PLANNING THE SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENT:

FRAGMENTED MUNICIPALITY AND CONTESTED SPACE, 1843-1937

BY
LI YINGCHUN
李穎春

M. ARCH (TONGJI UNIVERSITY, SHANGHAI) 2007

B. ARCH (TONGJI UNIVERSITY, SHANGHAI) 2004

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR
THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

SEPTEMBER 2013
 ABSTRACT

Planning the Shanghai International Settlement:

Fragmented Municipality and Contested Space, 1843-1937

by
LI Yingchun
李颖春

for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture

in The University of Hong Kong
at September 2013

This dissertation explores the process of city planning and construction of the
Shanghai International Settlement between 1843 and 1937, where the city grew from
a low mud bank to the foremost modern metropolis in China. Modern roads provided
the basis and the primary engine for the urban transformation. The study investigates
the initial modern street network laid out in the nineteenth century, the jurisdictional
and administrative dispute between the Chinese and foreign authorities, the
competition and negotiation on the boundaries, and the constant redefinition and
reconstruction during the first two decades of the twentieth century. In particular, the
study explores the formative process of the three most remarkable urban artifacts in
the Settlement, namely, the Bund promenade, Nanjing Road, and the parkways of the
garden suburb.
Through the investigation of the form, meaning and historical influence of the
modern road system, the dissertation argues that the modern road system in the
International Settlement was not a copy of any existing “Western model.” Designed
by British engineers and city planners, most road schemes were progressive in many
important ways to solve the pragmatic, administrative, and financial problems at the
time, and to realize a “sanitary, orderly, and profitable” urban enclave in the city. The
modification of the road schemes through the prolonged social negotiations made
roads the physical embodiment of the desires, ideals, and struggles of various social
groups—Chinese and foreigners, locals and outsiders, political elite and
businessmen—to design and use the urban space.
With the emergence of Chinese nationalism in the early twentieth century, the
Western-led city planning was decried by the new generation of Chinese politicians
and social reformers, and its ideals and practices, successes and failures were
gradually forgotten. Rather than describing the social confrontation between the
various parties, the dissertation re-construct the historical narrative of Chinese city
planning by considering the Western-led city planning as the first wave of modern city
planning in China. This preliminary step toward a modern city which was led by
Western city planners had an ambivalent yet profound influence on the following
decades of city planning led by the Chinese elite: on the one hand, it successfully
defined a progressive image of “Modern City” that all Chinese could easily access; on
the other hand, although excluded Chinese from the decision-making process, it also
enriched Chinese urban life by creating new amenity and the concept of public spaces
which eventually engender a series of social reforms.
The study not only highlights the complicated, fragmented and pragmatic nature
of municipality in making planning decisions under the process of political, social and
spatial struggle, it also reveals the origins and contested meanings of “modern,”
“public,” and “beauty” in Chinese context, which remain fluid and disputable. The
issues addressed in the study not only clarify the various forces that have shaped
Shanghai’s modern built environment but also offer historical insights into the
challenges and problems in urban development today.
 DECLARATION

I declare that this thesis represents my own work, except where acknowledgement is
made, and that it has not been previously included in a thesis, dissertation or report
submitted to this University or any other institution for a degree, diploma or other
qualifications.

Signed__________________________
Li Yingchun

i
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This dissertation would not have been possible without the support of many
devoted teachers, fellow graduate students, dedicated friends, and my family.
I would first like to thank my mentor Professor Weijen Wang (王維仁) for his
unrelenting support and constructive criticism. From the initial concept of the
dissertation to the preparation of the final text, Professor Wang consistently showed
great enthusiasm over my chosen subject, and such positivity served as my
motivation during the completion of this project. He has also encouraged me to
comprehensively analyze visual materials, such as maps, historical photographs, and
drawings. Such thorough analysis has trained me well in my study of architectural
and urban history. He has also provoked my thoughts in many aspects, thus
equipping me with skills that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
I would also like to thank Professors Tao Zhu (朱濤) and Cole Roskam, whose
classes on Architecture Historiography, Modern Architecture and Urbanism, and the
Urban History of Shanghai provided me with new research perspectives on modern
Chinese architecture and urbanism. They were always very accommodating during
this entire research process, particularly when I needed to engage in active
discussions. Professor Charlie Qiuli Xue (薛求理) of the Division of Building
Science and Technology of the City University of Hong Kong offered me sound
advice from the conception to the completion of this dissertation and opened my
eyes to the unique culture of Hong Kong. These outstanding individuals are among
those who are as passionate as I am about my academic progress.
My eight-year study at the College of Architecture and Urban Planning in Tongji
University is undoubtedly one of the best experiences of my life, and I am forever
grateful to Professor Qing Chang (常青), who is not only my thesis supervisor but
also my mentor. Professor Chang has introduced me to the exciting world of Chinese
ii
architectural history and has encouraged me to focus my study on my hometown
Shanghai. Even after my departure from Shanghai to pursue my studies in Hong
Kong, Professor Chang remained supportive of my research and even helped me
during one of the most difficult times of my life.
I am also thankful to my other teachers in Tongji University, especially to
Professors Yongyi Lu (盧永毅), Zonghao Qian (錢宗灝), Yuhui Zhu (朱宇暉), Qing
Mei (梅青), and Peng Zhang (張鵬), for their encouragement, advice, and assistance
in the various stages of my research.
My appreciation also goes to the following teachers and friends. Professor Jun
Wang (王珺) of the Department of Public Policy of the City University of Hong
Kong gave me insightful ideas on research methodology and allotted a significant
amount of time and effort to the revision of my initial research proposal. During his
one-month visit to Hong Kong, Professor Jianfei Zhu (朱劍飛) spent much time
discussing with me about the structure, methodology, and argument of my
dissertation. Dr. Dongyang Liu (劉東洋) contributed highly relevant opinions during
the development stage of my research. Zheng Tan (譚錚) read the initial draft of my
work and willingly came to my aid by editing the text of the dissertation and
improving the arguments and illustrations.
The conference, workshop, and seminar discussions during the 2010 IPHS
meeting, 2010 SUF meeting, 2012 EAAC meeting, and 2014 SAH meeting were
essential to my elaboration of the research. I thank Professor Delin Lai (賴德霖),
Professor Duanfang Lu (盧端芳), Professor Zeynep Çelik, and Professor Rosemary
Wakeman for their valuable comments.
This research relies on unique materials preserved in archival and library
collections in both Shanghai and Hong Kong. I therefore thank Guojia Chen (陳果嘉)
of the Shanghai Library, Aiping Zhang (張愛平) and Ping Ni (倪萍) of the Shanghai
Municipal Archive, and the librarians of the HKU Libraries (Special Collection) for
their generous support in my field research and in my search for relevant materials.
My colleagues and friends have always been very special to me. Calvin Zhiyong

iii
Liang (梁智勇) and Li Feng (馮立) graciously allowed me to use their unpublished
works. Ryo Fujimori (藤森亮) translated for me a large number of Japanese articles
into English and helped me widen my understanding of modern Japanese
architecture and urbanism. Zhu Xu (徐翥) assisted me in solving all the technical
problems I encountered and shared many of my teaching loads to let me concentrate
on my research. Yu Zhang (張羽) prepared several wonderful illustrations for my
dissertation, and as my roommate, she remained very patient despite my obvious
frustrations. Jing Xie ( 謝 菁 ) encouraged me immensely when I was having
difficulties in this arduous research and writing process. Yiming Ma (馬奕鳴)
unhesitatingly provided me with a cozy place to live in when I was finalizing my
draft. My conversations with my peers, including Dongqing Wang (王冬青),
Wendong Cui (崔文東), Diyu Liu (劉滌宇), Yong He (何勇), Yiping Dong (董一平),
and Yijun Pu (蒲儀軍), were also instrumental in this work.
Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my family, especially to my late
grandmother Aihua Feng (馮愛華), my mother Sulan Feng (馮素蘭), and my aunt
Jinlan Feng (馮金蘭). Despite my being away from home, they watched with pride
as I made gradual progress in my studies. They have always been ready to provide
me with unconditional financial and emotional support when I needed it most. It was
their love, understanding, and support that made this dissertation possible.

iv
 CONTENTS

DECLARATION ....................................................................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................................... ii
CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................................. v
LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................. ix
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................................. xiv
GLOSSARY ........................................................................................................................................... xv

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 1
General Background ............................................................................................................ 1
Literature Review ................................................................................................................ 8
Research Problem and Methodology ................................................................................. 12
Chapter Organization......................................................................................................... 18

CHAPTER 1
PRELUDE TO A MODERN METROPOLIS ........................................................................................ 21
1.1 The Rise of the Foreign Municipality .......................................................................... 22
Duties of the Council ........................................................................................ 22
The Committee System ..................................................................................... 23
Organization of the Public Works Department ................................................. 24
1.2 Local Political Authorities ........................................................................................... 28
The Chinese Political Hierarchy before 1842 ................................................... 29
Traditional Duty of Chinese Officials ............................................................... 31
Adjustments after 1842 ..................................................................................... 33
The Consular Body ........................................................................................... 36
1.3 The New Urban Gentry ............................................................................................... 39
The Foreign Business Elite ............................................................................... 40
The Gentry-merchants Sojourning in Shanghai ................................................ 43
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 47

CHAPTER 2
DEFINING THE SETTLEMENT BOUNDARIES ............................................................................... 49
2.1 Site Selection ............................................................................................................... 50
Early Development of Shanghai ....................................................................... 50
Shanghai County: Its Walled City and Suburbs ................................................ 52
Early Exploration, 1843–1846 .......................................................................... 54
2.2 The Initial Boundary .................................................................................................... 57
Boundaries between 1845 and 1848 ................................................................. 57
v
 Defining the Territory ....................................................................................... 58
Jurisdictional Nature of the Settlement Boundary ............................................ 61
2.3 The Hongkou Boundary .............................................................................................. 65
The American Settlement in Hongkou .............................................................. 66
The Seward Line ............................................................................................... 68
Modification of the Seward Line ...................................................................... 72
2.4 Re-delimitation of the Settlement ................................................................................ 76
The Industrial Revolution in Shanghai ............................................................. 76
Desirous Directions for Further Extension ....................................................... 79
The Negotiation Process ................................................................................... 80
2.5 Boundary Negotiations in the Twentieth Century........................................................ 84
The Zhabei Chinese Settlement ........................................................................ 85
Searching for a New Barrier ............................................................................. 89
The 1915 Agreement ......................................................................................... 91
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 95

CHAPTER 3
INITIAL LAYOUT OF THE SETTLEMENT ....................................................................................... 97
3.1 Weight of History ........................................................................................................ 98
Everyday Life in Shanghai County ................................................................... 98
Canal System .................................................................................................. 100
“Rent-in-perpetuity” System ........................................................................... 102
Legacy of the “Grand Modell” ....................................................................... 104
3.2 Ideal, Ideology and Compromise ............................................................................... 106
First Grid......................................................................................................... 106
Military Roads and the Early Suburbs ............................................................ 110
Road Schemes for Hongkou ........................................................................... 115
Squaring the New Districts ............................................................................. 120
3.3 Road Improvement in the Nineteenth Century .......................................................... 124
Municipal-controlled Roads............................................................................ 124
Extra-settlement Roads ................................................................................... 129
Summary ......................................................................................................................... 130

CHAPTER 4
MODERATING THE URBAN LANDSCAPE.................................................................................... 131
4.1 Expansion of Municipal Power ................................................................................. 132
Compulsory Power of Land Expropriation ..................................................... 132
Introduction of “Betterment” .......................................................................... 135
Subsoil of Public Roads .................................................................................. 137
Joint Commission for Road Planning ............................................................. 140
4.2 Tentative Experiment of Town Planning ................................................................... 141
Road Classification ......................................................................................... 142
Alteration of Road Pattern .............................................................................. 144
Streetscape Beautification............................................................................... 153

vi
 4.3 Road Schemes for Central ......................................................................................... 159
Diagonal Road across Central ......................................................................... 163
Road/Tunnel across the Race Course .............................................................. 165
4.4 Demarcation of Nanjing Road ................................................................................... 170
Lot and Road Improvement ............................................................................ 174
Cutting the Chinese Shop Houses ................................................................... 176
Negotiation on Tall Buildings ......................................................................... 178
Re-modeling the Sassoon House .................................................................... 184
Summary ......................................................................................................................... 192

CHAPTER 5
COMPETING ON THE WATERFRONT ............................................................................................ 194
5.1 Overlapping Controls of the Waterfront .................................................................... 196
Land Ownership on the Waterfront ................................................................. 197
Chinese Law on the Waterfront....................................................................... 202
Riparian Rights of the Bund Lot-holders ........................................................ 207
Municipal Control over the Waterfront ........................................................... 210
Route of the Bund Line ................................................................................... 213
5.2 Remodeling the Waterfront ........................................................................................ 219
The Huangpu Conservancy Board .................................................................. 219
Conservancy Normal Line .............................................................................. 221
5.3 Refinement of the Bund Promenade .......................................................................... 225
The Waterfront Clearance Scheme, 1909 ........................................................ 225
Bund Reclamation and Widening, 1919–1921................................................ 229
Reconsideration of the Bund Lawn, 1930–1932 ............................................. 233
Summary ......................................................................................................................... 238

CHAPTER 6
ROAD PLANNING FOR THE SUBURBS ......................................................................................... 240
6.1 Road Schemes for the Garden Suburb ....................................................................... 241
Emergence of the Middle-class Residential Suburbs ...................................... 241
Extra-Settlement Road Schemes ..................................................................... 245
Destiny of the Garden Suburb......................................................................... 253
6.2 Road Scheme for “Chinese Modern Shanghai” ......................................................... 255
Genesis of the New Political Power ................................................................ 255
The Nationalists’ Plan ..................................................................................... 258
Re-demarcation of the City Boundary ............................................................ 261
Construction of the Zhongshan Road.............................................................. 263
6.3 Divided Suburbs ........................................................................................................ 268
Columbia Circle: “Model Village” for the Foreign Bourgeoisie..................... 270
Ping-min-cun: “Civilian Village” for the Chinese Working Class .................. 274
Summary ......................................................................................................................... 278

CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................... 280

vii
BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................ 291
Archives .......................................................................................................................... 291
General ............................................................................................................................ 291
Primary Sources .............................................................................................................. 296
Secondary Sources........................................................................................................... 300
Sources of Image ............................................................................................................. 306
Internet Databases ........................................................................................................... 307

viii
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1. Diagram of the office organization of the Public Works Department ..................... 27

Figure 1.2. Official Hierarchy in the Jiangsu Province under the Qing Regime ....................... 30

Figure 1.3. Prefectures and districts under the jurisdiction of Shanghai Daotai ....................... 31

Figure 1.4. Location of the headquarters of the Shanghai Daotai. ............................................ 33

Figure 1.5. The Councilors of the Shanghai Municipal Council elected in 1870 ..................... 41

Figure 1.6. The five Chinese representatives in the Municipal Council, 1930 ......................... 46

Figure 2.1. A reprinted map in Hucheng Beikao ....................................................................... 51

Figure 2.2. Map of the Shanghai County, first published in 1871 ............................................. 56

Figure 2.3. City and environs of Shanghai, 1858–1862 ............................................................ 56

Figure 2.4. The boundaries of the British Settlement in 1845, 1846, and 1848 ........................ 59

Figure 2.5. The condition of the British Settlement boundaries in 1854................................... 59

Figure 2.6. The four boundary lines in the nineteenth century.................................................. 61

Figure 2.7. Boundary line and boundary stones of the Anglo-American Settlement ................ 67

Figure 2.8. The 1873 proposals for the Hongkou Boundaries .................................................. 69

Figure 2.9. The Seward Line and the projected boundary road, 1889–1890............................. 72

Figure 2.10. The Hongkou Boundary of 1893 and the built-up area........................................... 75

Figure 2.11. Settlement extension and the built-up area in 1899 ................................................ 84

Figure 2.12. Distribution of plague, 1910 ................................................................................... 88

ix
Figure 2.13. Plan showing the projected extension of the International Settlement, 1909 ......... 90

Figure 2.14. Settlement extension according to the General Agreement Draft in 1915 .............. 93

Figure 3.1. Plan (or “plat”) of Londonderry, Northern Ireland in 1622 .................................. 106

Figure 3.2. First street grid of the Shanghai British Settlement .............................................. 108

Figure 3.3. Military roads built during the Taiping Rebellion................................................. 113

Figure 3.4. The street grid at Hongkou in 1866 ...................................................................... 119

Figure 3.5. The Scheme of Proposed Roads for Hongkeou, 1890 .......................................... 119

Figure 3.6. Map of Hongkou, 1900 ......................................................................................... 119

Figure 3.7. The Four Districts of the International Settlement, 1899 ...................................... 124

Figure 3.8. Plan of Shanghai showing Settlement extensions and road developments that had
taken place between 1898 and 1917.................................................................... 124

Figure 4.1. Road Classification Scheme, 1894 ....................................................................... 144

Figure 4.2. The proposed trunk road system, 1917 ................................................................. 149

Figure 4.3. The proposed trunk roads for Hongkou, 1918 ...................................................... 149

Figure 4.4. The Proposed trunk roads for the Central and Western Districts, 1921 ................ 152

Figure 4.5. The three major residential types in Shanghai ...................................................... 154

Figure 4.6. Bird’s eye view of the Chinese residential block .................................................. 154

Figure 4.7. The result of the Building Control Act in the French Concession ........................ 156

Figure 4.8. Streetscape of the Broadway in the 1910s ............................................................ 156

Figure 4.9. Bird’s eye view of the Central District of the Shanghai International Settlement 160

Figure 4.10. The triumphal Jubilee arch, 1893.......................................................................... 160

Figure 4.11. The Proposed trunk road, 1924 ............................................................................. 164

x
Figure 4.12. The alternating schemes for roads across the Race Course, 1924 ........................ 168

Figure 4.13. Nanjing Road through history, 1855, 1866 and 1947 ........................................... 171

Figure 4.14. Reshape of the individual lots by the widening of Nanjing Road ......................... 175

Figure 4.15. The scheduled 80 feet road line of Nanjing Road, republished in 1935 ............... 175

Figure 4.16. Transformation of the old Mix Court site and Nanjing-Zhejiang road corner ...... 178

Figure 4.17. Redevelopment of Lot 84 at the junction of Nanjing and Jiangxi Roads.............. 179

Figure 4.18. Façade of the new building for Lot 84 .................................................................. 179

Figure 4.19. Nanjing Road widening and the transformation of the Lot 31 .............................. 187

Figure 4.20. The Nanjing Road-Bund corner in 1910s and 1930s, respectively ....................... 192

Figure 5.1. The Bund’s panorama, 1936 ................................................................................. 195

Figure 5.2. The Bund promenade overlooked by the Sassoon House, 1932-1933 .................. 195

Figure 5.3. The initial embankment of the Huangpu River, 1843 ........................................... 199

Figure 5.4. Water line along the Huangpu River, 1855 ........................................................... 200

Figure 5.5. The high and low water lines, 1864-65 ................................................................. 200

Figure 5.6. The private lot boundaries according to the Title Deeds and/or official plans ...... 202

Figure 5.7. The Public Garden in 1868 ................................................................................... 206

Figure 5.8. Transformation of the Bund lines in the nineteenth century ................................. 214

Figure 5.9. The public promenade on the Bund in the 1860s, 1880s and 1890 ...................... 214

Figure 5.10. The Huangpu Embankment in 1906 (above) and 1941(below) ............................ 223

Figure 5.11. The proposed waterfront road between the Yangshupu Creek and the Point 223

Figure 5.12. The pontoons and connecting bridges along the Bund in 1910 ............................ 227

xi
Figure 5.13. The Perpendicular Quay proposal with steps for cargo and pedestrian ................ 227

Figure 5.14. Bund Reclamation and Widening, 1919-1920 ...................................................... 231

Figure 5.15. The Bund promenade after renovation, looking northward from Avenue Adward
VII, 1921 ............................................................................................................. 231

Figure 5.16. The Bund lawns in 1930 ....................................................................................... 234

Figure 5.17. Proposed development of the Bund lawns, Scheme A & B, 1930 ........................ 236

Figure 5.18. Section of the Scheme A ....................................................................................... 236

Figure 6.1. Bubbling Well Road and western suburb in the late nineteenth century ............... 244

Figure 6.2. Transformation of the urban blocks along the Bubbling Well Road ..................... 244

Figure 6.3. Extra-settlement road scheme, 1901 ..................................................................... 246

Figure 6.4. Extra-settlement road scheme, 1911–1912 ........................................................... 247

Figure 6.5. Extra-settlement road scheme, 1924–1925 ........................................................... 251

Figure 6.6. Mayor Huang Fu and Shen Yi, July 1927. ............................................................ 257

Figure 6.7. “Great Eastern Port” Scheme by Sun Yat-sen ....................................................... 260

