country’s capital for more than one thousand years since the 11th century B.C. Today as the capital of Shaanxi Province, Xi’an is the biggest industrial and commercial center, as well as the political and educational core, in Northwest China. In 2006, the urban area of Xi’an was approximately 3600 km2, with a population of 5.4 million (XSB, 2007, p. 67). In 1952, Xi’an’s first master plan was put forth by the state government. Based on this plan (1953–1972), Xi’an mainly set up a foundation for socialist urban and infrastructural development. The issue of heritage conservation was not raised to guide the historic city’s development until the second master plan (1980–2000). Nevertheless, although heritage conservation was further underlined in Xi’an’s third master plan (1995–2010), the 1990s witnessed massive property-led urban redevelopment practices in Xi’an. Urban renewal programs during this period were largely characterized by the exchange between economic profits and land use rights (Wang, 2000). Confronted with the many challenges and opportunities from the pro-growth urban development policies, the launching of Western China Development Program in 1999, and the adoption of sustainable development as national development strategy in the early 2000s, the municipal government of Xi’an put forward its fourth master plan (2008–2020). This latest master plan highlights both urban conservation and redevelopment policies. These master plans and policies have significant influences on the local urban regeneration programs and practices of different periods. On the one hand, urban regeneration programs in Xi’an have attempted to conserve the limited heritage monuments and ancient ruins (dayizhi) as well as the overall spatial structure of the city wall area. On the other hand, urban regeneration practices have tried very hard to reconstruct traditional cityscapes through wholesale redevelopment projects, which potentially boosted three to four times the original floor areas in the city to maximize financial returns (He, 2002). These projects created a lot of pressure on the local aging urban infrastructure and the resulting built forms clashed with the established urban conservation plan, thus spoiling the historic urban scenes. Large-scale redevelopment activities have much to do with the pro-economic-growth urban policy in Xi’an. Similar to other places in China, Xi’an local government utilized public ownership of the land to raise funds for urban development. With the emerging urban land market, property developers were encouraged to get involved in the redevelopment projects. As a result, real estate development has been booming in Xi’an in the late 1980s, generating gigantic revenue for the municipal government (He, 2002). For

instance, the investment fund for real estate development in Xi’an urban areas was RMB3.8 billion in 1998. The figure grew 8.5 times and reached RMB32.1 billion in 2006. In the meantime, the total revenues from real estate development jumped over 10 times from RMB1.2 billion in 1998 to RMB12.5 billion in 2006 (XSB, 2007) (see Fig. 1). Regarding the administrative and management system in urban development, urban regeneration programs within the historic urban core fall under the responsibility of several local government agencies, including the Xi’an Urban Planning Bureau (XUPB), Xi’an Urban Construction Bureau (XUCB), and Xi’an Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage (XMACH). Both XUPB and XUCB are responsible for the redevelopment projects of old residential areas and the improvement of urban roads and sewage systems within the city wall (Wang, Ruan, & Wang, 1999, p. 72). In Xi’an, public participation in the urban planning and regeneration process has also been limited to the stage of plan promulgation organized by local district governments (XCPB, 2008). When private developers are strongly encouraged by local authorities to get involved in the redevelopment projects, unfortunately there is very little room for the participation of local communities. Regeneration project of the DTMD Since the early 1990s, the redevelopment practices within DTMD have attracted widespread attention. These practices have revealed a close relationship between social capital, community involvement, and the effects of the local regeneration process. The DTMD is located at the center of Xi’an historic urban core area. Shehui Road is to the east, Zaoci Lane to the west, West Avenue to the south, and Hongfu Street to the north. The location of DTMD is shown in Fig. 2 as a red3 square. The green line represents the city wall that runs parallel to a moat which delineates the boundary of the city wall area. The whole DTMD was declared as a historic urban area in the Conservation Regulations on Xi’an Historic City (SCXPC, 2002). Conservation of this area has been a significant part of the Xi’an Conservation Plan, a specialty plan in Xi’an’s master plan. With an area of 54 ha, DTMD is occupied by approximately 60,000 people, half of which are Muslims (SCXPC, 2002; XMHDPPO, 2003). In China, Muslim residents have a typical living tradition known as ‘‘spread widely throughout the country, but concentrated in particular locations (da fensan xiao jizhong)’’ (Ma, 1998b). Muslim’s living style of predominantly living in one or two regions contrasts with other ethnic groups in the country. Ma (1998b) contends that this phenomenon is related to the Muslim’s religious psychology. Due to the need to attend worship ceremonies, Muslims tend to live around mosques. This kind of living pattern is also observed in DTMD. Same as the Muslim people in other Chinese cities, most Muslim residents in the DTMD conduct family-based businesses. Approximately 70% of the local residents in the area work in private businesses (SMDPI et al., 1997, p. 70). As one of the busiest marketplaces within Xi’an historic urban core, this place is favorable to local businessmen, but also generates many traffic and environmental problems such as traffic jams and exhaust fumes in the narrow district roads (Zhu, 1998, p. 258). In addition, due to local dilapidated urban infrastructure, some residents and businessmen are accustomed to discharging used or contaminated water directly into the public sewage system, which often results in the blockage of sewage pipes. These problems have seriously affected the reputation and value of this historic district. Fig. 3 shows the current situation in the area. 3 For interpretation of color in Fig. 2, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.