Figure 6.8. Transformation of the city boundary .................................................................... 262

Figure 6.9. Route of the Zhongshan Road .............................................................................. 264

Figure 6.10. Sectional design of Zhongshan Road .................................................................... 266

Figure 6.11. Zhongshan Road in 1932 ...................................................................................... 266

Figure 6.12. Map of Fahua District, 1930 ................................................................................. 269

Figure 6.13. The “Western District” road scheme, 1930 ........................................................... 269

Figure 6.14. Bird-eye rendering of the Columbia Circle in 1930.............................................. 272

Figure 6.15. Subdivision Plan of Columbia Circle, 1929.......................................................... 273

xii
Figure 6.16. Plan for a standardized single-family house in the Columbia Circle .................... 273

Figure 6.17. Plan of Zhongshan Road Citizen Village 1935. .................................................... 275

Figure 6.18. Main Gate and the central axis of the Zhongshan Road Civilians’ Village........... 277

Figure 6.19. Housing Type A for Civilian Residence, 1928 ...................................................... 277

xiii
 LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. The areas of the old and new Settlements ..................................................................... 83

Table 2. Scheme of proposed roads at Hongkou, 1890 ............................................................. 117

Table 3. Applications of land for public roads, 1890-1899 ....................................................... 129

Table 4. Road mileage and expenditure, 1899–1903 ................................................................ 135

Table 5. Proposed road extension and widening in the English and Hongkou Settlements ...... 143

Table 6. Compensation for Lot 84, at the junction of Nanjing and Jiangxi Roads .................... 183

Table 7. Compensation fee declared by Palmer & Turner......................................................... 191

xiv
 GLOSSARY

Baoshan 寶山

Beijing Road 北京路

Chuan-hong-bang Creek 穿虹浜

Chupu 出浦

Daoshu 道署

Daotai 道台

Dibao 地保

Gaochang Temple 高昌廟

Gong Mujiu 宮慕久

Gongwuju 工務局

Henan Road 河南路

Hongkou 虹口

Hongqiao 虹橋

Huang Fu 黃郛

Huangpu River 黃浦江

Huangpu Conservancy Board 浚浦局

Jiangnan 江南

Jiangnan Arsenal 江南製造局

Jing’an Temple 靜安寺

xv
Laozha 老閘

Lilong 里弄

Longhua Temple 龍華寺

Nanjing Road 南京路

Qingpu 青浦

Shen Yi 沈怡

Shengke 升科

Sun Yat-sen 孫中山 (逸仙)

Suzhou Creek 蘇州河

Tian Hou Gong 天后宮

The Point 周家嘴

Viceroy of Liangjiang 兩江總督

Wusong 吳淞

Xinzha 新閘

Yang-jing-bang Creek 洋涇浜

Yan’an Road 延安路

Yangshupu 楊樹浦

Yongzuzhi 永租制

Yuhu Shenshang 寓滬紳商

Zhabei 閘北

Zhongshan Road 中山路

Zongli Yamen 總理衙門

xvi
 INTRODUCTION

General Background

An English guide book published in 1934 vividly depicts how Western tourists,
during their circumnavigation of the globe, were brought to Shanghai by a great
ocean liner, as well as how these tourists experienced the city through an elaborately
arranged itinerary prepared by a local foreign-run travel agency.1 Tourists would
usually be brought to Wusong Port, where the Yangtze and Huang Rivers meet. They
then transferred to a smaller craft and were brought to the city by steering southwest
against the Huangpu River.
The city welcomed the tourists once their craft entered Huangpu. The first
inspiring sight was composed of busy harbors and industrial districts that stretched
for miles along the riverside, which was dotted by large-scale wharves, silk and
cotton mills, as well as engineering works and warehouses. The towering chimneys
of the Shanghai Power Company dominated the skyline near the confluence of the
Huangpu River and the Yangshupu Creek. This sight indicated that a modern
metropolis was near. As the craft went underway near Suzhou Creek, the tourists
would encounter the imposing houses of Japanese, German, Russian, and British
consulates lining the waterfront. After passing through the Garden Bridge across
Suzhou Creek, they would first step foot into the city by going ashore on the Bund.
The guide book listed the drive along the Bund and the Nanjing–Bubbling Well
Roads as part of the most popular half-day tour for Western tourists.2 The Bund was
both the gateway of the city and the centerpiece of the International Settlement,

1
All about Shanghai and Environs: A Standard Guide Book (Shanghai: The University Press, 1934), viii-ix.
2
Ibid., x.

1
which was the amalgamation of the British Settlement (established in 1843) and
American Settlement (established in 1849) based on an 1863 agreement. Here,
tourists were welcomed by a spacious waterfront promenade with elaborately
designed lawns and parks. The promenade was flanked by a wall of neo-classical
edifices owned by Asia’s leading banks, trade companies, hotels, and clubs. The
most prominent buildings among were the headquarters of the Hongkong and
Shanghai Bank, the Jardine House, the Palace Hotel, and the Sassoon House.
Located between the Palace Hotel and Sassoon House was Nanjing Road, which
was the most popular shopping boulevard in Shanghai and in all of China. The lower
section of the street, from the Bund up to Henan Road, was flanked by high-rise office
buildings, hotels, and foreign-owned specialty shops. Further up Henan Road, one
would encounter colorful Chinese shops with increasing frequency. These shops were
usually vividly painted, displaying fluttering pennants that advertised sales and wares
in large Chinese characters. The lofty towers of the four largest department stores,
namely, Sincere, Wing On, Dai Sun, and Sun Sun, dominated the streetscape at the
west end of Nanjing Road, thereby making this area a center of entertainment for the
Chinese. Behind these business establishments were the residential neighborhoods
known as lilong (alleyway house), which were essentially characterized by rows of
two- to three-storied terraced houses, and were the homes of the majority of Chinese
residents in the city.
Nanjing Road ended at Tibet Road and abruptly became Bubbling Well Road,
which was flanked by the large open space of the Race Course on the left and by a
number of high-rise buildings on the right. Among these buildings was the
twenty-two-storey building of the Joint Saving Society, which housed the Park Hotel
and was the tallest building in the world outside of the Americas. 3 Continuing
westward, Bubbling Well Road smoothly led to the tree-lined Great Western Road and
Columbia Road. These curved parkways cut through a quiet upper middle-class
residential area characterized by luxurious Huayuan Yangfang (foreign-style garden

3
Ibid., 54-57.

2
villa).
To the Western tourists, the most remarkable phenomenon of the International
Settlement was probably the intricate coexistence of the Western and Chinese
streetscapes. This impression was vividly described by a contemporary British
observer as follows:

When a traveler arrives in Shanghai to-day he is struck by the fact that to all
intents and purposes he might be in a large European city. The tall buildings, the
well paved streets, the large hotels and clubs, the parks and bridges, the stream of
automobiles, the trams and buses, the numerous foreign shops, and, at night, the
brilliant electric lightings, all are things he is accustomed to in the homeland. Of
course there is much that is different; the crowds of Chinese in the streets, the
imposing Sikh policemen, the rickshaws and the wheel barrows, and the Chinese
shops with their ornate gilding and picturesque signboards.4

As indicated by the reactions of Western tourists’, the wide, straight, and

well-paved roads were probably the most significantly modern element of the
cityscape, whereas the material culture, social hierarchy, and economic activity spied
from the modern roads constituted the dominant sense of the city. However, the
remarkable streetscape was only one of the many fundamental effects that modern
roads created and enhanced. More crucially, the modern road considerably changed
Shanghai’s physical, economic, and cultural form, remaking the city as the foremost
modern metropolis in China.
Physically, the new road system constructed in the International Settlement added
a new urban quarter to Shanghai. The road pattern defined the settlement as a
dual-core urban artifact composed of an efficient business center and a picturesque
middle-class residential area. The most prominent achievements at the time, such as
the Bund Promenade, Nanjing Road, and the beautifully curved, tree-lined parkways
in the residential areas, created the classic image of modern Shanghai and continue to
be the most attractive spots in the city.
Socially, the modern road was more than a transportation channel and public space

4
F. L. Hawks Pott, A Short History of Shanghai: Being an Account of the Growth and Development of the
International Settlement (Shanghai: Kelly & Walsh, 1928), 1.

3
as traditional streets. Rather, this road enabled the contact, flow, and connection
among people, vehicles, and information in an unprecedentedly efficient manner. The
road generated economic growth by encouraging the movement of consumers and
commodities under any weather condition. This road facilitated industrial activities by
bringing about gas, electricity, telephone, and telegraph. The road provided the dense
urban population with fresh water and proper drainage as well as created private
wealth by transforming cheap agricultural land into highly profitable building plots. In
other words, the wide and paved road, along with the modern infrastructure and
facilities that come with it, was the primary engine that transformed Shanghai from a
moderate market town to a singular point in the global trading route and ultimately to
the largest commercial, financial, and industrial center in China.
Culturally, the modern road also changed the way that Chinese people used and
understood urban space. Compared with the crooked, narrow, and uneven streets in
most Chinese cities at that time, the broad, straight, and smooth modern road in the
International Settlement was a truly fantastic and unusual place, enriching people’s
public leisure and entertainment. Public urban life became a popular topic in the Qing
and Republic writings. Many travel notes and local mass media even listed the
tree-lined Waiguo Damalu (foreign wide horse-road) as one of the “New Ten Scenes”
of Shanghai.5
Recent scholarship further reveals the several socio-cultural innovations that the
modern road both engendered and reflected. As Ou-fan Lee notes, the wide, tree-lined
boulevards, along with the Western architecture, had a two-fold influence on Chinese
modern intellectuals. On one side, the modern boulevards offered an ideal place for
people to observe and experience urban modernity, whereas on the other side, it
casted “a mixed spell of wonder and oppression” upon the new generation of Chinese
writers and readers.6 The dominant skyscrapers along the main thoroughfares “not

5
The most influential and wide-read ones are Ge Yuanxu’s Huyou Zaji 滬游雜記 (Travel notes to Shanghai)
published in 1887, and a daily released pictorial entitled Tuhua Rizhi 圖畫日誌 (The pictorial dairy).
6
Leo Ou-fan Lee, Shanghai Modern: The Flowering of a New Urban Culture in China, 1930-1945 (Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1999), 12.

4
only towered over the residential buildings in the old section of the city but also
offered a sharp contrast to the general principles of Chinese architecture.”7 According
to Lee, these major thoroughfares embodied the sharp contrast between the high and
the low, the rich and the poor, and the dominant and the dominated in the city. Yue
Meng’s analytical study of the Settlement’s Si Malu (the Fourth Road) argues for the
emergence of a modern urban culture in Shanghai, which might be called “festive
urbanism.” This concept was, according to Meng, a truly innovative Chinese public
way of life that found its place in the foreign-administrated modern road.8 Samuel
Liang, by closely investigating the architectural components of the Chinese residential
blocks in Shanghai, finds that many two- to three-story Chinese timber houses in the
Settlement unconventionally opened large windows and pavilion-like balconies on
gable walls to obtain a favorable street view in the living rooms, blurring the
conventional dualism between private and public, Chinese and Western, as well as
traditional and modern.9
Most importantly, the foreign-designed and -administrated road considerably
reshaped the Chinese understanding of city planning and administration. In fact,
deliberate city planning is not an evolutionary idea in China. The Chinese were
particularly familiar with a wide, straight, and chessboard-like street system. The
general principle was laid down two millennia ago in the classic Zhouli (The Rites of
Zhou: On Craftsmanship), which read: “On construction a state capitals, the Jiangren
(craftsman) shall make a square nine li on each side; each side has three gates. Within
the capital are nine north-south and nine east-west streets. The north–south streets are
nine carriage tracks in width.”10 By the mid-nineteenth century, almost all large
Chinese cities were laid out accordingly. The most promising evidence of the planning

7
Ibid.
8
Yue Meng, Shanghai and the Edges of Empires (Minneapolis; London: University of Minnesota Press, 2006),
65-105.
9
Samuel Liang, "Where the Courtyard Meets the Street: Spatial Culture of Lilong Neighborhood, Shanghai,
1870-1900," Journal of the Society of Architectural Historian 67, no. 4 (2008): 482-503.
10
The English translation quoted in Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt, Chinese Imperial City Planning (Honolulu:
University of Hawai'i Press, 1990), 33.

5
practice is found in Beijing, which was first constructed by Khubilai Khan as the
“Great Capital” of the Mongolian Empire during the thirteenth century and continued
to serve as the capital city of China during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The whole
city was laid out similar to a great chessboard, characterized by Dajies (principal
business streets) mostly running north–south and the Hutongs (residential alleyways)
running east–west. Shanghai began to be influenced by this imperial planning
ideology in the mid-sixteenth century, when a city wall was constructed to protect the
city from piracy. The Office of the City Magistrate was later constructed at the
geometric center of the walled area. A main street running east to west was added, and
a City God’s Temple, a County College, and several other public buildings were
subsequently constructed to refine the city cosmology.
Throughout the imperial period, city planning was a primary instrument that
ensured political dominance. Urban form was used as the mediatory device between
heaven and human society and serves as the physical evidence of the Emperor’s or
his local representatives’ political dominance. Once built, the urban form resisted
any fundamental change despite the demands of rapid social and economic
development.
The condition of a street in a traditional Chinese city also reflected its function
and social status. According to Mingzheng Shi’s research, stone- or brick-paved
streets in imperial Beijing were usually concentrated within the imperial palaces.
Outside the Forbidden City, only a few main boulevards, referred to as Yudao
(imperial passages), were paved and leveled for the occasional use of the emperor and
his entourage. The overwhelming majority of roads were left unpaved.11 Similarly, in
Shanghai, the main streets in the Walled City were referred to as Guanlu (official
road). A civic body was initially established to repair and maintain these official roads.
However, since the mid-eighteenth century, the duty of public works construction and
administration was generally beyond the financial and human resources of the Qing
state. The office was gradually designated to private agencies led by guilds,
11
Mingzheng Shi, "Beijing Transforms: Urban infrastructure, Public Works, and Social Change in the Chinese
Capital, 1900-1928" (Ph.D diss., Columbia University, 1993), 91-92.

6
native-place societies, and public-minded individuals. Community philanthropy,
although often quite spirited, generally failed to keep pace with the inexorable
physical deterioration caused by weather and constant human use. As a result, routine
road maintenance and even widely desired street improvements were often deferred,
sometimes permanently. By the mid-nineteenth century, the condition of most streets
in Chinese cities was unsatisfactory, indicating the weakness and inefficiency of the
Chinese political system.
In this sense, road planning and construction in the Shanghai International
Settlement can be fairly regarded as the first wave of modern city planning, the nature
of which, as is properly pointed out by Sutcliffe, is “the deliberate ordering by public
authority of the physical arrangements of town or parts of towns in order to promote
their efficient and equitable functioning as economic and social units, and to create an
aesthetically pleasing environment.”12 This study investigates the form, meaning, and
historical influence of the modern road system shaped in the settlement. From an
architectural historian’s perspective, a road is both physical and institutional, and
“there are intricate levels of social engagement encouraged and hosted by the street
structure.”13 Thus, this study explores the nature of the urban road by specifically
focusing on the physical character of the road itself as well as on the intellectual
inspirations, institutional arrangements, and political-economic ideas that animated its
construction. This work also explores the desires, ideals, and struggles of various
social groups—Chinese and foreigners, locals and outsiders, political elite and
businessmen—in defining and using the urban space. Finally, this research reveals the
intricate and ambiguous interrelationship between the “modern city planning led by
the Westerners” and the “modern city planning led by the Chinese.”

12
Anthony Sutcliffe, Towards the Planned City: Germany, Britain, the United States and France, 1780-1914
(Oxford: Blackwell, 1981). Quoted in Robert K. Home, Of Planting and Planning: The Making of British
Colonial Cities (London: E & FN Spon, 1997), 2.
13
Spiro Kostof, The City Assembled: The Elements of Urban Form through History (London: Thames and
Hudson, 1992), 189-91.

7
Literature Review

A road is one of the most commonplace yet distinctive aspects of any urban
setting. As a both physical component and essential social route, a road is integral to
the structure of all cities. During the pre-industrial period, a road, which was then
more often referred to as a street, was usually a pedestrian lane and a gathering place
of people. After the Industrial Revolution, roads developed as an increasingly
sophisticated three-dimensional system that consisted of various carriageways,
infrastructural services, and public facilities. The physical characters, social meanings,
and intellectual influence of modern road in the modern urban context are especially
worth noting.
However, compared with other urban elements such as public space and
monumental architecture, only a modest number of publications on Shanghai’s
modern roads have been authored by architectural historians. Admittedly, the road
system in the Shanghai International Settlement was lack of monumentality and visual
attraction especially compared with those large European capital cities. Paris, which,
by the start of the twentieth century, had been united into a great city with a system of
diagonal boulevards advocated by Napoleon III and his prefect Georges-Eugène
Haussmann; Vienna, which had demolished its thirteenth century city walls and moats
and replaced them with a Ringstrasse to showcase the grandeur and glory of the
Habsburg Empire; and Manhattan, which was regularized by a uniform grid plan that
combined “beauty, order and convenience.” Even in Shanghai, the new boulevards
laid out in the neighboring French Concession between 1914 and 1915 were in an
impressively grand manner. By contrast, the road system in the International
Settlement was not perfectly proportioned in all sections: several districts were
divided more densely than others, several roads were laid out diagonally instead of
orthogonally, and most roads were slightly crooked instead of completely straight.
During the 1930s, the average road width in the International Settlement was 40 feet,
whereas the standard in Manhattan was 60 feet for ordinary streets and 160 feet for

8
major thoroughfares.
But the scholarly ignorance of road planning is also due to the fixed perception of
architectural historiography. As Kostof inspiringly emphasizes, the urban history of
the architectural historian, which has existed for about a century now, is primarily the
history of “pedigreed urban design—grand plazas and avenues, city plans, ideal city
schemes done by architects.”14 By contrast, the interest of the architectural historian
in the “non-monumental architecture” and “built environment” is a relatively new
phenomenon that prevailed after the 1960s. In such studies, scholars usually look into
other disciplines for the analytical framework and focus more on the social, political,
and economic forces that shape urban environments, rather than the form and
meaning of the urban artifact itself. The blurring of the disciplinary boundaries turns
the history of architecture and urban form into a truly contested terrain and pulls in
scholars from fields not conventionally associated with it. Such trend, according to
Zeynep Celik, is especially reflected in the study of “non-Western” cities, and
Shanghai is indisputably one of such cities.15
The radical urban transformation of Shanghai during the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries prompts one of the most active fields of academic research
in the past three decades. A close look at the existing literature reveals that although
road planning and construction is not yet an independent field of study, several
academic studies, in both descriptive and analytical directions, contribute to the
understanding of the form and meaning of the modern road network in Shanghai.
Several early urban historians, such as Congzhou Chen, Shaozhou Wang, and
Ming Zhang, sensitively grasp the innovative nature of the road network built in the
foreign settlements and recognize its fundamental difference from the traditional
“imperial road” or “official road” in terms of space, structure, and function.16 Later,

14
Quoted in Zeynep Celik and Diane Favro, "Methods of Urban History," Journal of Architectural Education 41,
no. 3 (1988): 5.
15
Zeynep Celik, "New Approaches to the "Non-Western" City," Journal of the Society of Architectural
Historians 58, no. 3 (1999): 375.
16
Congzhou Chen 陳從周 and Ming Zhang 章明, Shanghai Jindai Jianzhu Shigao 上海近代建築史稿
(History of Shanghai architecture in modern times) (Shanghai: Shanghai sanlian shudian, 1988), 4-10; Shaozhou
Wang 王紹周, Shanghai Jindai Chengshi Jianzhu 上海近代城市建築 (Shanghai modern architecture) (Nanjing:
9
in the two most influential books regarding Shanghai’s modern architectural and
urban history—Jiang Wu’s Shanghai Bainian Jianzhu Shi (A history of Shanghai
architecture, 1840-1949) and Zu’an Zheng’s Bainian Shanghai Cheng (A history of
Shanghai city in modern times)—several invisible elements, such as sewage and
drainage systems, gas and water mains, electricity, telephone, and telegram, are also
highlighted.17
In terms of descriptive analyses, recent scholarly studies, which are primarily
inspired by the formalist analysis methods suggested by Lynch, Kostof, and Ashihara,
among others, start to direct more attention toward the architectural characteristics of
the streetscape.18 For example, Qing Chang’s study on Nanjing Road attempts to
integrate solid aspects, such as buildings facades, shop signboards, and street
furniture, and void aspects, such as passages and traffic flows, as well as the public
events and ceremonials, to form a comprehensive street panorama.19 Qian Sun’s
study treats the street space more like an interior space of the city, particularly
focusing on the moderation or regularization of the street wall and street corner.20
Yongjie Sha’s account on Wukang Road, by contrast, offers a new approach in
understanding the streetscape by considering the street wall both as the defining line
of the street and as the integral part of an urban block configuration.21 All these

Jiangsu kexue jishu chubanshe, 1989), 486-87. The two books were re-published in the late 1980s, but the
manuscripts have been published in 1962. Thus, these should be considered as the earliest studies of Shanghai’s
architectural history.
17
Jiang Wu 伍江, Shanghai Bainian Jianzhushi 上海百年建築史(A history of Shanghai architecture,
1840-1949) (Shanghai: Tongji daixue chubanshe, 1997), 36-37; Zu'an Zheng 鄭祖安, Bainian Shanghaicheng 百
年上海城 (A history of Shanghai city in modern times) (Shanghai: Xuelin chubanshe, 1999), 288-89.
18
The most influential ones are Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City (Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T. Press, 1960);
Kostof, The City Assembled; Yoshinobu Ashihara, Jiedao De Meixue 街道的美學 (The aesthetic
townscape),trans.Peitong Yin(Tianjin: Baihua wenyi chubanshe, 2006). All these works were translated into
Chinese in the past decade, and were immediately adopted to analyze several prominent streets in Shanghai.
19
Qing Chang 常青, Daduhui Cong Zheli Kaishi: Shanghai Nanjinglu Waitanduan Yanjiu 大都會從這裡開始:
上海南京路外灘段研究 (Origin of a metropolis: a study on the Bund section of Nanjing Road in Shanghai)
(Shanghai: Tongji daxue chubanshe, 2005), 56-97.
20
Qian Sun 孫倩, Shanghai Jindai Chengshi Gonggong Guanli Zhidu Yu Kongjian Jianshe 上海近代城市公共
管理制度與空間建設 (Urban administration and public space in modern Shanghai) (Nanjing: Dongnan daxue
chubanshe, 2009), 237-63.
21
Yongjie Sha 沙永傑, Yan Ji 紀雁, and Zonghao Qian 錢宗灝, Shanghai Wukanglu: Fengmao Baohu Daolu De
Lishi Yanjiu Yu Baohu Guihua Tansuo 上海武康路: 風貌保護道路的歷史研究與保護規劃探索 (Shanghai
Wukang Road: a historical approach to urban regeneration) (Shanghai: Tongji d xue chubanshe, 2009).
10
efforts are characterized by detailed studies on specific major thoroughfares and are
aimed at creating a new descriptive framework for the Shanghai streetscape.
With the increasing availability of historic archives, the urban process concerning
road planning and construction gains considerable scholar interest. Three important
agents are found to have served formative function in shaping the modern road
network. First is the pre-existing physical landscape of Shanghai, such as the
waterway system, countryside alleyway, and farmland boundaries. For example, in
Zonghao Qian’s detailed study of the English and Chinese versions of the 1845 Land
Regulations, he finds that the initial street grid in the British Settlement comprising
eleven thoroughfares is laid out either along the waterways or upon the existing rural
alleyways.22 Junfan Wu’s and Zhenyu Mo’s recent studies adopt GIS and InfoMap
technologies to reconstruct the waterway system in the Qing dynasty Shanghai,
stating that the modern road systems in the International Settlement and French
Concession are constructed upon the existing waterway system.23
The second important agent is the modern urban administration and legislation.
Xieming Yuan’s article “Gongbuju Yu Shanghaihai Zaoqi Luzheng” (The Shanghai
Municipal Council and Road Construction) is an early effort in this direction.24 Peng
Zhang’s study on the urban infrastructure further reveals that the modern public
facilities, such as water pipes, gas pipes, and electrical wires, all affect road routes and
patterns.25 Fang Tang’s recent book, Dushi Jianzhu Kongzhi (Urban Building Control:

22
Zonghao Qian 錢宗灏, "Shanghai Jindai Chengshi Guihua De Chuxing 上海近代城市規劃的雛形 (Town
planning in early modern Shanghai, 1845-1864)," Urban Planning Forum 城市規劃學刊, no. 1 (2007): 107-10.
23
Junfan Wu 吳俊范, "Cong Shuixiang Dao Dushi: Jindai Shanghai Chengshi Daodu Xitong Yanbian Yu
Huanjing (1843-1949) 從水鄉到都市：近代上海城市道路系統演變與環境（1843-1949）(From water town to
modern metropolis: the urban road development in modern Shanghai, 1843-1949)" (Ph.D diss., Fudan University,
2008); Zhenyu Mou 牟振宇, Cong Weidiyuge Dao Dongfang Bali: Jindai Shanghai Fazujie Chengshihua
Kongjian Guocheng Yanjiu 從葦荻漁歌到東方巴黎：近代上海法租界城市化空間過程研究 (From water
town to modern metropolis: the urban transformation of the French Concession in Shanghai) (Shanghai:
Shanghai shudian chubanshe, 2012).
24
Xieming Yuan 袁燮銘, "Gongbuju Yu Shanghaihai Zaoqi Luzheng 工部局與上海早期路政 (The Shanghai
Municipal Council and modern road construction)," Shanghai shehui kexue yuan xueshu jikan 上海社會科學院
學術期刊, no. 4 (1988).
25
Peng Zhang 張鵬, Dushi Xingtai De Lishi Genji : Shanghai Gonggong Zujie Shizheng Fazhan Yu Dushi
Bianqian Yanjiu 都市形態的歷史根基: 上海公共租界市政發展與都市變遷研究(Modern Infrastructure and
Urban Space in the International Settlement of Shanghai) (Shanghai: Tongji daxue chubanshe, 2008).
11
The Building Codes in the Shanghai International Settlement), finds that the silhouette
of main thoroughfares is, in effect, strictly and deliberately adjusted based on building
regulations.26
Social confrontation is also well recognized as the third important agent shaping
the modern road system. According to Qian Sun’s detailed investigation of the
widening process of the major thoroughfares in the International Settlement,
negotiations among the Municipal Council, business enterprises, and individuals
reshape the ultimate route and streetscapes.27 All these empirical studies challenge
the conventional notion that Shanghai’s modern road system was a “natural” result of
economic development and technological progress, and opened new window to
understand the modern road in the dynamic socio-political context.

Research Problem and Methodology

The existing scholarship places the modern road in Shanghai in the

interdisciplinary analytical framework, and brings together methodology and data
from social, cultural, economic, political history, sociology, anthropology, urban
geography, and literature. Despite these accomplishments, the understanding of the
modern road in Shanghai can hardly be considered exhaustive. In fact, most
approaches towards Shanghai’s modern built environment are constrained by the two
prevailing epistemological paradigms, one is “westernization,” the other is
“semi-colonialism.”
Economically, trade is recognized as the most important force that brought
Shanghai into the world economy. Such force, in effect, transformed Shanghai into a
center of distribution rather than of production.28 In the commercialized process,

26
Fang Tang 唐方, Dushi Jianzhu Kongzhi: Jindai Shanghai Gonggong Zujie Jianzhu Fagui Yanjiu, 1845-1943
都市建築控制：近代上海公共租界建築法規研究 (Urban building control: the Building Codes in the Shanghai
International Settlement) (Nanjing: Dongnan daxue chubanshe, 2009), 181-90.
27
Sun, Shanghai Jindai Chengshi Gonggong Guanli Zhidu Yu Kongjian Jianshe: 244-48.
28
Rhoads Murphey, Shanghai: Key to Modern China (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1953).

12
commodities were produced in Europe, and were then imported to Shanghai to be
further distributed to interior Chinese cities and provinces. In a similar manner, “new
thoughts and ideas, new values and lifestyles, new knowledge and practices” were
also imported into and distributed from Shanghai, thereby making it the “key” or
“gateway” of modern China. 29 As with other modern material and intellectual
innovation, modern city planning is commonly understood as the new discipline that
originated from the West, and was imported to the colonized or non-Western cities.
Thus city planning in the foreign settlements of Shanghai is well accepted to follow
the Western experience both intellectually and technologically. In this sense, Yongjie
Sha boldly points out that, in every aspect, the architectural and urban modernization
in Shanghai is synonymous with westernization.”30
However, for most of the period covered by this study, there was no existing
“Western model” of modern city planning that the foreign municipal engineers in
Shanghai could follow. The large European cities, such as Paris, Vienna, and
Barcelona, were also suffering from the unprecedented urban chaos caused by the
industrial modernization. Experimental planning schemes were proposed and
implemented, new social theories utopias were posted, new legislations were
promoted so as to remedy the urban problems at the time. It was not until the early
twentieth century that some comprehensive theories took into shape. In this sense, the
creation of numerous colonial cities and ports along the global trading route was
simultaneous with the emergence of discipline of modern city planning.
The imprecise “semi-colony” formula also leads to the inaccuracy and the
distortion in the study of the urban environment of Shanghai. The term “semi-colony”
was first formulated by Lenin in 1916.31 He places China in this category, along with
Persia and Turkey, to suggest that “semi-colonial” was merely transitional, and all the

29
Yuen-sang Leung, The Shanghai Taotai: Linkage Man in a Changing Society, 1843-90 (Honolulu: University
of Hawaii Press, 1990), 2.
30
Yongjie Sha 沙永傑, "Xihua" De licheng : Zhongri Jianzhu Jindaihua Guocheng Bijiao Yanjiu 西化的歷程:
中日建築近代進程比較研究 (A jouney of "Westernization": comparative study on the development of
architecture in China and Japan) (Shanghai: Shanghai kexue jishu chubanshe, 2001), 9-10.
31
Bryna Goodman, ed. Twentieth Century Colonialism and China (Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2012), 3.
13
three countries were rapidly becoming colonies. The original formulation was
strategically adopted after 1927 by the theorist of the Nationalist and Communist
Parties to reconcile the accepted diagnosis of “semi-colonial/semi-feudal” to their
differing political goals for China.32 Since the first half of the twentieth century,
political theorists and historians alike have generally attached “semi-colonialism” to
China in a formulaic fashion.33
The “semi-colony” formula as an epistemological paradigm has two major
problems. On the one hand, it isolates Shanghai and other Chinese treaty ports from
the broader discourse of colonial city planning, and especially ignores the shifting
expressions of Western colonialism and imperialism in the planning theory and
practice. As an informal yet integral part of the British Empire, the International
Settlement was inevitably influenced by the conscious planning of built environments
and urban forms in other British colonies. From the early seventeenth century until the
mid-twentieth century, one can trace three co-existing and sometimes competing
ideological positions which exercised a continuing influence over the British colonial
urban landscape. The first, which one might call the ideology of state control, saw
colonies as an initiative by the state, or more particularly the crown, through its agents.
The colonial governors and ruling elites often sought to express their political
authority through the physical form of ports and towns, using the civic design
language of avenues, esplanades and grand public buildings. The second ideology was
capitalist, and was adopted in the colonies to achieve the accumulation of wealth from
trade, extraction and production. Thus colonialism was a mixed venture, combining
private enterprise with state or crown control. A third ideology, which one might call
utopian, saw colonial settlement as an opportunity to experiment with forms of social
organization that were less achievable at home.34 The shift ideologies and practices of
the British colonial city planning provide an important, if not yet recognized

32
Ibid., 4.
33
Ibid., 5.
34
Home, Of Planting and Planning: 3-4.

14
background to investigate the modern city planning in Shanghai.
On the other hand, the use of the prefix “semi-” is unable to tease out the
qualitative distinctiveness in the planning of a colonial city and a “semi-colonial
city.”35 The term “semi-colony” only refers to the quantitative distinction between a
formal colonial and a treaty port: that it was not controlled by any single Western
power but was contained “multiple foreign settlements with extraterritorial
jurisdiction.”36 The various socio-political parties in the “incomplete and multiple
layers of domination” which was the distinctive power relation in the Chinese treaty
ports are still vaguely framed in the colonial dualism of Western/Chinese,
dominant/subordinate, and modern/backward. Specifically in Shanghai, the Municipal
Council, the Consular Body, and the foreign city planners are usually put together as
the “colonizers,” who are supposed to share the same military, economic, social, and
ideological concerns. By contrast, the Chinese government, urban gentries, and
ordinary people put together as the “colonized” despite their potentially different
positions, scopes and visions in the new socio-political context.
In the context, this study intends to be a methodological experiment in the
following three aspects. First, it places the modern road system in the analytical
framework of city planning history, especially in the emergence of modern city
planning during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. It focuses on the form and
meaning of the road pattern, and the intellectual background and social process that
shaped it. Instead of treating the modern road network as a natural result of
laisser-faire modernization in which “modern planning theories and administration
methods were gradually introduced from Europe and America to the foreign
settlements at Shanghai, and were imitated by the Chinese local governments,
propelling the urban modernization all over the city,”37 this study regards the modern
road primarily as a form of human creativity. The municipal engineers are

35
Jeremy Taylor, "The Bund: Littoral Space of Empire in the Treaty Ports of East Asia," Social History 27, no. 2
(2002): 125.
36
Goodman, Twentieth Century Colonialism and China, 2.
37
Zheng, Bainian Shanghaicheng: 286.

15
distinguished from other colonial forces, and their professional scope, strategy, and
vision in modernizing the urban environment are given special attention.
Secondly, this study provides a shift reading of the city planning process. The
ideas from Chinese and Westerners, professionals and common people, political
authorities and private entrepreneurs, are put together and treated indiscriminately.
This process integrates the fragmented historical narrative of Shanghai that has
resulted from the “long colored and distorted (and continue to color and distort) local
and global views of the city.”38 Moreover, this study is greatly inspired by Kostof,
who suggests that the street is the stage of struggle between private and public
interests, and “there are intricate levels of social engagement encouraged and hosted
by the street structure.”39 The analysis of the street space and structure, therefore, is
possible only by the constant investigation of the economic, political, and cultural
issues.
Urban morphology is a useful tool to connect the multiple-layers of social
confrontation with urban form. Inspired by the idea of “plan unit” suggested by
Conzen, urban lot is an important but invisible urban element in the British tradition
of city planning.40 This study addresses “urban lot” as the basic analytical unit.
Therefore, road planning is considered as a dynamic process of demarcating and
re-demarcating the lot boundaries, through which power struggles, negotiations, and
collaborations are unfolded.
Thirdly, this study integrates the Western-dominated city planning in the narrative
of Chinese architectural and urban history. Inspired by Jianfei Zhu who points out one
of the major methodological problems in studying Chinese architecture and urbanism
is that most studies are “constrained within one of several historical periods.”
According to Zhu, there are works on Jindai or "early modern" Chinese architecture
from 1840s to 1949, those on "modern" Chinese architecture that are predominantly

38
Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, Global Shanghai, 1850-2010: History in Fragments (London: Routledge, 2009), 1.
39
Kostof, The City Assembled: 189-91.
40
M. R. G. Conzen, "Alnwick, Northumberland: A Study in Town-Plan Analysis," Transactions and Papers
(Institute of British Geographers), no. 27 (1960).

16
on the post-1949 periods, and those that focus on "new architecture" of recent years,
after the late 1990s. But it is rare to find research that crosses these periods. Long
historical analysis in search of latent social and formal currents is even harder to find.
Long historical analysis in search of latent social and formal currents is rare as well as
any work “concerned with focused historical moments and political and formal
problems, let alone long relations across these periods and social-ideological
systems.”41 This study, which merely covers the “early modern” period, attempts to
depart critically from the conventional narrative by launching the questions
concerning whether modern city planning led by the Westerners can be considered as
an integral part of the history of Chinese city planning, and to what extent such
experience has transformed the ideology and practice of Chinese city planning.
The research relies on cartographic records, such as historical photographs, urban
maps, and landscape paintings that are conventionally associated with architectural
study, and on archival materials, such as government and municipal documents, court
and financial records, and property deeds that have been overlooked so far. In pursuit
of a more comprehensive understanding of the professional scope, strategy, and
ideology of municipal engineers, we study the weighty volumes of reports prepared
by the engineers, and draw diagrams of the road schemes that remained in their
preliminary stage. Moreover, the different standpoints of different parties towards the
same phenomenon led to inconsistent and sometimes, even opposite narratives in the
Chinese and foreign documents. Thus, the research relies primarily on a convergence
of multi-archival materials. Correspondences are of primary importance in the study,
as the opinions of various parties are available for analysis through direct and official
communication.
The geographical space covered by this research is the International Settlement
and the extra-Settlement road area. We are explicitly aware of the coexistence of the
Anglo-American, French, and Chinese administered urban areas at the time, and their
competition and confrontation through history. However, this research is not primarily

41
Jianfei Zhu, Architecture of Modern China: A Historical Critique (London; New York: Routledge, 2009), 1.

17
concerned with the city planning in the French and Chinese zones for the most part,
because we desire to focus on the Anglo-American planning practice in China. The
influence of the French tradition of city planning is of equal importance to China.
Nonetheless, its scope, ideology, and practice are entirely different from those of the
Anglo-American tradition, and deserve separate research.
The study period spans the majority of the existence of the Shanghai
International Settlement. The period starts in 1843 when the first Land Regulations
was under drafting. This document later turned out to be the first plan for the
Settlement. The period ends in 1937, when the Japanese troops took over the
Municipal Pingqiao Quarry and ended all the normal city planning and construction
activities in the International Settlement. This period is characterized by steady city
planning and construction process led by the Anglo-American city planners, and is
conventionally understood as independent from the social changes in China. 42
However, this research embeds the Western-dominated planning experience in the
successive social upheavals on the Chinese front, such as the Taiping Rebellion
(1850–64), the Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), the 1911 Revolution, the May Fourth
Movement (1919), the Zhejiang-Jiangsu War (1924–1925), the May Thirtieth
Movement (1925), and the Northern Expedition (1926–28). Further, the study
reveals that the political events, which had brought down Chinese governments and
dramatically altered the Chinese society, were also significant turning points in the
planning history of the Settlement.

Chapter Organization

This dissertation situates the road schemes proposed and implemented from 1843
to 1937 in the development of the modern urban planning discipline on the one side,
and in the specific Chinese historical, political, and cultural contexts on the other side.
42
Delin Lai 賴德霖, "Cong Hongguan De Lunshu Dao Ge'an De Zhuiwen: Jin Shiwu Nian Zhongguo Jindai
Jianzhushi Yanjiu Pingshu 從宏觀的敘述到個案的追問: 近十五年中國近代建築史研究評述 (From
macro-narrative to case-analysis: study on the Chinese modern architectural history during the past fifteenth
years)," Jianzhu xuebao 建築學報, no. 6 (2002): 59-61.

18
Three related questions are addressed: on the professional front, what were the social,
economic, and ideological concerns of the Western city planners in laying out the
street system in Shanghai? On the socio-political front, how the distinctive “Treaty
System” had influenced the city planning, and in which way and to what extent did
the goals and ambitions of various political authorities, social groups and individuals
were embodied and reflected in the built form? On the historical front, whether or not,
and in which way had the city planning led by the Western city planners influenced on
the successive city planning led by the Chinese city planners?
The dissertation consists of six chapters and a conclusion. Chapter One provides
a historical survey of the political structure in Shanghai before it was open to foreign
trade, and investigates how the structure was adjusted and renovated after the foreign
settlements were established, and how the self-governing Municipal Council was
embedded into the structure. Focusing on the site and physical boundary of the
International Settlement, Chapter Two first discusses how the settlement was
strategically situated in the northern suburb of Shanghai County. It then studies the
changing jurisdictional meanings of the settlement boundary in the successive
Fundamental Treaties and “Land Regulations.” It further analyzes how the exact
route of the settlement boundaries was demarcated and re-demarcated through
history, and how the road schemes were negotiated in the boundary areas. Chapter
Three and Four investigate the initial modern street network laid out in the
nineteenth century, the jurisdictional and administrative dispute between the Chinese
and foreign authorities, the competition and negotiation on the boundaries, and the
constant redefinition and reconstruction during the first two decades of the twentieth
century. The ideal and ideology held by the Western city planners and
decision-makers are addressed, and are understood in the specific disciplinary,
historical, political, and cultural conditions at the time.
The public promenade on the Bund is probably the most remarkable
achievement of city planning during the studied period. However, under the
fragmented political structure, its legal jurisdiction had been quite ambiguous, and
its picturesque landscape had been frequently threatened by the utilitarian desire to
19
turn it into either a landing place, or a trunk road, or a car park. The social
negotiation concerning the design and construction of the Bund Promenade, as well
as the public debate on the nature of “publicity”, “utility”, and “beauty” form the
substance of Chapter Five.
Chapter Six examines the development of the suburbs between 1927 and 1937,
characterized by the competing street systems laid out in Fahua district by the
increasing wealthier and self-conscious foreign mercantile community on the one side,
and by the newly established Nationalist government on the other side. The divided
plans reflect the emergence of the Chinese Nationalism spirit and the centralized
government, and anticipated the significant shift from the “modernization led by the
Westerners” to the “modernization led by the Chinese.” The Conclusion summarizes
the overall historic process in planning the International Settlement, highlighting the
respective desires, ideals, and struggles of various social groups—Chinese and
foreigners, locals and outsiders, political elite and businessmen—in designing and
using the urban space. It further teases out the fundamental yet ambiguous influence
that the Western-led modern urbanization casted on the physical, social, and
intellectual form of the Chinese society.