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RMB Billion yuan

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35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

1998

1999

2000

2002

2005

2006

Investment fund for real estate development Revenues from real estate development Fig. 1. Investment and revenues from real estate development in Xi’an. Source: Compiled from various Xi’an statistical yearbooks.

Fig. 2. Location of DTMD within Xi’an city wall area. Source: Base map from Google Map.

Since the end of the 1990s, various urban renewal projects have been conducted within the DTMD area, including the Cultural Landscape Project of Beiyuanmen Street in 1991, the Muslim Historic District Protection Project in 1997, and the Redevelopment of Da-mai-shi and Sa-jin-qiao Streets Program in 2005. Because

of the large-scale redevelopment and residential relocation activities, the Da-mai-shi and Sa-jin-qiao street redevelopment led by the local Lianhu district government has attracted much contentious attention. According to the government-proposed redevelopment plan, two streets passing through the Da-mai-shi

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Fig. 3. Current situation in Da-mai-shi and Sa-jin-qiao area. Source: By authors in 2008.

and Sa-jin-qiao areas will be widened to avert local traffic problems, the existing low-rise houses will be replaced with multi-level modern complexes, and the original residents will be relocated out of the city wall area to other places (Hoyem et al., 2002). Fig. 4 illustrates the perspectives of the proposed plan. During the redevelopment process, private developers have been strongly encouraged to participate. The local district government put forward such slogans as ‘‘while I create the environment, you will invest;’’ and ‘‘while I develop this area, you will make a fortune’’ to lure private sector investment (XLDG, 2005, p. 1). By involving the private sectors, the local governments expected to obtain the necessary funds to carry out the redevelopment project as well as local urban infrastructure. Since the local district government launched the housing removal activities in the Da-mai-shi and Sa-jin-qiao areas in 2005, some concerned residents were forcibly displaced, and local indigenous family-based businesses were shut down. Nevertheless, the project has not been fully completed until today (Figs. 5 and 6) because the Muslim community has come together to protect their living spaces.

relationships. According to the Islamic doctrine, when a Muslim marries, his/her couple should also be a Muslim. This kind of marriage network becomes the most intimate interaction mode for Muslim communities (Ma, 1998a, p. 331). It is also one way of maintaining and expressing their identity. Therefore, the local saying that ‘‘nine of ten Muslims are relatives’’ is true. This kind of relationship promotes frequent mutual interactions and intimacy (Yang, 2007). During the author’s survey in 2007, local residents indicated that some families could maintain relative and kinship ties for three to five generations. Hence, the DTMD is not only a community of the minority nationality sharing the same religion, but also a big and tight network built upon blood and kinship.