20
 CHAPTER 1
PRELUDE TO A MODERN METROPOLIS

On August 29, 1842, the Chinese and British governments signed the Treaty of
Nanking on board of the Cornwallis, opening Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Ningbo,
and Shanghai to foreign trade. One year later, the first British Settlement in China
was established in Shanghai, followed by the American and French Settlements in
1848 and 1849, respectively. The emergence of foreign settlements is a milestone in
the urban history of Shanghai. Specifically, the establishment of the
foreign-administered Municipal Council in 1854 initiated a great number of public
works, turning Shanghai into a modern large city in a short period.
The Municipal Council undoubtedly played a leading role in shaping the modern
road system. But it was not the only actor in the city planning and construction
process. Instead, it was embedded into the socio-political structure of Shanghai
stipulated both by the pre-existing geo-politics and by the Treaty System. The local
Chinese authorities, the foreign Consular Body, and the foreign and Chinese business
elites formed the most important part in this socio-political structure. Through
history, the Municipal Council had to reshape itself again and again to face the
radically local socio-political changes. In turn, the growth and institutionalization of
the Council stimulated the reform of the local political institutions and the
renovation of the business elites.
This chapter investigates the socio-political transformation that took place after
the establishment of the foreign settlements. This process shaped the distinctive
power relation in Shanghai and made the city planning and construction entirely
different from that in European cities and formal colonies.

21
1.1 The Rise of the Foreign Municipality

In a public meeting held on July 11, 1854, which was attended by all foreign
residents and was under the auspices of the British, French, and American Consuls,
the Shanghai Municipal Council was founded. A new version of the “Land
Regulations” was promulgated accordingly, with several articles added to the duties
and authorities of the Council. However, in 1862, the French Concession withdrew
from the Municipality because of the difference in opinions and the methods of
administration of the settlements in relation to the local Chinese administration. It
established a “Conseil d’Administration Municipale” under the direct administration
of the French Consul-General. Since then, the Shanghai Municipal Council only had
jurisdiction on the Anglo-American Settlements.

Duties of the Council

The Municipal Council was created out of the urban administration experience in
the West and the socio-political upheavals in China. It was founded with the main
intention of assuming the functions of public works and a municipal administration.
Article IX of the “Land Regulations” of 1854 stipulated the duties of the Municipal
Council as the “making of roads, building public jetties and bridges, and keeping
them in repair; cleansing, lighting, and draining the settlement generally, and
establishing a watch or police force.”1 This version was revised in 1865 by a special
committee appointed by the Council, and was put into practice in 1869. The new
version largely clarified and broadened the authority of the Municipal Council
regarding the city planning and administration affairs, which stated as follows:

It being expedient and necessary for the better order and good government of the
Settlement that some provision should be made for the appointment of an
executive Committee or Council, and for the construction of public works, and
keeping the same in repair; and for cleaning, lighting, watering, and draining the
1
"The Shanghai Land Regulations, 1854," Art. IX.

22
 Settlement generally; establishing a watch or Police force therein; purchasing
and renting lands, houses and buildings for Municipal purposes; paying the
persons necessarily employed in any Municipal office or capacity, and for raising
money when necessary by way of loan or otherwise for any of the purposes
aforesaid.2

The Committee System

According to the “Land Regulations,” the most important deliberations

concerning the general public interests of the foreign community could not be acted
upon until they were approved in the Ratepayers’ Meeting that assembled annually.
However, the regular administrative problems were usually addressed to the
Committee of the Municipal Council for consideration and solution. The early
Committee was composed of several “upright gentlemen” elected by the whole body
of the foreign residents living in the Settlement. For example, the first Council
Committee elected in 1854 was composed of five members, namely, Messrs. W. Kay,
E. Cunningham, D. O. King, C. A. Fearon, and the Rev. Dr. Medhurst, with the last
gentleman being a scholar and a Congregationalist missionary. After 1865, however,
the Committee shall only include the business elite of the foreign community who
“shall pay an annual assessment, exclusive of licenses, of Tls. 50, or shall be a
householder paying on an assessed rental of Tls. 1,200 per annum”.3 Since then and
up until the 1920s, the Committee of the Municipal Council was in effect composed
of nine foreign members, usually including five members of British nationality, two
Americans, and two Japanese. It was further divided into several sub-Committees or
Commissions, either general or special, to exercise advisory powers on specific
affairs. Originally, there were three Committees, namely, the Finance Committee,
Watch Committee, and Public Works Committee. More Committees were added in
the following years. Up until 1935, there were twelve special Committees in the
Municipal Council as is listed below:

2
"Land Regulations and Bye-Laws for the Foreign Settlements of Shanghai North of the Yang-King-Pang,"
(1869), Art. IX.
3
Ibid., Art. XIX.

23
1. Finance Committee that deals with finance matters, revenue matters, budget, etc.
2. Staff Committee that deals with various matters affecting the personnel of the
Council departments, appointments, promotions, dismissal of employees,
pensions, revisions of pay, leave, etc.
3. Watch Committee that deals with police and defense matters, volunteer corps,
fire brigade, etc.
4. Works Committee that deals with all kinds of public works, parks, widening of
roads, road construction, new buildings, etc.
5. Health Committee that deals with sanitary matters, hospitals, markets, dairies,
slaughter houses, etc.
6. Public Utilities Committee that deals with matters on various public utility
companies functioning in the Settlement.
7. Traffic Committee that deals with traffic problems in the Settlement.
8. Board of Education that deals with educational matters, schools, etc.
9. Orchestra and Band Committee that supervises the functions of the Shanghai
Municipal Symphony Orchestra and Brass Band.
10. Library Committee that supervises the Shanghai Municipal Library.
11. Rate Assessment Committee that reviews the assessments for the General
Municipal Rate on appeal.
12. Board of Film Censors that censors all films to be shown in the theatres situated
in the Settlement.4

Organization of the Public Works Department

The Municipal Council gradually developed into a sophisticated urban

administration institution and managed to obtain a certain degree of autonomous

4
Anatol M. Kotenev, "Short Outline of the History and Procedure of the Municipal Government of the
International Settlement of Shanghai," (Special Collection of the Main Library at the University of Hong Kong
MSS 352.160951132 K8, 1935), 10.

24
right in terms of policing, tax collecting, and city planning and construction. Since
the early 1860s, the Council started to employ full-time, professional civic officers to
take charge of regular urban administration affairs, and several special departments
were established accordingly. The city planning and construction affairs were
designated to the Public Works Department, which in turn reported to the Public
Works Committee. In 1889, the Department only had one indoor office assistant (i.e.,
the Assistant Engineer) and two foreign overseers for the supervision of out-of-door
work.5 But by 1935, it developed into a sophisticated organization with ten branches
and more than forty employees including:

1. Executive: deals with all special matters and exercises the general supervision of
the whole Department.
2. Architect’s Division: plans and designs all Municipal buildings, including
sanitary and heating installations, refrigeration plants, etc.; prepares the
specifications and working drawings for all new Municipal buildings, letting
contracts for, and supervision and control of, the erection thereof; maintains and
repairs all existing Municipal buildings.
3. Land Surveyor’s Division: prepares plans that show the areas from individual
properties for road widening and extension, negotiates for the acquisition of such
areas and prepares the requisite deeds to effect such surrenders; surveys new
consular lots and prepares draft official plans of such lots; examines consular lot
boundary stones and issues their certificates; examines the provisional plans of
unregistered land within the Settlement for which the Chinese authorities
propose to issue Chinese Landowners’ Certificates to ensure that such plans do
not conflict with the plans of neighboring consular lots.
4. Building Surveyor’s Division: examines plans of all proposed buildings and
alterations and additions thereto to ensure conformity with the Building Rules;
issues all building permits and inspections during construction; inspects the

5
Shanghai Municipal Council, Annual Report of the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1908, 123-24.

25
 premises requiring a license under Bye-law XXXIV attached to the “Land
Regulations,” etc.
5. Highway Section: constructs and maintains all roads and controls and operates
all road-making plants; maintains timber bridges, bundings, pontoons, and jetties;
cleans and drenches roads; collects and disposes house and street refuse;
maintains drains; conserves all creeks, except the Soochow Creek; deals with
public lighting; and issues various permits.
6. Structural Section: prepares plans and specifications for engineering structures
and supervises construction; designs structural details for new Municipal
buildings.
7. Sewerage Section: prepares plans for new sewers and drains and laying of the
same; lays private sewer and drain connections; collects and disposes ordure.
8. Workshops Section: maintains Departmental motor cars and trucks, steam rollers,
and other rolling stock; maintains Municipal machinery and plants; conducts
general mechanical and electrical engineering work; inspects lifts and boilers.
9. Account Section.
10. Parks and Open Spaces Section: maintains and controls Public Parks and
Gardens and Zoological Gardens; maintains roadside trees and gardens attached
to Municipal buildings; propagates trees, shrubs, and flowers in Municipal
Nurseries; prepares organized games, concerts, and other special functions in the
Parks.6

The Head of the Public Works Department was commonly known as the Chief
Engineer and Surveyor (Figure 1.1). After 1919, he also served as the Commissioner
of Public Works. He was the primary advocator, designer, and supervisor of all the
major public works in the Settlement. The first Engineer C. Clark arrived in Shanghai
between 1861 and 1863. His successor Charles Mayne was most likely a bridge
engineer, and he took over the office between 1889 and 1909. The two Chief
6
Kotenev, "Short Outline of the History and Procedure of the Municipal Government of the International
Settlement of Shanghai," 22-23.

26
Engineers in the twentieth century Chas. H. Godfrey and C. Harpur both had decades
of work experience in Shanghai before they became the Head. However, the archives
only provided limited information regarding the educational background and working
experience of the municipal engineers. In the following chapters, I will try to explore
their professional scopes and personal ambitions through information dispersed in the
writings of the municipal reports, correspondences, and the regularly scheduled study
leaves.

Figure 1.1. Diagram of the office organization of the Public Works Department
Source: Annual Report of the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1908.

27
1.2 Local Political Authorities

Although the Municipal Council had full power to deal with civic affairs within
the International Settlement did not mean that it had total freedom of action. With the
signing of the Treaty of Nanking and the opening of treaty ports, the age-old
“Tributary System” that had governed China’s relations with the outside world was
ended permanently. A new framework, the “Treaty System” as it is commonly
referred to, was established. Under the new system, the treaties, signed between the
Chinese government on one side and the foreign countries on the other, formed the
fundamental legal premise of the Sino-foreign relation. But the Treaties only gave
vague conditions under which the foreign subjects could reside and do business in
the treaty ports. For example, the Treaty of Nanking only provided that “British
Subjects, with their families and establishments, shall be allowed to reside, for the
purpose of carrying on their Mercantile pursuits, without molestation or restraint” at
the five ports opened for foreign trades.7 But no single arrangement was made to
govern foreign residence throughout all of China. In Guangzhou Shamian, the
Chinese authorities surrendered the political control to foreign governments and
Chinese were prohibited from living in the area. But in Ningbo, Chinese and
foreigners could live intermingled, and the area remained under Chinese
administration. In the Shanghai International Settlement, the foreign residents, along
with their elected municipality, were administered jointly by the Chinese government
and the foreign consuls. As was rightly pointed out by Kotenev, in the eyes of both
Chinese and foreign political authorities, the Municipal Council remained to be
“either a British or an American civic enterprise subordinated entirely to the local
Consular Body.”8
The “multiple layers of domination” is a distinctive political structure in the
International Settlement. But many historians tend to understand it as a conventional

7
"Treaty of Nanking," (1842), Art. II.
8
Anatol M. Kotenev, Shanghai: Its Municipality and the Chinese (Shanghai: North-China Daily News & Herald,
Limited, 1927), 27.

28
colonizer/colonized dual system. They argue that the Chinese sovereign over the
foreign-occupied areas existed in theory instead of in practice, and the foreign
consuls always stood in line with the foreign municipality. However, a close look
into the historic archives reveals that as far as the city planning and construction
affairs were concerned, the real situation was much more complicated. In fact,
accompanied with the enlargement of the Settlement and the institutionalization of
the Municipal Council, the local political institutions also adjusted. On the Chinese
front, the duties of the government officials were largely modified, and several new
organizations and agencies were established. On the foreign front, the foreign
consuls were also re-organized to form a Consular Body, delivering coincident
opinions of the Settlement administration affairs despite the difference of nationality.
These institutional renovations not only fundamentally changed China’s foreign
diplomatic relations and practice, but also casted important influence on the
Settlement planning and construction affairs.

The Chinese Political Hierarchy before 1842

Under the Qing regime, Shanghai was a county subordinated to Jiangsu Province.
The highest government official in this area was the Viceroy of Liangjiang (Liangjian
Zongdu, ranked 1B) seated in Nanjing, who ruled the three provinces of Anhui,
Jiangxi, and Jiangsu. Next in rank was the Governor of Jiangsu (Jiangsu Xunfu,
ranked 2A) seated in Suzhou. Subordinate to the Governor of Jiangsu was the Circuit
Superintendent of Suzhou, Songjiang and Taicang (Su-song-tai Daotai, ranked 4A);
Shanghai was one of the seven counties under his jurisdiction. At the lowest level of
the hierarchy were the Magistrates (Shanghai Zhixian, ranked 7A). They were
commonly called the "father-and-mother official" because of their direct contact and
involvement with the people (Figure 1.2). The top-ranking officials, including the
Viceroy of Liangjiang, the Governor of Jiangsu, and the Su-song-tai Daotai, were
directly appointed by the emperor, and the lower ranking officials were usually
nominated by their superiors.
29
 Aside from the formal political hierarchy, a sophisticated system of informal
social organization was also in place, which was composed of district (Tu), parish
(Bao), commune (Jia), and platoon (Pai). According to the Qing administration
system, ten families form one platoon, ten platoons form one commune, and ten
communes form one parish; the last one was the most important social unit. In
particular, the committeeman of parish (Dibao) was a vital middleman between
common people and the local government. He was designated to assist in collecting
tax, maintaining security, and organizing public ceremonies. He also kept records of
the land in the parish and took charge of the construction of roads, bridges, temples,
schools, and other major public works. These minor officials were usually nominated
and supported by the influential local gentries.

Figure 1.2. Official Hierarchy in the Jiangsu Province under the Qing Regime
Source: Data adapted from Yuen-sang Leung, The Shanghai Taotai: Linkage Man in a Changing
Society, 1843-90 (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1990), Table II-b.

30
Traditional Duty of Chinese Officials

Under the Qing regime, the city construction and administration affairs, such as
building roads, maintaining police force, and establishing fire brigades, were left to
the local elite, and the authorities tended to keep their intervention to the minimum.
The members of the local gentry, especially the merchants, gained a greater place in
these activities.9

Figure 1.3. Prefectures and districts under the jurisdiction of Shanghai Daotai
Source: Data adapted from Yuen-sang Leung, The Shanghai Taotai: Linkage Man in a Changing
Society, 1843-90 (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1990), Table II-c.

This situation was explicitly reflected in the construction of the City Wall in the
sixteenth century, which was probably the largest public work undertaken in Shanghai
before the nineteenth century. According to the Country Gazette, the initial memorial
to the Board of Works for an “official permission to build a city wall” was advocated
9
Christian Henriot, Shanghai, 1927-1937: Municipal Power, Locality, and Modernization (Berkeley: University
of California Press, 1993), 7-11.

31
by a local gentry named Gu Congli in 1553 immediately after Shanghai was attacked
by pirates for five times within two months.10 Pan En, a retired official and leader of
the local elite, then supplemented this proposal with several practical suggestions to
raise money from villagers, city dwellers, and rich merchants. The project got
enthusiastic support from the local people, and a new city wall was completed by the
end of 1554, taking only three months. The additional reinforcements, including
several gates, new towers, and a surrounding moat, continued until 1618.11 However,
there is no direct archive indicating that any high-ranking officials ever participated in
the project.
The highest-ranking official seated in Shanghai was the Su-song-tai Daotai,
whose jurisdiction covered three prefectures and up to fifteen counties (Figure 1.3).
The term Shanghai Daotai began to be used colloquially after his office moved from
the Taicang Department to Shanghai County in 1732, and it was gradually adopted in
formal government reports.
Shanghai Daotai was not originally a civic administrator. Instead, he was a
military and commercial administrator whose main duty was trade and military
administration.12 This function was revealed in the location of his office Daoshu,
which was established in the eastern section of the Walled City. The office was largely
damaged in 1842 by the British troops but was soon rebuilt in the original site. In the
Tongzhi map, the Daoshu, although the headquarters of the highest-ranking official in
the city, was not placed in the city center where the office of the County Magistrate,
the temple of the City God, and the County College were located. Instead, it was
situated near the Great East Gate on the periphery of the Walled City, around which a
grain warehouse, a fish market, a shoes market, and many native banks were located.
The Jianghai Daguan (Great-River-Sea-Customs), which stood on the bank of the
Huangpu outside the Little East Gate, was not far away from Daoshu (Figure 1.4).

10
The English translation quoted in Linda Cooke Johnson, Shanghai: From Market Town to Treaty Port,
1074-1858 (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1995), 80.
11
Ibid.
12
Leung, The Shanghai Taotai: 20-23.

32
The Daoshu must have been deliberately situated in the midst of the commercial
center of the city rather than in the political center, where quick connections could be
made with commercial institutions and the Custom House.

Figure 1.4. Location of the headquarters of the Shanghai Daotai.

Source: Yu Yue 俞樾, Baoshi Ying 應寶時, and Wei Mo 莫為, eds., Shanghai Xianzhi 上海縣志
(Shanghai County Gazetteer) ([S.l.: s.n.], Reprint in 1882).

Adjustments after 1842

After 1842, the Shanghai Daotai was appointed as the chief authority to conduct
foreign affairs. Two counties under his jurisdiction, namely, Shanghai and Baoshan,
later became the sites of the International Settlements. This Daotai, according to
Leung Yuen-sang’s study, played an important role in the late Qing politics by acting
as a “linkage man between East and West, tradition and modernity, moralism and
profitism.”13 He was also actively involved in the city planning and construction

13
Ibid., 156.
33
affairs in the Settlement.
At the beginning, the Daotai and his superiors did not seem to take the foreign
management as a completely different duty from his previous job as military and trade
administrator. However, with the rapid development of the foreign settlements in
Shanghai, the Daotai’s duty was adjusted and modified accordingly.
Between 1842 and 1860, the Shanghai Daotai became a critical post in the
regional political structure. Before that, Daotai was merely a middle-echelon official
in the province. As the Qing statutes were vague and elusive in defining duties but
incisive and lucid in spelling out the hierarchical relationship between superiors and
inferiors, the Shanghai Daotai who worked under the Jiangsu Governor and the
Viceroy of Liang-jiang was less likely to play a decisive role in local administration.
However, during the first two decades after the Opium War, foreign management was
a duty that could create more instability and insecurity in one's political life. These
practical worries, coupled with intellectual pride and alienation, created a negative
feeling toward foreign management, particularly among high-ranking regional
officials.14 As Leung notices that, in this situation, the Shanghai Daotai became his
own master in the conduct of foreign affairs, “without a national policy to follow,
without an institutional basis to work with, and without much direction from the
provincial government.” 15 Many important decisions in Shanghai, such as the
granting of foreign settlements and the promulgation of “Land Regulations” were first
made between the Daotai and the foreign officials, and only later presented to the
provincial and central governments. As a result, the Daotai’s individual perspective,
attitude, and self-interest played a crucial role in the growth of the foreign settlement.
During this period the Daotai’s duty gradually shifted from custom and military
administration to civic administration. Initially, the Chinese government tended to
treat the foreign community as a commercial guild and the foreign settlement as a
“factory” that had worked in Canton for centuries. However, as the Chinese people

14
Ibid., 41-45.
15
Ibid., 46.

34
fled to the foreign settlements in the 1850s and 1860s, foreign affairs went far beyond
commerce and defense. Instead, it had more to do with the mediation between the
Chinese and foreign communities. In effect, the Daotai became the representative of
the Chinese community, a duty that was originally placed upon the City Magistrate.
But the year 1861 was a turning point in the geo-politics in Shanghai. With a
national policy under a central leadership emerging to serve as a guiding principle for
local actions, the high-ranking central and regional officials started to participate more
actively in the affairs regarding the foreign settlements.
The most important change occurred in 1861 when the “Office in General Charge
of Affairs Concerning All Foreign Nations” was formally established. This institution
was commonly known as Zongli Yamen. From the 1860s to the early twentieth century,
it was the Zongli Yamen ministers, together with a group of central officials, who
made most of the important plans and decisions on foreign management in Shanghai.
The power relation at the regional level was adjusted accordingly. In Jiangsu
Province in the Qing period, two original administrative power centers existed: the
Nanjing government under the Viceroy of Liangjiang and the Suzhou government
under the Governor of Jiangsu. Theoretically, all officials in Jiangsu were under the
supervision of the Governor, who in turn reported to the Viceroy. However,
according to Leung’s study, the province was divided into two spheres of control,
with Subei (the northern part of Jiangsu) under the Viceroy in Nanjing and Jiangnan
(the southern part of Jiangsu) under the Governor in Suzhou.16 However, after the
1860s, the Viceroy in Nanjing, under the instruction of the central government, got
more and more involved in the local affairs of Shanghai, which was originally under
the jurisdiction of the Governor in Suzhou. The shift of authority became even more
apparent when Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, two leading advocates of the
“Self-strengthening Movement,” were appointed as Viceroy of Liangjiang in the
1860s and 1870s, respectively.
According to Leung, major decisions thereafter were made by the central

16
Ibid., 12.

35
government officials in Beijing and also by the Viceroy in Nanjing. The improvement
of the communication–transportation system in the 1870s and 1880s further narrowed
the gap between the local, provincial, and central governments, and the power centers
could exercise control over local officials more tightly and effectively. Thus, the
Daotai's role became functional and administrative, concentrating more on local civic
administration rather than military and diplomatic affairs.

The Consular Body

The authority of the foreign consuls was first stipulated in Article II of the
Treaty of Nanking, which states “Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, etc., will
appoint Superintendents or Consular Officers, to reside at each of the treaty ports, to
be the medium of communication between the Chinese Authorities and the
merchants, and to see that the just Duties and other Dues of the Chinese Government
are duly discharged by Her Britannic Majesty’s Subjects.”17
Initially, the British Consul was the only consul in the Settlement, it the
Settlement was considered an exclusive British Settlement. Under the “Land
Regulations” of 1845, for example, “if individuals belonging to other nations should
wish to rent ground and build houses, within the boundaries of the ground north of
the Yang-King-Pang, set apart to be rented to English merchants, distinct application
must first be made to the English Consul.”18
However, the original claim of the British authorities for complete jurisdiction
lasted only a few years. In 1854, the revised “Land Regulations” abolished Article
XIV in the 1845 version, providing that “any person desiring to rent land or purchase
houses from the Chinese proprietors within the said limits, must first apply to the
Consul or Consular agent of his nation.”19 With France withdrawing from the

17
"Treaty of Nanking," Art. II.
18
"Land Regulations of 1845," Art. XIV.
19
"The Shanghai Land Regulations, 1854," Art. II.

36
Municipality in 1862, the authority of the British and American Consuls was
established, with the former taking charge of affairs to the south of the Suzhou Creek
and the later managing the Hongkou Area to the north side of the Suzhou Creek.
In the 1860s and 1870s, more and more countries signed treaties with China, and
the number of the local consuls grew to fourteen. In 1882, a Court of Consuls was
established for the purpose of dealing with the conflicts between the Municipal
Council and the Chinese authorities on the one side, and with the foreign residents of
various nationalities on the other side. The Court initially constituted three Consuls,
including a Senior Consul, elected annually by the Consular Body. In 1931, the
number of Court members increased to five.20
According to the “Land Regulations,” the Consular Body was the highest
foreign authority in Shanghai that shall administrate both the foreign residents and
the Municipal Council, which was their representative body.21 The Consular Body
had the authority to convene the Public Meetings of foreign ratepayers, both general
and special. It served as the channel of communication between the various levels of
Chinese governments and the Municipal Council, as the later did not have such right
to communicate with the Chinese authority directly. Through the Court of Consuls, it
dealt with cases that the Municipal Council could sue or be sued. Article XXVII of
the “Land Regulations,” which provides for the establishment of the Court, made no
special provision to the law applied. Thus, the Court remained free to decide cases
on such general principles, as the judgment of the Court itself appeared to be
equitable and suitable for application to the particular case.22 Therefore, the Court
acted more like a mediation institution instead of a legislative one.
During the first two decades of the Settlement, the consuls usually worked with
the Shanghai Daotai. Several important issues, such as the granting of the

20
Kotenev, "Short Outline of the History and Procedure of the Municipal Government of the International
Settlement of Shanghai," 8.
21
"Land Regulations and Bye-Laws for the Foreign Settlements of Shanghai North of the Yang-King-Pang,"
Art. IX.
22
Kotenev, "Short Outline of the History and Procedure of the Municipal Government of the International
Settlement of Shanghai," 9.

37
settlement land and the definition of their boundaries, were all settled between the
local Consuls and the Daotai. After the 1860s, with the adjustment of the Chinese
political structure, the consuls’ attitudes changed accordingly. They usually
employed a "top–down" approach, that is, to deal directly with the central
government and high-level officials.23 In some cases, the Consul Body usually
bypassed the Daotai and brought the matters directly to the Foreign Ministers in
Beijing and to the Zongli Yamen. While in other cases, the Foreign Ministers
changed the local agreement made between consuls and the Daotai and renegotiated
a new decision with the Zongli Yamen. In this process, many local issues, such as the
negotiations of the road schemes on the Settlement boundaries, were taken from
local disputes to international conflicts.
Many historians tend to consider both the Consular Body and the Municipal
Council as the “colonizers” at Shanghai. Admittedly, the Consuls acted as a nominal
middleman who conveyed the Council’s appeals to the Chinese government, and
they sometimes were enthusiastic whole-hoggers who compelled the Chinese
authority to make favorable decisions for the foreign community. However, insofar
as the city planning and construction affairs were concerned, this was not always the
case. As Pott observed in the 1920s the foreign consuls were sent out to China to
represent their countries; their primary mission was to prevent disputes between the
foreign merchants and the Chinese population, and assume their home counties’
commercial interests in China.24 Conversely, the Municipal Council was mainly
established for the welfare of the local foreign residents in Shanghai, and its duty
was to create a “sanitary, orderly, and profitable” urban environment for the
foreigners resided in Shanghai. In many cases, the Council’s efforts, expressed by
the Municipal engineers’ city planning schemes, came into conflict with the Chinese
authority and population, and with the commercial interests of their home countries.

23
Leung, The Shanghai Taotai: 76-78.
24
Pott, A Short History of Shanghai: 93.

38
1.3 The New Urban Gentry

The urban gentry had long played an important role in Shanghai’s local politics
and civic administration, and this situation did not change after 1843. In accordance
with the Law of Avoidance, natives were not allowed to serve in local governments.
Thus, all government officials, except the local educational officials, came from
other provinces. The law was instituted to prevent political nepotism and regionalism,
and to insure judicial fairness and central dominance, but it also led to constant
personal changes. As a result, the local gentry usually had to take responsibilities of
the major public works, and new-appointed regional officials had to rely heavily on
the gentry to manage the local affairs.
This situation was particularly true in Jiangsu and Shanghai, as there were more
scholarly families and official-gentry families in this region than in any other province.
Among the 26,747 Jinshi (metropolitan examination graduates) in the entire Qing
period, 11% came from Jiangsu. Among the 342 who belonged to the honored list (the
top three of each examination), 34.8% were from Jiangsu.25 This scholarly tradition
had a significant impact on the local politics. As Leung observes, more Jinshi meant
more government officials from Jiangsu. Having more officials in court and in other
provinces strengthened the power of their families at home. The gentry families were
more likely to produce more scholars and officials because of their wealth and official
connections.”26 Through this cyclical process, Jiangsu established itself as the most
important "political province," even though it was the smallest in terms of
geographical size. Thus, the local elite of the Jiangnan region played an important role
in determining local administrative affairs. The construction of the city wall
mentioned above is the best example that reflects the urban gentry’s influence on local
affairs.
Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, new members joined the gentry class

25
Leung, The Shanghai Taotai: 17-18.
26
Ibid.

39
in Shanghai. Two groups of business elites formed the major part of the new urban
gentry. One was leading members in the foreign mercantile community; the other
was the Chinese merchants who primarily came from Canton and Zhejiang province
and who acquired great fortune through the external and internal trades that
flourished in the post-Opium War era. These two groups of people formed the new
urban gentry group in Shanghai, referred to by Leung as the "hyphenated elite."27
They acted either as a decision maker or as an enthusiastic supporter, playing
formative role in shaping the built environment of Shanghai.

The Foreign Business Elite

As previously discussed, the Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Council was

annually elected on a property-based franchise that excluded most Britons from
voting and even more from being elected. Others held multiple votes depending on
the number of properties they represented. Almost all the qualified voters and
candidates were land/house owners in Shanghai, and they proudly called themselves
“Shanghailanders.” These people met once a year in full session to vote on the
budget and on substantive issues put forward by the Council or by other ratepayers.
In 1854, when the Municipal Council was formed, 30 to 40 individuals were
land renters among the foreign (mostly British) population of 250. The “Land
Regulations” of 1869 stipulates the qualifications of the people who were entitled to
vote as follows:

Every foreigner, either individually or as a member of a firm, residing in the

Settlement, having paid all taxes due, and being an owner of land of not less than
Tls. 500 in value, whose annual payment of assessment on land or houses or both,
exclusive of all payments in respect of licenses, shall amount to the sum of Tls. 10
and upwards, or who shall be a householder paying on an assessed rental of not
less than Tls. 500 per annum and upwards, shall be entitled to vote in the election
of the said Members of the Council and at the public meetings.28

27
Ibid., 146.
28
"Land Regulations and Bye-Laws for the Foreign Settlements of Shanghai North of the Yang-King-Pang,"
Art. XIX.
40
 As the right was merely entitled to those who were landowners and
householders, much criticism emerged from the foreign community up to the 1870s
(Figure 1.5). Many people complained that the franchise had limited the voting right
to a handful of rich landlords, many of whom did not live in the city and did not care
about the interest of the local community. According to an investigation carried out
in 1879, the Body of Voters was composed of 403 persons, including 230 land
renters whose properties were assessed at Tls. 500 and upwards and who paid Tls. 10
or more in annual taxes, and 173 householders who paid annually assessed rentals of
Tls. 500 or more. Among them, 148 persons did not live in Shanghai and were
entitled to vote by proxy. As regards the Municipal Councilors, only 30 resident land
renters, 75 householders not owning land, and 7 ratepayers qualified by taxes on
both land and houses were eligible to be voted. Thus, out of the 2,000 more foreign
residents in the Settlement, only 255 were entitled to vote and 112 were eligible to be
voted.29

Figure 1.5. The Councilors of the Shanghai Municipal Council elected in 1870
Source: Memory Shanghai, http://memoire.digilib.sh.cn/SHNH/.

29
“Appendix to Report,” February, 1880, by R. W. Little, Esq., Chairman of the Municipal Council, 7-9. In
"Proposed Municipal Regulations and By-laws," (1881).

41
 In 1879, a Committee was appointed by the Council to modify the “Land
Regulations” of 1869 to expand the body of voters and to increase the number of
those eligible to serve as Councilors. The Committee presented a report in the
ratepayers’ meeting held in 1880, favoring the abolition of the combined
qualification of taxes on land and houses, and the reduction of proxy voting. Article
II of the proposed Regulations provides the following:

The Municipal Body of Shanghai shall consist of all subjects and citizens of
Powers having Treaties with China, being land renters, residents or lessees of
land, buildings, or separately rated parts of buildings within the Settlement who
own land assessed for Municipal purposes at not less than Tls. 1,000, OR who
pay taxes on an annual rental or assessed rental of not less than Tls. 300.30

The Committee of the Municipal Council elected from individuals who “has
been the registered owners of land assessed for Municipal purpose at not less that Tls.
8,000, OR paid taxes on an annual rental or assessed rental of not less than Tls.
800.”31 Furthermore, the proposal suggests limiting the right of voting by proxy to
all absentees owning land assessed at Tls. 3,500 or more, and no person must be
eligibly elected as Councilor unless he owned property within the Settlement for 12
months previous to his nomination. With these changes, the Municipal Body was
expected to expand to have 360 resident voters and 157 persons eligible to be
voted.32
The endeavor to expand the Municipal Body, although enthusiastically supported
by the local foreign community, did not receive sanction from the Foreign Ministers
in Beijing. The franchise fixed in the “Land Regulations” of 1869 continued to work
up to the 1920s. Only in the late 1930s did more than one-sixth of the British
community get the vote.
In short, the Shanghailanders were the ultimate policy makers and decision
30
Ibid., Art. II.
31
Ibid., Art. V.
32
“Appendix to Report,” February, 1880, by R. W. Little, Esq., Chairman of the Municipal Council, 7-9. Ibid.

42
makers in the International Settlement. However, more than two-thirds of the total
value of assessed land in the Settlement was registered in the names of absentees, who
did not actually live in the city and showed limited interest in the Municipal
administration but were entitled the right of proxy vote to decide the most important
issues in the Settlement. This situation largely led the division within the foreign
mercantile community. In fact, by the end of the nineteenth century, this community
did not seem to be one large family, as it was in the earlier days, but was divided into
many sections. This situation largely led the Council to conduct proposals that were
unpopular among the local foreign community. This differentiation became so evident
that in 1921, a Civic League was established to give opportunities for those who were
critical of Municipal affairs to express their views.33

The Gentry-merchants Sojourning in Shanghai

The Cantonese merchants flocked into Shanghai in 1842 to pursue commercial

opportunities in this newly-opened port. Under the two Manchu Daotais, Xian-ling
and Lingui (1847–1850), the size of the Cantonese-Fukienese merchants grew
rapidly, and their opinions usually became official trade policies. Wu Jian-zhang's
appointment to the Daotai post in 1851 marked the zenith of the Cantonese political
influence.
The downfall of the Small Sword Society in 1855 gave a chance for the
Zhejiang merchants to break the Cantonese dominance in politics and commerce.
After the rebellion, both Zhejiangese officials in court and in Shanghai accused the
Cantonese officials and merchants of instigating or encouraging the anti-government
movement. Lan Wei-wen, the then sub-prefect of the coastal defense, had a close
association with the Ningbo merchants. He put forth the "Ten Regulations of
Reorganization" that would strictly restrict the activities of the Cantonese and taper

33
Pott, A Short History of Shanghai: 262-63.

43
their power.34
As a result of the political struggle, the Cantonese were evicted from the city
walls and the city politics. Their Ningbo counterparts replaced the Cantonese areas.
The Tian Hou Temple, which stood along the Huangpu River beyond the North Gate
for centuries, was not allowed to be rebuilt. Most Cantonese-Fukienese merchants,
together with their guilds and ceremonies, were forced to move out of the prosperous
Nandao area and were relocated to the north of the Suzhou Creek. However, they only
left temporarily. After the 1870s, the Tian Hou Temples and Canton Guilds were
rebuilt in the International Settlement, in a larger scale and with grander architectural
styles. Their leaders usually acted as representatives of the Chinese merchants in
Shanghai to enter into negotiations with the foreign municipality.
In the early 1860s, another important group of elite people flocked into Shanghai
as refugees because of the taking of Nanjing and its adjacent areas by the Taiping
Rebellion. This group was composed of members of the "upper-gentry" class in the
Jiangnan region. The influx of these powerful gentry significantly affected the local
politics. Many of these gentries had a long record of active political participation prior
to their flight to Shanghai. They were experienced in political maneuvering and
manipulation. Many were retired officials who still had a network of powerful friends
in the central and provincial governments.35 Although some of these Suzhou gentries
returned home after the Rebellion, most of them chose to stay in Shanghai. Some of
them settled down permanently, and some took Shanghai as an adopted city while
operating land and farming in their homeland as absentee landlords.
The businessmen from Canton and Zhejiang, together with the traditional elite
from Jiangsu, formed an important political force in Shanghai. These people
sometimes acted separately based on their geographical origins and identities, but at
other times they united as a public sphere in the name of “gentry-merchants
sojourning in Shanghai” (Yuhu Shenshang). 36 In the succeeding socio-political

34
Leung, The Shanghai Taotai: 149-51.
35
Ibid., 153-56.
36
Yuezhi Xiong 熊月之, "Zhangyuan: Wanqing Shanghai Yige Gonggong Kongjian Yanjiu 張園: 晚清上海一
44
reforms in modern China, the term Yuhu Shenshang was frequently used to celebrate
the emergence of a group of civilized, open-minded, and responsible people in
Shanghai.37
This new Chinese urban gentry not only enthusiastically supported the urban
modernization led by the Chinese government but also struggled to enter the foreign
municipality. The question of Chinese representation on the Municipal Council has a
long history. The issue was first brought up by Sir Frederick Bruce, H.B.M.’s
Minister in Peking in 1863, who stated in one of his dispatches to H.B.M.’s Consul
in Shanghai that “there shall be a Chinese element in the municipal system to whom
reference shall be made and assent obtained to any measure affecting the Chinese
residents.” 38 In 1866, the Consular Body and the Council advanced a definite
scheme for the creation of a consultative body composed of representatives of the
Chinese guilds and other organizations to advise the Council on matters affecting the
interests of the Chinese residents. Moreover, in 1906, this issue was raised again, and
the Council entered into an arrangement with the representatives of Chinese Guilds
regarding the establishment of a Chinese Consultative Committee. However, the
Foreign Ratepayers’ Meeting refused to sanction this scheme because the “Land
Regulations” did not authorize the Council’s recognition of any such Committee.
The solution to the problem was delayed further for fifteen years. Finally, in the
Ratepayers’ meeting held on April 7, 1920, the following resolution was passed:

That this meeting approves of the creation of a Chinese Advisory Committee and
that the constitution and powers of such a committee be limited to those set forth
in the letter from the Chairman of the Council, to the Senior Consul dated
October 24, 1919, and published in the Municipal Gazette of January 8, 1920.39

個公共空間研究 (Zhang Garden: a public space in late Qing Shanghai)," Archives and History 檔案與歷史, no.
6 (1996): 40.
37
Ibid.
38
Kotenev, "Short Outline of the History and Procedure of the Municipal Government of the International
Settlement of Shanghai," 5.
39
Pott, A Short History of Shanghai: 244.

45
 The constitution of the committee referred to is “that it should have a
membership of FIVE, to be nominated annually by the Chinese, that the nomination
be subject to the veto of the Consular Body, that the nominees reside in the
Settlement for five years immediately preceding nomination, that they should have
paid General Municipal rates during the whole of this period on an assessed rental of
not less than Tls. 1,200 per annum, that they shall not, at the time of nomination or
whilst on the membership of the Committee, hold any other office under the Chinese
Government.” In 1921, the Chinese urban gentry organized the “Chinese Ratepayers’
Association,” a function of which was to elect the Chinese Advisory Committee. Its
membership extended to all Chinese ratepayers who owned a real estate of not less
than $700, who paid an annual tax of $14 or more on land or houses in the
Settlement, or who paid a municipal rate to the Shanghai Municipal Council of an
annual rental of $700,000 or more.40

Figure 1.6. The five Chinese representatives in the Municipal Council, 1930
Source: Shanghai Memory, http://memoire.digilib.sh.cn/SHNH/.

The Chinese agitation toward Municipal taxation, together with the growing
opposition to the Council after the May Thirtieth Movement,41 showed that the

40
Kotenev, "Short Outline of the History and Procedure of the Municipal Government of the International
Settlement of Shanghai," 6-7.
41
The May Thirtieth Accident ( May 30, 1925) was a major labor and anti-imperialist movement during the
middle-period of the Republic of China era. It began when Shanghai Municipal Police officers opened fire on
Chinese protesters in Shanghai's International Settlement. The shootings sparked international censure and
nationwide anti-foreign demonstrations. The accident was considered the “the most outstanding event as far as
46
Chinese Advisory Committee was not satisfactory either to the Municipal Council or
to the Chinese community. On April 15, 1926, the following resolution was finally
passed in the Foreign Ratepayers’ Meeting: “The Council is hereby authorized and
instructed to make forthwith representations to the Powers concerned with a view to
securing the additional of three Chinese members at an early date.”
The election of these three Chinese members was considerably delayed mainly
because the Chinese were not satisfied with the three representatives, and they
demanded a larger share of representations. It was not until April 1928 that the three
Chinese representatives duly elected by the Chinese Ratepayers Association assumed
their position. Moreover, six Chinese representatives were elected to the seats in the
Departmental Committees. Henceforth, the Municipal electorate in the Settlement
was composed of two bodies: Foreign Ratepayers electing the foreign Councilors
and the Chinese Ratepayers’ Association electing the Chinese Councilors (Figure
1.6).