The capacity of the Muslim community to work together to protect their living spaces has been facilitated by the existence of higher level of social capital among themselves. According to a survey by Hoyem (1989, pp. 5–13), approximately 80% of the respondents indicated that they had very good relationship with their neighbors; and 76% had best friends within the district, and 22% worked in the same workplace. In a more recent survey, more than 98% of the Muslim community remarked that they had frequent contacts and, thus, maintained very good relationships with their neighbors (Yang, 2007, p. 259). This kind of close neighborly relationships explains why many resettled residents during the implementation of the redevelopment project chose to move back to the DTMD. Through the author’s field studies in 2007 and 2008, a number of factors are identified that account for the local high levels of social capital.

Religion and ethnicity In the DTMD, the Muslim culture forms very conspicuous social norms and modes for community members’ interactions. For Muslim communities, mosques are the centers of cultural inheritance, religious ceremony, and local interactions. In mosques, Muslim communities hold big functions, such as religious education for the youth, marriages, and funeral ceremonies. Mosques are also the places to settle family and neighborhood conflicts. For religion in mosques, Muslims normally pray five times each day and have one gathering rite every Friday. Such regular daily worship ceremonies and activities in mosques provide many opportunities for local community members to meet and interact. In the author’s interviews with local residents in 2007, nearly all respondents indicated that religious group activities constituted the most important parts of their lives. Notably, Muslim residents’ interactions are not restricted to one mosque; rather, they frequently make contact with members in other mosques. Religious and social structures promote mutual understanding, group identity, and interactions among Muslim communities. Their social and religious norms contribute to the formation of common beliefs and worldview among local residents. This kind of religious and ethnic identity serves as the basis for Muslims’ internal cohesion (Ma, 1998b, p. 92).

Kinship relationships The intimate neighborly relationships among local Muslim residents have much to do with their marriage custom and kinship

Place attachment and local business setting In addition to religion and ethnicity, the attachment of many Muslims to the DTMD has much to do with the commercial

Cohesive Muslim community and high levels of social capital

B. Zhai, M.K. Ng / Cities 35 (2013) 14–25

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Fig. 4. Local government-proposed plans for the Sa-jin-qiao Street area. Source: Local official promulgation materials in 2005.

opportunities the area can provide. As mentioned earlier, most local Muslim families conduct private businesses related to Muslim religion or Hui ethnic culture such as catering, butchery, antiques, and curios. To serve the business functions, many residential buildings facing the streets have been transformed into residential-cum-commercial compounds. Houses facing the public street have become shop-fronts for retail businesses selling, for example, beef and mutton, whereas the spaces behind are used to process meat. According to statistics, the number of tourist within Xi’an city wall area has doubled from 401,559 in 1992 to 867,273 in 2006 (XSB, 1993, 2007). The commercial income in the area has also been increased over 15 times from RMB99.5 million yuan in 1992 to RMB1,533.6 millionyuan in 2006 (XSB, 1993, 2007). Therefore, most local Muslim families are economically dependent on this historic area, further strengthening their place attachment. Regarding the local people’s opinions on the implemented regeneration plan, many interviewees in the author’s 2007 field survey expressed their concerns about losing their sources of income, if they gave way to the local redevelopment plans and relocated. One Muslim resident responded to the question ‘‘What hinders local residents from accepting the government-proposed plan?’’ as follows:

Of course, we wish for our living environment to be renewed and improved, but we cannot possibly leave this area. According to the government’s plan, the Muslim population will be broken up and scattered. Our collective religious lives will be challenged. Muslim life has five outstanding features: reading the Koran (nian); worshiping (li); fasting (zhai); donating (ke); and being a pilgrim to Mecca (chao). All these aspects are related to mosques, without which we could not live. When we are displaced, we will lose the mosques and our neighborhood connections will also be disrupted. In addition, many Muslim residents have private businesses here. The location of this place, which is at the city centre, provides an opportunity to nurture vibrant commercial activities. If Muslims are evicted, they will lose their ways of making a living. Besides, the location of this area makes it convenient for us to access nearby supermarkets and other public facilities. If we accept the government-proposed relocation plan, we will lose everything. According to the government-proposed compensation plan, the displaced residents would receive approximately RMB 2000/m2 in 2005, whereas the market price of local commodity housing in the area of the same year was approximately RMB 4500/m2 (Table 1). Many residents indicated that they would not be able to afford the

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Fig. 5. Partial redevelopment of the Da-mai-shi Street. Source: By authors in 2008.

Fig. 6. Redevelopment of the Sa-jin-qiao Street on hold. Source: http://att.bbs.hsw.cn/Day_110522/138_173763_c2ea3018f4f763e.jpg?222.

new apartments upon completion in the original site if they agreed to the compensation plan. Thus, they would be left with no choice but to go for cheaper accommodations in remote areas.

Mosques as centers for Muslim gathering and decision-making As previously mentioned, a mosque, as the place for religious activities and for Muslims’ ordinary lives, plays a significant role in a Muslim community. In addition, a mosque is also the place where Muslims make collective decisions. In the Xi’an Muslim management system, the Muslim community is under a double management mechanism by a governmental organization (shequ or juweihui) and a mosque-based management committee (siguanhui). This mechanism can primarily be attributed to the consideration of the religious feature of a Muslim community (State Council of China, 2005). Shequ or juweihui usually deals with such matters as registering the community members’ hukou and

transmitting higher levels of governmental body’s instructions, whereas siguanhui takes care of the Muslim residents’ education, marriage, and other family affairs. Thereby, siguanhui tends to build a more intimate connection with Muslim lives than shequ or juweihui, which mainly deals with administrative issues. The members of siguanhui are elected by local Muslim residents annually, and the head of siguanhui is Imam, the teacher of the Muslims.4 Since the implementation of the regeneration plan, siguanhui has taken the responsibility to gather the concerned Muslim residents and to discuss the government-led regeneration plan. The Mosque is their working place. During their daily worships in the Mosque, every Muslim is able to obtain the most recent information on the regeneration plan and express his/her opinions to siguanhui. To express the Muslims’ concerns more effectively, several Muslim representatives were elected to hold dialogues

4

According to the author’s survey in 2007.

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Table 1 Price comparison between removal compensation and market price of local commodity housing within the Xi’an city wall in March 2005. Source: Lianhu District Construction Bureau, 2007. Property rights

Private-owned residential housing Private-owned business housing Public-owned residential housing Public-owned business housing

Compensation Removal compensation from government

Local second-hand apartment price

Market-price of local commodity housing

1680–2180 (RMB yuan/m2)

3000–3500 (RMB yuan/m2)

4000–5000 (RMB yuan/m2)

3800–4000 (RMB yuan/m2)

Approximately 10,000 (RMB yuan/m2)

Approximately 30,000 (RMB yuan/m2) (including 47% public apportion)

800–1000 (RMB yuan/m2) Approximately 2000 (RMB yuan/m2)