Summary

The Municipal Council was an influential institutional renovation in Shanghai. It

directly resulted from the socio-political upheavals in China, heavily influenced by
the Western experience of self-governing cities, and equipped with modern ideas of
organizational and technological efficiency. Over the century of its formal existence,
the Council considerable reshaped the city’s physical environment. Primarily through
extensive road schemes, it managed to modernize the city’s old transportation system,
improved the sanitary condition, and transformed large agricultural land into
high-dense built area.
Such radical urban transformation unavoidably caused conflicts among different
interests, values, and cultural habits held by the different socio-political groups.
However, the Council’s role could not be fully understood by adopting the

the Settlement was concerned,” as the agreement reached between the Foreign Powers and the Chinese
government resulted in a series of socio-political reforms in the Settlement
47
conventional dualism of metropole/colony, colonizer/colonized, and
domination/resistance in approaching the formal colonial cities. In effect, the Council
was placed under the Treaty System characterized by the “multiple layers of
domination” of the Chinese and foreign political authorities. With the Council’s
increasing autonomy as it grew in size and influence, the Chinese and foreign
authorities also adjusted their duties, reshaped their office organization, and casted
more influences on the Settlement’s administration affairs. The fragmentation of the
municipality was also accompanied by the division of the urban gentry. With the
emergence of the “Gentry-merchants Sojourning in Shanghai” as an increasing
well-organized political force, and the differentiation within the foreign mercantile
community, the Council’s authority encountered an increasing number of challenges
from both inside and outside. In short, the Municipal Council was not the government
of the entire city, nor was it the only authority in the International Settlement. We will
see in the following chapters how the Municipal Council, the Chinese authorities, the
Consular Body, and the foreign and Chinese business elites practically acted as four
rival groups, each in their own way struggling for their own expression in the urban
built environment.

48
 CHAPTER 2
DEFINING THE SETTLEMENT BOUNDARIES

Under the Treaty System, the Shanghai International Settlement was not only
politically placed under the “multiple layers of domination” but also physically
limited within a piecemeal agglomeration. For a century, the urban area of Shanghai
consisted of four areas administrated by three separate, mutually independent
municipalities, each acting under its own special laws and regulations. These areas
include the International Settlement administered by a partially autonomous
Municipal Council, the French Concession administered by the French
Consul-General with the assistance from an advisory body called “Conseil
d’Administration Municipale,” and the Chinese area, which surrounded the
International Settlement and French Concession on all four sides and fully controlled
by the Chinese government. The politically divided territories, in practice, are bound
together by extended roads, bridges, trams, and trolley routes, with their boundaries
merely marked by small stone tablets that were hardly noticeable in the labyrinth of
streets and buildings. Nevertheless, the ambiguity of the settlement boundaries in
urban life did not necessarily mean that they existed only in theory. As indicated in
the historical maps published at the time, the boundary lines, usually highlighted
with bold lines, explicitly marked the watershed between different road system. Thus,
although the settlement boundaries did not act as obstacles of traffic flows, they were
obstacles to city planning and construction.
The juxtaposition of the Anglo-American, French, and Chinese territories is
undoubtedly one of the most curious areas in exploring Shanghai’s “incomplete and
fragmentary nature of colonial structure.” However, what interests us most is how
the exact route of the boundaries was demarcated and re-demarcated in the
increasingly dense urban fabric and to what extent it influenced the city planning and

49
construction process. This chapter examines the three interrelated issues on the
nature of the settlement boundary: first is the jurisdictional meaning of the settlement
boundary, second is the physical form and negotiation process of the boundary lines,
and third is the competing urban development in the boundary areas. The influences
of the boundary on road planning and construction will be examined in the following
chapters.

2.1 Site Selection

Most historical maps made by the Westerners in the mid-nineteenth century

provide readers the impression that the foreign settlements in Shanghai were initially
established on vast rural areas outside the walled city. This assumption seems to be
well accepted both by the contemporary Western settlers and by the modern
historians. However, if we take a closer look at the maps that appeared in Chinese
documents, although they are not as accurate as those made by the Westerners, we
can find that the administrative territory of Shanghai at the time extended far beyond
the walled area. In fact, the walled city and the un-walled suburban and rural areas
formed the integral entity of the Shanghai County, with each part had its own
political, commercial, military, and religious significance. The foreign settlements
were placed at the northern edge of the County, with specific political agenda and
military concerns of which the first Western settlers might not have been aware.

Early Development of Shanghai

Shanghai was not deliberately designed to be a walled city. It was first established
as a market town in 1074. In 1292, the Yuan government divided off five townships in
the northeast of Huating County to form a new county, with the market town of
Shanghai as its seat.1 A map reprinted in a Qing dynasty history book entitled

1
Johnson, Shanghai: 70.

50
Hucheng Beikao (Draft History of Shanghai) roughly depicted the urban area of the
Shanghai County between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. The major public
buildings at the time were loosely scattered in an area defined by the Huangpu River
in the east, Jing’an Temple in the west, Suzhou Creek in the north, and Gaochang
Temple (site of the later Jiangnan Arsenal) in the south (Figure 2.1). The most
important government buildings, such as the Office of Overseas Trade, Military
Circuit Office, and the Office for Grain Transport were laid out closely along a west–
east canal. Cultural institutions, such as the Market-town School, the New School, and
the County College, were located near the government offices. Religious structures of
all natures, such as the Tianfei Temple, Jing’an Temple, and Gaochang Temple,
together with the many altars and shrines for popular religions and historical figures
spread in a vast area, many of which would survive into the nineteenth century.

Figure 2.1. A reprinted map in Hucheng Beikao, depicting the urban area of Shanghai County
between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries
Source: Hua Chu 褚華, Hucheng Beikao 滬城備考 (Draft history of Shanghai), vol. 6,
Shanghai Zhanggu Congshu 上海掌故叢書 (Historical stories of Shanghai]) (Shanghai:
Zhonghua shuju, 1936).

During the Ming and Qing periods, the size of the Shanghai County largely
reduced because of a series of re-organizations of regional administration. In the late
51
sixteenth century, the Ming government divided off the three townships in the
northwest of Shanghai County to form the new Qingpu County. In 1724, the Qing
government divided off the Changren Township in the southwest to form the Nanhui
County. Moreover, in 1805, part of the Gaochang Township in the east of the County
was merged into the Chuansha Sub-prefecture. 2 When Shanghai was opened to
foreign trade in 1842, it contained two townships, spanning 66 li from west to east
and 84 li from north to south. The majority of the area was located south of the
Suzhou Creek, with the Chuan-hong-bang Creek, which is about 3 li to the north of
the Suzhou Creek, as a natural border between the Shanghai and Baoshan Counties
(Figure 2.2).

Shanghai County: Its Walled City and Suburbs

The Walled City was the political center of the Shanghai Country. It gradually
took shape since the city walls were constructed in the mid-sixteenth century. The city
is located at the juncture of Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek, with a surrounding
area of one li in diameter. The city’s layout largely shared the principles stipulated in
the classic Zhouli. It was enclosed by a wall and a moat, with gates on each side
leading to the cardinal directions. The main streets extended from the gates and
followed the canals, laying out the city in a rough grid pattern. The Magistrate’s
Office was located in the geometric center of the walled area, together with the City
God Temple, the County College, the Confucian ancestral hall, and other political
establishments. The city’s only divergence from the ideal prototype is that the city
wall was neither a square nor a perfect round city. Instead, it was an irregular oval,
longer from north to south than broad from east to west.
Since the late eighteenth century, the area between the Walled City and Huangpu
River flourished and gradually developed into a busy commercial suburb known as
“Nandao” (South Island). Streets were extended eastward and southward from the city

2
Yu, Shanghai County Gazetteer: 1 (1-5).

52
wall to connect the city with the River, and the lands on the waterfront were largely
occupied by shipyards, docks, and warehouses. Guild halls and commercial
institutions established by merchants from other provinces of China occupied the
south-east suburb, such as the hongs of Cantonese merchants, the shops of the Anhui
and Fujian tea merchants, the guild hall of the Shanghai shipping merchants, and the
guild hall of the Sand-Junk Merchants.3
By contrast, the northern suburb was of less political and commercial
importance than the dense southern and eastern suburbs. As was observed by foreign
tourists in the 1840s, the northern suburb was “generally more open, with cemeteries,
parkland, tracts of rental houses, and open fields, where occasional tombs could be
seen protruding out of the otherwise flat landscape.”4 This description was also
indicated in the maps published by the Chinese authority. On the map published in
the Tongzhi Gazetteer, the area between the North Gate of the Walled City and the
Suzhou Creek was merely a narrow embankment, despite the fact that this area is
much larger than the Walled City itself. However, this condition could not have
simply been caused by the unsophisticated surveying methods in pre-modern China.
Rather, it indicates the relative insignificance of this area in the social and political
life at the time. As Steinhardt rightly points out: “Mapmaking in China was not a
technical exercise striving toward accuracy but an art among elite arts, in which
people’s ideal or vision of the city was presented.”5 Moreover, the northern suburb
was near the Shanghai–Baoshan border, and three “military posts” were set up along
in this area between the Huangpu River and the Xinzha Village (see figure 2.2).

3
“Shanghai—Sights in the City”. Quoted in Johnson, Shanghai: 116.
4
Ibid., 118.
5
Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt, "Mapping the Chinese City: The Image and the Reality " in Envisioning the City:
Six Studies in Urban Cartography, ed. David Buisseret (Chicago, Ill. ; London: University of Chicago Press,
1998), 1.

53
Early Exploration, 1843–1846

The initial British Settlement was established in December 1843, one month
after Shanghai was opened to foreign trade. The settlement was located in the
northern suburb of Shanghai Country, with Yang-jing-bang Creek and Li-jia-chang
Village as its southern and northern boundaries, respectively. The location and
boundary of the settlement were settled down at local level, with Gong Mujiu, the
Shanghai Daotai, on one side and George Balfour, the British Consul, on the other
side. No high-ranking Chinese and British officials are recorded to have directly
intervened in the negotiation process. Thus, the two low-level officials created “new
precedents” for the mode of foreign residence in China.
Examining the Chinese and British government documents together, we find that
Gong and Balfour offered entirely different explanation regarding the selection of
the settlement site. Gong, in his report to his superiors, described the British
Settlement as a Huiguan (foreign guild), and he strategically designated “a piece of
waste land” for it to build dwellings and companies.6 The Western account of the
site selection was another story. In a testimony before a select committee of the
Parliament in 1847, Balfour recounted how he visited Shanghai in October 1842
with Sir Henry Pottinger, examined the area and selected a “suitable site” north of
Shanghai City for the future residences and warehouses of British merchants.7
However, as noted by Hsia Ching-lin who studied Lord Palmerston’s papers, the
idea of a site or definite boundaries of a settlement was never in Palmerston’s mind
nor in that of Pottinger. 8 Rather, the British seemed to have been obsessively
determined to prevent any restrictions on foreigners in Canton from developing in

6
Johnson, Shanghai: 185-88.
7
Ibid., 189.
8
Hsia Ching-lin, The Status of Shanghai, 5-6. Quoted in Leung, The Shanghai Taotai: 48. Lord Palmerston
(1784–1865) was a British statesman who served as Prime Minister twice in the mid-nineteenth century.
Popularly nicknamed “The Mongoose,” he was in government office almost continuously from 1807 until his
death in 1865, beginning his parliamentary career as a Tory and concluding it as a Liberal. Sir Henry Pottinger
(1789–1856) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and colonial administrator who became the first Governor of Hong
Kong.

54
Shanghai. When Balfour arrived in Shanghai, he received orders from his immediate
superior Sir John Davis, who had succeeded Pottinger as chief superintendent,
Governor of Hong Kong, and Her Majesty’s plenipotentiary in China, that the British
shall carry out the provisions of the Treaty, establishing new precedents that would
do away with the specter of the “Canton system” forever.9 Such “new precedents,”
according to Balfour’s original design, seemed to be establishing the British
Consulate inside the Walled City, arranging the foreign trade area to the north of the
Walled City, and building foreign houses and offices both inside and outside the
Walled City “without molestation or restraint at the town of Shanghai.”10
By situating the site negotiation in the commercial history of Shanghai, I find that
the idea of a separate “foreign settlement,” or in modern parlance a policy of
segregated living, is more a product of Gong’s persuasion than the British consul’s. In
effect, Shanghai had had a century-long history of accommodating merchants coming
from other provinces outside the Walled City before 1842. The most famous and
distinctive institution of such kind was the Siming Gongsuo (Guild Hall of Fujian and
Ningbo Merchants) established in 1796 north of the city wall. The Guild Hall was a
large, walled compound of more than 30 mows in extent, with gathering halls, temples,
a mortuary, and an extensive cemetery.11 Another inspiration may be the age-old
Canton System adopted in the pre-Opium War years, which was intended to constrain
foreigners’ activities within the “factory” on the periphery of the city.12 Medhurst,
who was the interpreter of Balfour, believed that upon his and Balfour’s first meeting
with Gong, Gong seemed to have already made up his mind to “locate the foreigners
in some convenient spot outside the walls, where a strict surveillance may be kept
over them.”13

9
Johnson, Shanghai: 185-88.
10
"Treaty of Nanking," Art. II.
11
Johnson, Shanghai: 116-17.
12
Leung, The Shanghai Taotai: 46-49.
13
Medhurst, “Reminiscences,” 81. Quoted in Johnson, Shanghai: 185-88.

55
Figure 2.2.
2 Map of the Shanghai Coounty, first pu ublished in 1871
This maap indicates the administratiive border of Shanghai
S Couunty and the thhree “military spots”
northeasst of the Walleed City.
Source: Yu Yue 俞樾 樾, Baoshi Yingg 應寶時, and d Wei Mo 莫為, eds., Shannghai Xianzhi 上海縣
志 (Shaanghai County y Gazetteer) ([[S.l.: s.n.], Rep
print in 1882).

Figure 2.3.
2 City and environs
e of Shhanghai, 1858––1862
This maap was made byb adopting thhe modern tech hniques of maapmaking, butt the Westerneers at the
time seeemed to take th
he Walled Citty to be the en
ntire territory of
o Shanghai. TThey were enttirely
unawaree of the Shangghai-Baoshan bborder north of
o the Suzhou Creek.
Source: Edward Deniison and Guanng Yu Ren, Bu uilding Shangh hai: The Storyy of China's Gateway
G
(Chichesster: John Willey, 2006), 455.

56
 Admittedly, whether the site was upon the advice of the Daotai or through the
knowledge of the British Consul is difficult to figure out. However, we do know that
the ultimate solution obtained favor from both parties. As is stated at the beginning
of the Land Regulation, the settlement site was carefully determined to be “in
conformity with the feelings of the inhabitants and the circumstances of the locality
of Shanghai.”14 On the British side, this site was adjacent to the foreign anchorage
on the Huangpu River between the Yang-jing-bang Creek and Suzhou Creek, and
was not far away from the political and commercial centers in the Walled City and
Nandao. On the Chinese side, the designated British Settlement occupied a place
with less political, commercial, and religious significance but was a military
strongpoint. The three “military spots” along the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek
kept the foreigners under strict surveillance, and the Shanghai-Baoshan border
served as an impassable gulf, preventing any further extension of the foreign
territories. Nevertheless, in the map of the city and environs of Shanghai made by
the Westerners between 1858 and 1862, neither the Chinese “military spots” nor the
Shanghai-Baoshan border was indicated (Figure 2.3).

2.2 The Initial Boundary

Boundaries between 1845 and 1848

The “Land Regulations” of 1845 only assigned the northern and southern
boundaries of the British Settlement. It states that “the ground north of the
Yang-King-Pang (the present Yan’an Road) and south of Le-Kea-Chang (the present
Beijing Road) should be rented to English merchants for erecting their buildings, and
residing upon.”15 The Huangpu River was taken for granted as the east end, and the
west end was left entirely undefined. It was not until one year later that a “Barrier

14
Proclamation of Gong Mujiu, in the "Land Regulations of 1845."
15
Ibid.

57
Street” (the present Henan Road) about one li (about 500 m) to the west bank of the
Huangpu River was built to mark the western boundary.16 This original area of the
British Settlement was about 830 mows, which is equivalent to 138 acres.
On November 27, 1848, Rutherford Alcock, who succeeded Balfour as the
British Consul in Shanghai, and Lin-gui, who succeeded Gong Mujiu as the
Shanghai Daotai, agreed the extension of the British Settlement westward to a creek
called Zhou-jia-jing.17 Le-Kea-Chang, being situated in between the 1845 settlement
area and the Suzhou Creek, was included into the settlement to be site for the British
Consulate and the naval dockyard. The location of the Chinese new custom house
was also formally determined in this agreement. And the pre-existing Temple of
Rewards was specifically highlighted to be exempt from foreign control (Figure 2.4).

Defining the Territory

The 1848 extension entitled the British community an area of 470 acres. The
land was obtained without any difficulty and was far more sufficient to
accommodate the small group of foreign residents. It would take ten more years to
improve the boundary into an effective line of defense (Figure 2.5).
As previously mentioned, there were originally three Chinese “military spots”
along the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek, but only the Camp of Xinzha on the
Suzhou Creek remained in operation after the establishment of the British Settlement.
After the settlement extended to Zhou-jia-jing Creek in 1848, it almost bordered the
camp on the northwest corner.
During the Small Sward Rebellion between 1853 and 1855, the camp became
the military headquarters of the Chinese government. It was recorded that bands of
Chinese soldiers continually invaded the settlement and committed serious assaults
on the foreign residents. Moreover, a target was erected close to the settlement

16
The present Henan Road between East Yan’an Road and the Suzhou Creek.
17
"The Shanghai Land Regulations, 1854," Art.I: Boundaries and Limits Defined.

58
western boundary, and stray shots would frequently endanger the lives of foreigners
using the Race Course.

Figure 2.4. The boundaries of the British Settlement in 1845, 1846, and 1848, respectively
Source: Drawing by Li Yingchun based on the date from the “Land Regulations” of 1845
and 1854.

Figure 2.5. The condition of the British Settlement boundaries in 1854

Source: Virtual Shanghai, http://www. virtualshanghai.net.

The danger arising from the location of the Chinese camps in the immediate
vicinity of the settlement’s western boundary led the foreign community to request
the Chinese General to move his troops to the southern side of the Walled City. In
the morning of April 4, 1854, Consul Alcock sent an ultimatum which stated that if
59
the camps were not removed before four o’clock in the afternoon, they would be
attacked by foreign forces. In reply, the Chinese General asked for a delay and
entreated Consul Alcock not to resort to arms. The General’s answer was regarded as
a refusal to evacuate, and at three o’clock in the afternoon, various units of the
foreign force advanced to the Xinzha camps and the deserted camps were destroyed
by fire.18 This battle was later called the “Battle of Muddy Flat.” It produced the
desired outcome to push the main force of the Chinese army permanently withdrew
to the south side of the Walled City.
Another important event occurred in 1860. Hereafter, the Zhou-jia-jing Creek,
which marked the west end of the British Settlement, was turned around westward at
the junction of Beijing Road. The boundary line between Beijing Road and the
Suzhou Creek was only marked by three boundary stones. After the taking of Suzhou
by the Taiping troops in June 1860, trepidation ruled in Shanghai, as before long the
people know an attack would be made on the settlement. The Defence Committee in
the British Settlement thus took over a portion of Lot 443, standing in the name of
Messrs. Ashton and Jarvie, to construct a canal to connect the Zhouo-jia-jing Creek
with the Suzhou Creek for the protection of the settlement.19 The canal was later
named “Defense Creek.” Two bridges with wooden gates were erected across the
Defense Creek at the end of the Nanjing Road and Canton Road, respectively. These
gates were closed at night and guarded by watchmen. The last bridge was not
removed from Nanking Road until 1866.20
With the creation of the Defense Creek, the British Settlement finally obtained a
“moat” on all four sides to physically isolate itself from the Chinese territory. The
moat consisted of four waterways, namely, the Huangpu River in the east, the
Defense Creek in the west, the Yang-jing-bang Creek in the south, and the Suzhou
Creek in the north. In the early 1860s, a waterfront road was constructed along each

18
Pott, A Short History of Shanghai: 27-30.
19
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31 December, 1882 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly &
Walsh, 1883), 70.
20
Pott, A Short History of Shanghai: 77.

60
of the waterways (Figure 2.6). Ironically, this outcome in effect went against the
original idea of Sir John Davis and Consul Balfour, who put all efforts to “enter the
city.”

Figure 2.6. The urban landscape along the four boundary lines in the nineteenth century
Above left, Yangtze Road and Huangpu River as the eastern boundary; above right, Defense Creek
and Tibet Road as the western boundary; below left, Yang-jing-bang Creek and Songjiang Road (on
the right side) as the southern boundary; below right, Suzhou Creek and Southern Suzhou Road as the
northern boundary.
Source: Above left, Zonghao Qian 錢宗灝, Bainian Huiwang: Shanghai Waitan Jianzhu Yu
Jingguan De Lishi Bianqian 百年回望: 上海外灘建築與景觀的歷史變遷 (Architecture and
landscape on the Shanghai Bund) (Shanghai: Shanghai kexue jishu chubanshe, 2005), Figure.2-08;
above right, Shanghai Memory, http://memoire.digilib.sh.cn/SHNH/; below left and right, Lynn Pan,
Liyong Xue, and Zonghao Qian, Shanghai: A Century of Change in Photographs, 1843-1949 (Hong
Kong: Hai Feng Pub. Co., 1993), 18-19.

Jurisdictional Nature of the Settlement Boundary

In addition to the physical form, we also need to investigate the jurisdictional

nature of the settlement boundary. It was first defined based on the Fundamental
Treaties, and was clarified in the successive “Land Regulations.”
The Fundamental Treaties defined the diplomatic and commercial relations

61
between China and foreign countries. However, after going through the relevant
provisions in the Fundamental Treaties assigned between 1842 and 1858, including
Article II of the Treaty of Nanking of 1842, Article VI and VII of the Supplementary
Treaty of 1843, and Article IX of the Treaty of Tientsin of 1858, we find that they
did not mention the idea of a clearly defined foreign area, settlement, or concession.
On the contrary, Article VII of the Supplementary Treaty emphasizes that “the
number (of such ground and houses) cannot be limited, seeing that it will be greater
or less, according to the resort of Merchants.”21 This provision, from the foreign
merchants’ viewpoint implies that they were entitled to reside, lease land, and build
houses and public facilities at any place at the ports, without being necessarily
confined to the “ground and houses” set apart by the Chinese officers and Consuls.
In this sense, the “Land Regulations” of 1845 is the first law of segregated living
in China in the modern times. Although the Chinese inhabitants who lived within
settlement territory were allowed to continue to live there, according to the Article
IX of the 1845 “Land Regulations,” they were not permited to take back their land
once they had rented it to the foreigners, and they were not permitted to rent the land
to each other or to build houses for the purpose of renting to Chinese people. The
1845 Land Regulations also gave the British subjects priority in obtaining land in
this area to the subjects of other foreign nationalities by stipulating that no land in
the British Settlement could be acquired without the consent of the British Consul.22
Therefore, the settlement boundary under the Land Regulations of 1845 was in effect
the racial demarcation between the Chinese and foreigners on the one side and
between the British subjects and subjects of other foreign on the other side.
As the British subjects enjoyed absolute priority in the British Settlement, the
French and American governments asked for their own settlements in 1848 and 1849,
respectively. However, the troublesome conditions in the vicinity of Shanghai caused
by the fighting between the Chinese government and the Small Sword rebels

21
"Supplementary Treaty Signed by Their Excellencies Sir Henry Pottinger and Ki Ying Respectively, on the
Part of the Sovereigns of Great Britain and China, at the Bogue," (1843), At. VII.
22
"Land Regulations of 1845," Arts. I and IX.

62
between 1853 and 1855 made the foreigners of various nationalities feel that they
should unite together to keep the “future security, order and cleanliness” of the
City. 23 In 1854, a new Land Regulations was substituted, abolishing, at least
nominally, the distinction between British subjects and subjects of other foreign
nations. The substituted codes bound upon everybody who resided within the
settlement boundaries, both foreigners and Chinese. According to Article I of the
Regulations, any person desiring to rent land or purchase houses from Chinese
proprietors within the Settlement must first apply to the “Consul or Consular agent
of his nation” instead of the British Consul for consent, entitling foreigners of all
nationalities equal rights of acquiring land in the three foreign settlements.24
Both the “Land Regulations” of 1845 and 1854 prohibited Chinese people from
acquiring or renting land, or erecting buildings in the foreign settlements. But after
prolonged negotiations between the Chinese government, the foreign residents, and
the foreign consuls, on February 24, 1855, a proclamation entitled the “Conditions of
the Residence of Chinese within the Foreign Limits” was issued by the Daotai. The
proclamation states the three conditions upon which the Chinese shall be permitted
within the foreign settlements:

1. He was able to make a written application to the Chinese authority and

Consuls and obtained their consent.
2. He is wealthy and of sufficient standing, or he could find two wealthy
householders to be his guarantors.
3. He will conform strictly to the “Land Regulations” and contribute his share
to any general assessments.25

However, these stipulations were never strictly enforced, and the “right of the

23
Letter from the Consuls of H.B.M., U.S.A and H.I.M. to the foreign community at Shanghai dated July 5,
1854. In "The Shanghai Land Regulations, 1854."
24
Ibid., Art. I.

25
“Conditions of the Residence of Chinese within the Foreign Limits,” Quoted in ibid., 35.

63
Chinese to reside in the Settlement gradually became established by usage.”26
Therefore, we can claim with justification that, under the Land Regulations of
1854 and the proclamation of the Daotai, the settlement boundary ceased to serve as
a demarcation between various nationalities. However, the Shanghai Municipal
Council’s authority was still confined to the area within the boundary lines, whereas
the foreign individuals were entitled the right to reside, rent land, and build houses in
any place they desired according to the Fundamental Treaties. Since the 1860s, as
foreigners moved out of the settlement limits, they found themselves moved to the
area that was lack of proper administration and the necessary public services.
Thus, the question of the municipal boundary was raised for debate, as the
foreign residents who lived outside the settlement pressed for the extension of
foreign municipality to the extra-settlement area to ensure them a place of “security,
order and cleanliness” as is stated in the Land Regulations. Many ideas were
expressed to enlarge the authority of the Municipal Council. Among them the boldest
one was the creation of a “free city” in Shanghai under the protectorate of both
foreign powers and China, abolishing all the boundaries between the settlement and
non-settlement areas.
The “free city” proposal was abandoned in the end. On October 21, 1869, a
revised set of Land Regulations, known as the Land Regulations of 1869, was
promulgated by the Treaty Power ministers. These new Regulations dealt with the
municipality problem by having two major amendments. First, the Municipal
Council, as the representative body of the individual members of the foreign
community, obtains a clearly defined status of a legal persona subject to the
jurisdiction of the Court of Foreign Consuls. Second, the individual member of the
foreign community is given the right to build not only private buildings but also
roads or public gardens and places of recreation and amusement on the land leading
to or outside the settlement on the condition that “such roads and gardens shall be
dedicated to the public use, and for the health, amusement and recreation of all

26
Pott, A Short History of Shanghai: 41.

64
persons residing within the Settlement.” 27 The Municipal Council, as the
representative body of the individual foreigners were given the same right.
However, these amendments merely allowed the Council to construct public works
outside the settlement. It did not shed any light on other administrative issues such as
repairing, policing, and taxation. These problems were not settled in the further
revision of the Regulations.
As a result, the Land Regulations of 1869 practically changed the nature of the
settlement boundary into a demarcation line between complete and incomplete
foreign municipality. Henceforth, the Municipal Council had full municipal powers
within the settlement boundaries, including the “construction of public works, and
keeping the same in repair; cleaning, lighting, watering, and draining the Settlement
generally; establishing a watch or Police force therein; purchasing and renting lands,
houses and buildings for Municipal purposes; paying the persons necessarily
employed in any Municipal office or capacity, and for raising money when necessary
by way of loan or otherwise for any of the purposes aforesaid.”28 Whereas outside
the settlement boundaries, the Council could only act as a foreign individual: it could
rent or purchase land outside the settlement for public purposes, but it would
encounter a great obstacle in administrating these areas.
In the following sections, we will examine how the settlement boundary was
demarcated and re- demarcated under the radical urban transformation, and how its
changing nature affected the road planning and construction inside and outside the
settlement.

2.3 The Hongkou Boundary

In Chinese, “Hongkou” literally means “mouth of the rainbow.” The term is

used to depict the shape of the area to the north of the Suzhou Creek which

27
"Land Regulations and Bye-Laws for the Foreign Settlements of Shanghai North of the Yang-King-Pang,"
Art. VI. Land surrendered to public use.
28
Ibid., Art. IX. Roads and Jetties, Assessment on Land and Houses. Rates, Dues and Taxes.

65
resembles the arch of a rainbow. Hongkou was formerly known as the “American
Settlement.” However, on September 21, 1863, the American Settlement was
amalgamated into the British Settlement to form the “Foreign Settlements of
Shanghai North of the Yang-King-Pang.” Since then, the term “Hongkou” roughly
comprised that part of the Anglo-American settlement situated north of the Suzhou
Creek and west of the Hongkou Creek. However, the exact route of the boundary
lines would not be settled until after thirty years of negotiations.

The American Settlement in Hongkou

In 1848, the American Episcopal Church Mission under Bishop William J.

Boone established itself north of the Suzhou Creek at the junction of the Huangpu
River and the Hongkou Creek. On the arrival of the first Consul of the United States
in February 1854, he made his residence and raised the US flag in Hongkou.29
However, it was some time before its boundaries were defined.
At first, the American Settlement did not flourish. The Americans found their
situation unfavorable that, for a time, even the Consul was forced to establish his
office in the British Settlement. Up to the early 1860s, there were merely a church, a
dock, some wharves, and some establishments for the entertainment of sailors in this
area, which was rightly called “the Cinderella among the settlements.”30
After the Municipal Council was established in the British Settlement, the
American Settlement had the danger of becoming a refuge for the criminal class that
was driven out of the British Settlement by its more efficient police force. The
American authorities also found it difficult to control the large Chinese population
that flowed into the settlement during the Taiping Rebellion. Thus, a movement for
one municipal government for the British and American Settlements was put forward
by Edward Cunningham of Russell & Co. and George F. Seward, the American

29
Pott, A Short History of Shanghai: 19.
30
Ibid., 63.

66
Consul.31 The union was enforced in 1863 and was officially promulgated in the
Land Regulations of 1869. The boundary lines for the Anglo-American Settlement
were stipulated as follows (Figure 2.7):

North, the line from Yang-tsze-poo to the point opposite the Defense Creek; South,
the Hwang-poo from the mouth of the Soochow Creek to the mouth of the Creek
entering the Hwang-poo near the lower limit of the Anchorage, called the
Yang-tsze-poo; West, the Soochow Creek from a point opposite the entrance of the
Defense Creek to the Hwang-poo; East, the bank three li along line of the
Yang-tsze-poo.32

Figure 2.7. Boundary line and boundary stones of the Anglo-American Settlement, 1869
Source: “Proposed Municipal Regulations and by-Laws.” 1881.

In 1871, the boundary stones, with the inscription defining the limits of the
Hongkou Settlement, were placed in two positions: one opposite the Gas Works and
the other at three li up the Yangshupu Creek at the Stone Bridge known as Gao-lang
Qiao. Consul Seward initiated negotiations with the Chinese authorities regarding

31
Ibid., 64.
32
"Land Regulations and Bye-Laws for the Foreign Settlements of Shanghai North of the Yang-King-Pang,"
Art. I.

67
the construction of a boundary road along the line.33 However, no definite plan was
arranged up until 1872.34

The Seward Line

The boundary line to the north of Suzhou Creek soon became problematic
because of the rapid development of the Anglo-American Settlements. With the
erection of several bridges across the Suzhou Creek in the 1860s, the communication
between the south and north parts of the settlement became easier. On one hand, a
large number of foreign houses and companies were established to the north of the
Suzhou Creek, especially in the area opposite of the British Settlement. On the other
hand, the jurisdiction of the municipality was strictly constrained by the 1863
boundary line, a line shaping a tiny triangular area on the northern bank of the
Suzhou Creek, leaving most of the newly developed area out of control.
The contradiction between urban growth and municipal authority called for the
reconsideration of the boundary line north of the Suzhou Creek. In 1873, a newly
proposed boundary was arranged by Bradford, the Vice-Consul for the United States
at the time. The Bradford Line went from the initial boundary stone in Gas Works,
which is one mile north, to be carried straight to the stone, which is one mile up the
Yangshupu Creek, including a rectangular area on the north bank of the Suzhou
Creek, into the settlement. 35 This line seemed to be too ambitious to obtain
permission from the Chinese authorities so Consul Seward suggested a middle line
that went from Gas Works northward to the Rifle Butts and thus in a straight line to
the initial boundary stone in Gao-lang Qiao (Figure 2.8). However, neither the
Bradford Line nor the Seward Line received official approval from the Chinese and

33
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year ended 31st March, 1871 (Shanghai: Printed at the
"North-China Herald" Office, 1871), 18-31.
34
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31st March, 1872 (Shanghai: A. H. De Carvalho,
1872), 21.
35
North China Daily News, September 9, 1873.

68
foreign authorities at that time. In the Proposed Municipal Regulations and By-Laws
of 1881, the limits of the Hongkou Settlement still followed the depiction stated in
the Land Regulations of 1869.36

Figure 2.8. The 1873 proposals for the Hongkou Boundaries: the original line, the Seward
Line, and the Bradford Line, respectively
Source: North China Daily News, September 9, 1873.

Despite the lack of official agreement on the new boundary, the Municipal
Council, upon the suggestion of W. M. Dowdall, the Chief Engineer and Surveyor of
the Works Committee, started a project of surveying Hongkou in 1884. This work
was carried out up to the Seward Boundary and was estimated to be completed
within two years.37
The survey project soon encountered protests from the Chinese authorities. In
October 1886, the Mixed Court Magistrate intimated that, in his opinion, the
Municipal Council had no jurisdiction to survey Hongkou to the west of the North
Henan Road. The Chairman of the Municipal Council for that year then addressed
General Kennedy, the US Consul-General, requesting him to have the northern
boundary of Hongkou definitely settled according to the Seward Line. Kennedy

36
Article I of the proposed Regulations states that the boundary of the foreign settlement is:” 1st - The
Yang-king-pang Creek from its mouth where it flows into the Whangpoo up to its junction with the Defense
Creek. 2nd - The Defense Creek from its junction with the Yang-king-pang Creek to its mouth where it flows into
the Soochow Creek. 3rd - A straight line running from the mouth of the Defense Creek to the point on the North
bank of the Soochow Creek immediately opposite to the said mouth. 4th - A straight line running from the last
defined point to the Chieh-li-chiao a one-arched stone bridge which crosses the Yang-tse-poo Creek at the
Kow-lang-miau about one mile above the mouth of the creek. 5th - The Yang-tse-poo creek from the bridge
above described to the mouth of the Creek where it flows into the Whangpoo or Woosung River. 6th - The
Whangpoo or Woosung River between the mouth of the Yang-tse-poo Creek and the mouth of the
Yang-king-pang Creek above described.” "Proposed Municipal Regulations and By-laws," Art. I.
37
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31st December, 1884, 185.

69
immediately contacted the Daotai, who promised to inquire about it at once.
However, because of several changes taking place among the native officials, nearly
three years had passed before any steps were taken toward defining the boundary.
Early in 1889, Kennedy arranged with the Daotai for a joint investigation of the
Seward Line by the Chinese officials, US Consul-General, and the Municipal
Surveyor. Later, in a letter dated September 14, 1889, Kennedy informed the
Chairman of the Municipal Council that, after more than two and a half years of
endeavor, he had come to “a definite understanding” with the Chinese authorities
regarding the route of the boundary line.38
There was no written evidence showing the content of the “definite
understanding,” and no official promulgation was issued on the new arrangement.
However, according to the Annual Report of the Municipal Council, three 50 feet high
bamboo towers were erected in 1889, one opposite the Gas Works, another in the
Rifle Butts, and the third against the stone bridge, one mile up the Yangshupu Creek.
The western boundary from opposite the Gas Works to the Rifle Butts, which was
over 0.75 mile in length, was staked out with flags, and the northern boundary, which
was from the Rifle Butts to the Yangshupu Creek, a distance of over one mile, was
also defined.39 It was also reported that the Chinese officials intimated that “no
objection would be made to this line being staked out, as well as the boundary defined
by a road made along it, provided that the Council could arranged with the country
people about the acquisition of the strips of land required.”40
On May 22, 1890, the Seward Line was inspected by the Magistrate of Shanghai
County accompanied by the US Vice Consul-General and Charles Mayne, the
Municipal Engineer. The Magistrate expressed his approval of this line and promised

38
Letter from General J. D. Kennedy, the U.S. Consul-General to John Macgregot, Chairman of the Municipal
Council, Shanghai, September 14 1889. Quoted from Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report of the Year Ended
31st December 1889 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly & Walsh, Limited, 1890), 170.
39
Ibid., 158.
40
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31 December 1890 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly &
Walsh, Limited, 1891), 175-76.

70
to send in a report to the Daotai.41 The Council then considered this problem to have
been settled. No opposition from the Chinese people was recorded, either to the
marking out or to the maintenance of the boundaries, and any assistance required from
them was willingly given.42
A proposal was advanced to make a wide road along the Seward Line from the
Suzhou Creek to Yangshupu Creek, continuing on to the Yangshupu Road (Figure
2.9).43 The road was initially projected to be 60 feet in width. In 1890, the road was
reduced to 40 feet and was divided into three sections as follows:

A. A road 40 feet wide and with a 10 feet-wide ditch to define the western
boundary of Hongkou, starting from the boundary stone on the north bank
of the Suzhou Creek (opposite the Gas Works) and continuing as far as the
North Henan Road at the back of Rifle Butts.
B. A road 40 feet wide and with a 10 feet-wide ditch to define the northern
boundary of Hongkou, from Wusong Road, at its junction with the Rifle
Range, to the Chieh-li-chiao stone bridge, which is one mile up the
Yangshupu Creek.
C. A road 40 feet wide near the eastern boundary, starting from the Yangshupu
Road, which is a little to the west of the District Police Station, and
connecting to the northern boundary road about 500 feet west of the
Chieh-li-chiao stone bridge. Arranging for a good line of road closer to the
boundary was impossible, as the sinuosity of the Yangshupu Creek was too
great to be followed, and several villages were also in the way, which
would be avoided in the proposed line.44

41
Arthur Dallas and Charles Mayne, "Special Report on the Delimitation of the Boundaries of Hongkew or the
American Settlement at Shanghai," (Shanghai: Printed at the "North-China Herald" Office, 1893), 2.
42
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31 December 1890: 156.
43
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Council, 1889: 168-69.
44
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31 December 1890: 154-56.

71
Figure 2.9. The Seward Line and the projected boundary road, 1889–1890
Source: Drawing by Li Yingchun based on data from Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report of the
Year Ended 31st December 1889 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly & Walsh, Limited, 1890), 168-69;
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31 December 1890 (Shanghai: Printed by
Kelly & Walsh, Limited, 1891), 154-56.

With the assistance of the US Consul, negotiations were made with the Chinese
landowners for the purchase of strips required for the Boundary Road. However, the
price asked by the landowners was so high that it seemed prohibitory; thus, the
scheme was abandoned. However, the Municipal Engineer still considered the wide
boundary road to be “a great public improvement, and would form an additional
carriage drive for residents,” and the Council was strongly in favor of it being made
when they could acquire the land at a reasonable price.45

Modification of the Seward Line

Between 1890 and 1892, the Hongkou Settlement developed rapidly. The
Municipal Council laid out several roads in the area surrounded by the Seward
Boundary, draining, lighting, policing, and collecting Municipal taxes from the
Chinese and foreign residents living in this area. The booming of Hongkou, as well
as its increasing integration with the British Settlement, fundamentally changed the
urban structure of Shanghai: the Anglo-American Settlement was no longer a “guild

45
Ibid., 175-76.

72
hall” or a “factory” outside the Walled City. Instead, it turned into the largest urban
area and an emerging trade and commercial center of the entire city. The increasing
significance of the settlement inevitably raised some concerns among the Chinese, as
they started to adopt more aggressive measures to constrain the further development
of the settlement.
In 1892, the Chinese authorities instructed the Dibaos in the Hongkou
neighborhood to warn the Chinese people not to pay taxes to the Municipal Council.
This action raised great rejection from the foreign community. In November 1892, the
Chairman of the Municipal Council addressed an official dispatch to the Senior
Consul, requesting the Consular Body to take steps to put an end to the boundary
issue.46
In response to the foreign community’s appeal, the US Consul-General and
Senior Consul for that year communicated with the Shanghai Daotai several times.
In these unofficial discussions, they decided to arrive at a “modus vivendi” to
address the boundary issue and to submit the issue to Liu Kun-yi, Viceroy of
Liang-jiang at Nanjing, for further decision. In February 1893, the Shanghai Daotai
appointed a Boundary Commission to deal with the issue; the commission consisted
of representatives from the Chinese government, the Foreign Consular Body, and the
Municipal Council.47
The minutes of the Boundary Commission showed the different concerns of the
boundary issues held by the Chinese officials, the Consular Body, and the Municipal
Council. The Council, representing the general interests of the local foreign
community, expressed a strong desire to extend the settlement northward, especially
in the area to the west of the North Henan Road. However, the Chinese authorities
seemed to be more concerned about the size instead of the shape of the settlement.
Finally, all parties agreed upon a “give and take” principle to fix the boundary line

46
Letter from Mr. John G. Purdon, Chairman of the Municipal Council to J. A. Leonard, Esq., U .S.
Consul-General and Senior Consul, dated November 12, 1892. See Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for
the Year Ended 31st December 1892 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly & Walsh, Limited, 1893), 204.
47
Letter from Leonard to Purdon dated February 27, 1893. See Dallas and Mayne, "Special Report on the
Delimitation of the Boundaries of Hongkew or the American Settlement at Shanghai," 2-3.