with local district government. During the author’s field survey in 2007, several representatives mentioned that, as members in siguanhui, they felt obligated to represent the Muslim community and present their opinions to local authorities. They believed that their fight for Muslim neighborhoods’ collective interest will benefit everyone in the community, as many concerned issues are closely related totheir religion and economic lives. Just as the interviewee responded to the author’s question, local Muslim residents care much about their religion and mosques, local intimate kinship relationships, and their economic spaces, among others. These aspects evidently concern everyone in the field. Indeed, these aspects also reveal that the local government needs to consider far more issues other than simple monetary compensation to local Muslim residents in the regeneration plan. In fact, in order to investigate the opinions of concerned residents and business owners about the renewal plans in the Da-mai-shi and Sa-jin-qiao Streets area, a comprehensive survey was conducted by siguanhui in 2005. Three redevelopment proposals were presented: the first was the one conducted in Beiyuanmen Street, which protected the original private business spaces and built modern houses immediately behind the shop fronts; the second one was proposed by local residents, which built modern houses and shopping malls in the original sites of some moving out work-units; and the third one was proposed by the local government, which compensated and relocated the residents to suburban areas and conducted the local government’s massive redevelopment plan. In the survey, altogether 190 questionnaires were completed. Among them, 94% of the respondents favored the first choice, 7% approved the second, and none chose the third.5 The survey result shows that local residents saw very little interest in the third plan. Sadly, with the current top-down planning and decision-making mechanism, the third plan was the one implemented by the district government. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that, since the redevelopment project began in 2005, several dialogues were held between the Muslim residents and local authorities. Although the local governments exerted great efforts to convince the concerned residents that their future would be better with the completion of the plan, however, all persuasion efforts were in vain. Community activism Confronted with the devastating effects of the redevelopment project on their religious lives and private businesses, local Muslim residents with cohesive community relationships, strong place attachment, and high levels of social capital began to mobilize themselves to protect their living spaces. Due to the lack of official participation channels in the renewal process, the local Muslims elected their own representatives from siguanhui and organized

to carry out collective community petitions. For instance, when the redevelopment project in the Da-mai-shi and Sa-jin-qiao Street areas was promulgated by the local district government in September 2005, many Muslim representatives solicited for local concerned residents’ opinions and began to petition the Xi’an City Planning Bureau against the proposed redevelopment plan in October 2005. Their petition mainly highlighted three issues. The first issue concerned their suspicion that the strategies of the largescale housing removal and residential relocation violated the 2002 Xi’an Conservation Regulations. The second issue was a plea to protect the ten local mosques and the Muslim graveyard, which are of significant importance to the local Muslims and constitute the unique features of the DTMD area. The last issue indicated that most of the relocated residents have been cut off from their conventional means of making a living, which was against the overall well being of the local community and the construction of a harmonious society as propagated by the local government in the regeneration plan. According to the Letters and Visits Guidelines of China (xinfang tiaoli), government agencies are obligated to respond to petition letters within thirty days of receipt (Hsing, 2012). Unfortunately, Xi’an City Planning Bureau did not respond to their petitions.6 In view of this, the Muslim representatives escalated their collective petitions to the Xi’an Municipal Government at the end of November 2005. Afterward, the petitions reached the Shaanxi Provincial Government and eventually the State Council in January 2006. As a result, the Xi’an City Planning Bureau was forced to issue an announcement to the local district government regarding the redevelopment activities in Da-mai-shi and Sa-jin-qiao area in May 2006. However, to a large extent, this announcement merely clarified the municipal urban development master plan and the importance of the local redevelopment strategies at the district level. In June 2006, the Xi’an City Planning Bureau issued a statement to local residents explaining the importance of this redevelopment plan to the overall regeneration program in Xi’an and the legitimacy of the local district government’s activities. These announcements and statements actually encouraged the district government to continue house demolitions and forceful evictions. As a result, the immediate following demolitions in July 2006 provoked serious conflicts and tension between the Muslim residents and the district government. Infuriated by the responses of the Xi’an City Planning Bureau, local Muslim representatives sent petitions to the State Council in Beijing again and again. In September 2006, the Ministry of Construction, representing the State Council, sent special investigators to examine the implementation of the urban planning in Xi’an. Their mandate was to examine whether or not the local redevelopment practices were following the approved master plan.7 The investigators were 6

5

The author’s field survey in 2008.

7

The author’s field survey in 2008. Master plans in Xi’an are approved by the State Council.

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required to report directly to the Ministry of Construction which, in turn, would request the local governmental agencies to explain and justify their activities. The Muslim representatives were also invited by the investigators to state their concerns during the implementation of the local redevelopment projects. As a result, the local district government had to postpone the implementation of the redevelopment plan and tried to come up with a more ‘‘comprehensive’’ regeneration plan.8 Up to the writing of this paper, the government still did not disclose its new plan of this area. To some extent, one can say that this was not a small victory for the Muslim community in the private sector redevelopment-led culture of urban regeneration in Chinese historic cities. Discussions and conclusion This paper described the rare and courageous story of how a community rich in religious and ethnic social capital succeeded in changing the course of top-down redevelopment to protect community members from being displaced and neighborhood networks from being disrupted. The community is located in the traditional Chinese historic city of Xi’an. Urban regeneration in China’s historic cities is often characterized by the conservation of a few heritage buildings and the redevelopment of large-scale traditional urban quarters by ‘‘private sectors’’ with the primary aim of promoting local economic growth (Zhu, 2004). This paper revealed that promoting bipolar strategies in a community with strong ethnic and religious social capital is difficult. The minority Muslim enclave with their high levels of social capital based on intimate kinship connections, strong place attachment, and cohesive religious lives organized themselves to fight for their right to stay in DTMD in the absence of official participatory channels. The considerable pressure exerted by the Muslim community’s repeated petitions to different levels of governments succeeded. The local district government finally agreed to listen to the views of the local residents and altered its original redevelopment plan. Hopefully, traditional Muslim businesses and community properties would be protected. The level of preservation exhibited by the community enabled the comprehensive conservation of both tangible and intangible elements in the historic area. However, the DTMD case is unique. Community petition is an informal and passive way for local residents to influence the regeneration process. The DTMD case highlights the need for a participatory regeneration process in historic cities to establish balance between redevelopment and conservation, especially in the conservation of intangible heritage embodied in people’s lives and economic spaces. The traditional lives and economic spaces of local indigenous residents must be treated with discretion in the conservation of intangible heritage. The collective and indigenous wisdom of the residents is a valuable element in the decision-making process when establishing a local regeneration plan given that the government-initiated regeneration plan has failed. To formalize local residents’ participation in the regeneration process, this research provides the following suggestions. (1) On the side of local governments: In the current Chinese urban development process, community participation has been treated in a rather tokenistic manner (Arnstein, 1969). Local governments simply present the artistic impressions of the projects to the concerned community. Involving the community members in the regeneration plan is necessary to incorporate local wisdom in the plan. This study revealed that local representatives elected by the community members themselves can effectively facilitate the

8

The author’s field survey in 2008.

community’s involvement in the regeneration process. The community representatives in this study are from the mosque-based management committee, siguanhui. This type of community-based self-elected management committee is absent in other Chinese historic quarters. Thus, the district government as the administrative agency directly interacting with the local community must encourage communities to elect their own representatives. These representatives will convey the community’s opinions in the decision-making process for the regeneration plan. (2) On the side of local residents: Strong ethnic and religious social capital tied the community members of DTMD closely during the community-based involvement with the regeneration project. Solidarity based on strong social capital forced local people to fight not only for a more acceptable compensation proposal but also for the conservation of their traditional lives and economic spaces. The absence of ethnic and religious ties in other ordinary historic quarters in urban China resulted in the existence of instrumental and commoditized human relationships among the community members. In such situation, monetary compensation is often the paramount concern of local residents (Hsing, 2012). This study contends that the lack of strong in-group social capital among residents emphasizes the need for local residents to build close out-group connections with upper-level authorities during the residents’ collective actions for involvement in regeneration plans. As Shi and Cai (2006, p. 316) stated, ‘‘horizontally, networks among prospective participants promote group solidarity and participation, and vertically, networks between participants and officials may also contribute to the success of their involvement in local development plans.’’

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