73
based on the Seward Line. That is, the Council would give up a large tract of
agricultural land east of the Hongkou Creek enclosed by the original Seward Line, so
as to obtain a small addition to the west of the Hongkou Creek.48
The Viceroy of Liang-jiang agreed on the principle but required the boundary
stone along the Yangshupu Creek to be further brought in. After a lengthy discussion,
the new boundary line was settled down in June 1893: the eastern boundary line,
from the Yangshupu Creek to the Rifle Butts, was marked by the Joint Boundary
Commission, and the western line, from the Defense Creek to the North Honan Road,
was marked by the Chinese Commissioners following the Municipal Council’s
request.49 The entire Boundary Line was staked out with thirty-four boundary stones
(Figure 2.10).
Compared with the previous settlement boundaries marked in 1846, 1848, and
1863, respectively, the new Hongkou boundary was laid out under the new
Sino-Western relationship and in a more intricate urban fabric. Thus, it was more
aware of the existing administrative and property conditions. The western section of
the boundary started 200 feet westward to the original point opposite the Gas Works
on the Shanghai-Baoshan border, following the Chuan-hong-bang Creek up to the
Rifle Butts and the Hongkou Creek. The eastern section led to a zigzag way to the
western bank of the Yangshupu Creek north of the Zee-ka-za Village. All the turning
points were carefully made to include all foreign registered lands within the
settlement and exclude the several Chinese villages outside it.

48
Ibid., 4.
49
Ibid., 7-9.

74
Figure 2.10. The
T Hongkou Boundary of 1893 (above) and the built--up area (beloow)
Source: Abovve, drawing by y Li Yingchunn based on datta from Arthur Dallas and C Charles Mayne,
"Special Repoort on the Dellimitation of thhe Boundariess of Hongkew
w or the Ameriican Settlemennt at
Shanghai," (S
Shanghai: Prinnted at the "Noorth-China Heerald" Office, 1893), 7-9; beelow, Municip
pal
Council of Shhanghai, Repoort for the Yea r Ended 31st December
D 1893 (Shanghai:: Printed by Kelly
K &
Walsh, Limiteed, 1894).

Accordding to the Municipal Engineer, the

t new Ho
ongkou Bouundary man
naged to
include all the 230 foreeign ownedd lots and 11
14 foreign buildings
b wiithin the setttlement.
This arranggement yieelded an inncreased tax
xation of Tls.
T 11,6322 to the municipal
m
revenue. The
T area to the north of the Suzzhou Creek
k was furthher estimateed to be
75
“rapidly becoming one of the most important districts in Shanghai, and when it is
developed by the laying out of roads and other public improvements, the taxable area
will be largely increased, and the value of the present foreign owned properties will
be greatly enhanced.”50 However, the irregular form of the new Boundary Line made
the initial plan of building a wide road upon it impractical. In the early twentieth
century, the Municipal Council managed to fill in the Chuan-hong-bang Creek
between the Suzhou Creek and the Hongkou Creek to construct a Boundary Road in
the western section of the boundary. However, the eastern section would never be
marked by any road.

2.4 Re-delimitation of the Settlement

The Industrial Revolution in Shanghai

The Hongkou Boundary, which was settled after thirty-year-long negotiations,

worked only for two years. The Treaty of Shimonoseki which was signed between
the Chinese and Japanese government to conclude the war began in 1894
fundamentally changed the socio-economic life of the city. Previously, China had
opposed the introduction of factories run by foreign capitals. Yet the Article VI of the
Treaty of Shimonoseki gave right to the Japanese to carry on industries and
manufactures at any of the treaty ports. The privilege gained by Japan was shared by
other nations under “the most favored nation clause,” and this prepared the way for
an industrial revolution in China.
All the modern industrial facilities were first erected in Shanghai. Firms such as
Jardine, Matheson, & Company, Ilbert & Company, and Arnhold, Karberg &
Company, which were originally dealers in trade, immediately took up
manufacturing enterprises. However, as industrial activities were not permitted in the
French Concession, cotton mills, flour mills, and silk filatures were all erected in and

50
Ibid., 24.

76
around the Anglo-American Settlement.
To obtain cheaper land and enjoy the necessary facilities for industrial
development, such as well-paved roads, cheap supply of fresh water, gas, telegram
and electricity, and efficient police protection, most factories found places in the
immediate neighborhood outside the settlement boundary, especially along the bank
of the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek. On the latter waterway, factories reached
several miles beyond the Defense Creek, which was the western boundary of the
settlement set in 1863.
With the rapid increase in industrial activities, a great number of Chinese people
poured into the city, almost all directly or indirectly dependent on modern
manufacturing for their livelihood. In 1897, the silk filatures alone gave employment
to some 20,000 people, apart from their families yet unable to work.51 These labors
came from different parts of the country, including men, women, and children. They
gathered together in the industrial operatives into the settlements and their immediate
neighborhood, building cottages and huts adjacent to the foreign factories and houses.
Xinzha Village, which was located immediately to the west of the Defense
Creek between the Suzhou Creek and the Race Course, was one of the largest slums.
Since the mid-1890s, this district had been densely crowded with hundreds of Chinese
houses and hovels, all of which were built over between 1895 and 1897. There was no
means of getting rid of the sewage, which lined in pools about the houses until it
evaporated. No arrangements were made for improving the drainage and sewage.
Charles Mayne provided a vivid description of the chaotic condition of this area in his
report the Council:

In rear of the old Horse Bazaar property there is a small creek, Seo Za Kong,
almost dry at low water. The bed of this creek is very filthy and densely packed
with beggar-boats, all of which are in a most filthy and dilapidated condition, and
crowded with men, women and children. These boats would also be a serious
danger to the surrounding property in the event of fire breaking out among them,
51
Letter from E.F. Alford, Chairman of Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce, to H.E. Sir Claude
Macdonald, K.C.M.G., Doyen, Corps Diplomatique, Peking, dated October 12, 1897. Municipal Council of
Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31st December 1897 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly & Walsh, Limited, 1898),
271-72.

77
 as the alleys leading from Bubbling Well Road are too narrow to admit fire
extinguishing apparatus, and there are no hydrants, neither is there water, except
at high tide.
A large area on the north bank of the Seo-Za Kong is densely covered with
Chinese shanties, which are utterly devoid of drainage; and the scavenging of the
alleys between them is much neglected. There are numerous accumulations of
decomposing garbage, which emit a most offensive odor…the alleys are mostly
unpaved. The sewage lies on the surface, or in holes and ditches about the houses,
until it evaporates, there being no means provided for its disposal, and during
heavy rains the whole place is flooded. Kong’s for the storage of night soil are set
down in the alleys without covering and the natives make use of them as latrines
in the full view of the public.
There is a stagnant pond, area about half-a-mow, on the north side of the new
Horse Bazaar property…There is a large stagnant pond, area about two mow,
about 100 yards to the north-east of the new Horse Bazaar. There is an open space
here, area about 50 mow, all of which requires raising two feet, but which is
being covered with Chinese buildings at its present level.52

However, all the modern infrastructural facilities necessary for industrial

activities and sanitary life, such as roads, water pipes, gas pipes, and electrical wires,
were constructed and maintained at great cost by the Municipal Council. However,
there was no power of taxation outside the settlement limits, nor was the area under
the jurisdiction of the municipal police and sanitary officials. The attempt to levy a
voluntary rate as a contribution to the expenses of municipal investment and police
protection did not get support from the foreign community. Moreover, the police that
interfered to improve the unsanitary conditions in the Chinese villages always
encountered rejection from the Chinese authorities.
The enormous pressure of native carriage traffic upon the existing thoroughfares,
the urgent need for adequate infrastructure facilities beyond the present settlement
boundary, the increasing influx of mill workers and other industrial operatives into the
settlement and the immediate neighborhood, the evident necessity for better sanitary
and police control in these newly populated districts, and the financial crisis in the
settlement caused by the great investment in infrastructural projects called for the

52
Charles Mayne. “Sanitary Condition of the District known as Sinza.” Report of Special General Meeting
Relative to Extension of Foreign Settlements and Correspondence Thereanent, (Shanghai: Printed at the
"North-China Herald" Office, 1898), 11.

78
urgent demand for extending the Anglo-American Settlement.

Desirous Directions for Further Extension

Between 1896 and 1897, the Municipal Council advanced two plans regarding
the issue of settlement extension.
On January 3, 1896, J. L. Scott, Chairman of the Municipal Council of that year,
sent a dispatch to the Senior Consul, asking for the extension of the settlement. The
Council requested on behalf of the foreign community an area along the Huangpu
River, from the Yangshupu Creek to the Ku-ka-pang Creek, to obtain a riverside line
twice as long as that was delimitated in the 1893 boundary.53 We did not find a plan
attached to the proposal; therefore, the exact boundary line proposed in this scheme
remains unclear.
The request did not receive any reply until the late 1897. During this period, the
rapid growth of population and industrial activities made the settlement boundary
proposed in January 1896 no longer sufficient. In the letter from Joseph Welch,
Chairman of the Municipal Council, to O. Stuebel, Consul-General for Germany and
Senior Consul, dated September 22, 1897, the Council proposed a more ambitious
scheme, demanding for extension not only toward the east but to all the three
directions. The waterfront was still placed among the “earnestly desired” area.54
The desired western boundary was located in Jessfield, as a considerable
proportion of the land adjoining the Jessfield Road was purchased by foreigners, and
several mills were erected on the Suzhou Creek inside the proposed boundary. The
northern boundary was set further in the Baoshan County, an administration district
that was not open to foreign residence according to the Fundamental Treaties. The
eastern limit was set at the junction of the Ku-ka-Pang Creek and the Huangpu River.

53
Letter from Joseph Welch, Chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Council, to Dr. O. Stuebel, Consul-General
for Germany and Senior Consul, September 22, 1897. Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1897:
268.
54
Ibid., 269-73.

79
The proposal also required the inclusion of Pudong, which was on the opposite side of
Huangpu River, in the settlement, where numerous foreign-run docks, oil depots, and
other industries connected to shipping had been established.

The Negotiation Process

The Consular Body in Shanghai, in response to the Council’s dispatch, forwarded

the request to the Diplomatic Corps in Beijing. However, the foreign representatives
considered that this subject should be dealt with at the local level, and the proposed
scheme should first obtain the consent of the Shanghai Daotai. Upon receiving this
instruction, the Senior Consul invited the local Chinese authorities to enter into
negotiations on the settlement extension, but the Daotai Tsai refused to initiate such
negotiations.
As the official negotiations dragged on from month to month, the Municipal
Council decided to take its own steps and to strengthen the ground for the extension
already advanced by obtaining the goodwill and cooperation from public opinion,
especially from the Chinese gentry and foreign business elite.
In mid-1897, the Municipal Council entered into three-month “unofficial and
purely local negotiations” with the Chinese petty officials and gentry. To advance the
extension scheme, the Council emphatically emphasized that no taxation would be
levied on native occupiers of the land until the benefit of good roads, properly
lighting and adequate policing was enjoyed. The result was positive, as the
Municipal report of this year recorded that the local Chinese “have little or no
opposition to the scheme and that the native landowners, as a class, are favorably
disposed toward the scheme.”55
In 1898, Joseph Welch, Chairman of the Municipal Council, addressed a letter to
the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce to appeal the “weight of the Chamber’s

55
Ibid., 268.

80
influence being brought to bear.”56 On June 17, 1898, a Special General Meeting of
the Chamber was held, with almost all the leading commercial enterprises in the Far
East being invited. Among the delegates were the representatives from Jardine,
Matheson, & Co., Chartered Bank, Butterfield Swire, E. D. Sassoon & Co., and the
Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp.57 In the conclusion of the meeting, the
Chamber unanimously agreed to address a dispatch to the Foreign Ministers in Peking
to convey its most earnest request to give the matter their special attention. In July
1898, the Chairman of the Municipal Council visited Beijing with the aim of enlisting
the personal support of the members of the Diplomatic Body.
However, the actual reason underlying the negative response from both the
foreign representatives in Beijing and the Chinese authorities was the diplomatic
conflicts between Britain and France regarding the settlement extension.58 In 1898,
the French authorities also pressed for an extension of the French Concession in
Shanghai in the direction of Siccawei and on the opposite bank of the Huangpu River.
The British and American Governments strongly protested against such extension, as
large tracts of land on the Pudong frontage were owned by the British and American
shipping firms. In turn, the French Minister also strongly protested against the
extension of the Anglo-American Settlement, as from his point of view, the west
portion of the proposed extension included land assigned to an extension of the
French Concession by an arrangement made in 1896. Despite all the protests from
the Anglo-American authorities, the French Consul-General proceeded to Nanjing to
meet with the Viceroy of Liang-jiang and discuss the extension issue. In reaction, on
December 27, 1898, the British Government dispatched a third man-of-war to
Nanjing to give “moral support to the Viceroy in resisting the French demands.”59

56
Letter from J. S. Fearon, Chairman of the Municipal Council to E. F. Alford, Chairman of Shanghai General
Chamber of Commerce, dated June 9, 1898. Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31st
December 1898 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly & Walsh, Limited, 1899), 283-84.
57
Report of Special General Meeting Relative to Extension of Foreign Settlements and Correspondence
Thereanent: 3.
58
Kotenev, Municipality and the Chinese: 31.
59
Ibid.

81
 The conflicts between the Anglo-American and the French Governments were
finally settled in early 1899. In March 1899, the British, American, and German
Ministers in Beijing addressed identical notes to the Zongli Yamen, pressing the
Chinese Government to instruct the Viceroy of Liang-jiang to grant the extension
requested by the Municipal Council. In April 1899, the Ministers of the Zongli
Yamen verbally informed the foreign legations that they had written to the Viceroy of
Liang-jiang in accordance with the request conveyed in the notes. As Daotai Tsai
refused to cooperate in this subject, his position was succeeded by Daotai Li, who
immediately initiated the boundary negotiations with the Consular Body.
The official negotiation between the Consuls and the Daotai reached a
conclusion in the spring of 1899. Following the instruction of the Viceroy of
Liang-jiang, a considerable portion of land along the Huangpu River and the Suzhou
Creek was granted to the Anglo-American Settlement, but no land in the Baoshan
County and Pudong was included (Table 1). Meanwhile, the settlement was renamed
the International Settlement following the Chinese official’s suggestion.
The delimitation of the exact boundary lines was carried out by the Public
Works Department of the Municipal Council in conjunction with the Shanghai
Magistrate and the two special deputies of the Viceroy of Liang-jiang, namely, J. S.
Ferguson (principal of Nanyang College) and Yu Lian-yuan (former Shanghai Daotai
and a close friend of the Viceroy). Five inspection visits were conducted and the
whole of the new boundary (except the portion that consists of a straight line from
the Hongkou Creek to the Point) was inspected and discussed in detail. The length of
the boundary line, which was then contiguous to the Suzhou Creek and the Huangpu
River, was over 11 miles. The revised four boundaries of the International Settlement
were proclaimed by the Daotai and were published in Article I of the Land
Regulations of 1899 as follows (Figure 2.11):

1. Upon the North: The Soochow Creek from the Hsiao Sha Ferry to a point
about seventy yards west of the entrance thereinto of the Defense Creek,
thence in a northerly direction to the Shanghai-Paoshan boundary, thence
following this boundary, to the point where it meets the Hongkew Creek, and
82
 thence in an easterly direction to the mouth of the Ku-ka-pang.
2. Upon the East: The Whangpoo River from the mouth of the Ku-ka-pang to
the mouth of the Yang-king-pang.
3. Upon the South: The Yangkingpang, from its mouth to the entrance thereinto
of the Defense Creek, thence in a westerly direction following the line of the
northern branch of the Great Western Road, and thereafter along that Road to
the Temple of Agriculture in the rear of the Bubbling Well village.
4. Upon the West: From the Temple of Agriculture in a northerly direction to the
Hsiao Sha Ferry on the Soochow Creek.60

Table 1. The areas of the old and new Settlements

Old New
Area in square miles 2.75 8.35
Area in English acres 1,768 5,352
Area in Chinese mow (of 7,260 square feet) 10,606 32,110

Greatest length in miles 3.75 7.50

Greatest breadth in miles 1.30 2.27

Length of boundary line on land in miles 6.43 11.13

Length of boundary line adjacent to waterways 3.50 9.76
Source: Data from Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31st December
1899(Shanghai: Printed by Kelly & Walsh, Limited, 1900), 212-13.

60
Land Regulations and By-Laws for the Foreign Settlement of Shanghai North of Yangkingpang, Article I.

83
Figure 2.11. Settlement extension and the built-up area in 1899
Source: Above, drawing by Li Yingchun based on the data from Municipal Council of Shanghai,
Report for the Year Ended 31st December 1899 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly & Walsh, Limited, 1900),
212-13; below, Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31st December 1899
(Shanghai: Printed by Kelly & Walsh, Limited, 1900).

2.5 Boundary Negotiations in the Twentieth Century

From the Chinese officials’ viewpoint, the considerable extension of the

International Settlement in 1899 was “an entirely permanent one, and that thereafter
there might be no further extension.” 61 The Chinese government particularly
objected the settlement extension toward the north which was the most desirable

61
Kotenev, Municipality and the Chinese: 44.

84
direction of the foreign community. The two major reasons for the Chinese
opposition were as follows. First, the area north of the 1899 boundary line was under
the jurisdiction of Baoshan County. As the succeeding Viceroys of Liang-jiang stated,
“Baoshan County was a section of the Taicang Sub-prefecture, which was under the
control of the Baoshan Magistrate, just as Shanghai County was a section of the
Songjiang Prefecture, which was under the control of the Shanghai Magistrate.
Hence, Baoshan County was a separate Chinese administrative district, which was
not an open port in accordance with the Treaty of Nanking, and shall not be
penetrated by foreign influence.” Second, the Chinese government was planning
railway lines to connect Shanghai to Nanjing and Hangzhou, and the position of its
Shanghai terminus was located within the area that was requested for by the foreign
community.62
From the foreign authorities’ viewpoint, however, the 1899 boundary was an
undetermined line. Considering the unhampered development of the commercial and
industrial activities in Shanghai, it seemed to them that the need for further extension
to include the whole of the Baoshan County in the settlement limits was apparent.
Such extension did not only corroborate the interests of the local foreign community
but was also important to the British trade and industry in general. In his telegram
dated May 12, 1899, the Marquis of Salisbury, the British Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs, particularly emphasized the fact that the British Minister in Beijing
“may agree to the proposed arrangement, but should take care that nothing is said
which would in any way pledge us to refrain from making demands for further
extension in the direction of Baoshan or elsewhere in the future.”63

The Zhabei Chinese Settlement

In facing the huge pressure from the foreign authorities demanding settlement

62
“Memorandum on Settlement Extension,” in the Shanghai Municipal Council, Annual Report of the Shanghai
Municipal Council, 1912, 103B-04B.
63
Kotenev, Municipality and the Chinese: 36.

85
extension, and with a view of saving the Baoshan County from being sooner or later
absorbed, an organized movement towards the formation of a Chinese Settlement at
Zhabei was launched collaboratively by the Chinese officials and gentries. This area
was a wedge-shaped corner of the Baoshan County, and its name Zhabei literally
means “North of the Xinzha Village.” In many of the official documents, this
designation was conveniently applied to the whole of the district between the
Cantonese cemetery and the Hongkou recreational grounds to the south of the
Shanghai-Nanjing Railway.
The proposed Chinese Settlement in Zhabei was originally initiated in 1903 by a
Cantonese merchant named Chung Shao-chong, together with other Chinese
businessmen who purchased land in that district and proposed to raise the requisite
fund for the construction of bridges and macadamized roads. After the departure of
Chung Shao-chong for Canton, an individual named Chou Chin-kwei was elected to
succeed him. Chou died soon afterwards, and his place was taken by Daotai Chien
Kang-yung. Owing to lack of funds and the absolute inefficiency of the initiators, or
“owing to frequent changes of personnel, the officials and merchants have become
separated in the matter,” as stated by the Daotai in his report to the Foreign Affairs
Minister, “they made no progress beyond the erection of a bridge.”64
Between 1905 and 1906, a Chinese Works Bureau in Zhabei was established,
along with a police school and the Zhabei Constabulary. The work that the Zhabei
Municipality was to perform was set forth as “the construction of roads, the
inauguration of a police force, the collection of taxes, and so forth.” In the following
ten years, the Zhabei Municipality managed to lay out a road network between the
Suzhou Creek and the railway, and established several bridges and other modern
public facilities.
The anti-foreign sentiment underlying the foundation of the Zhabei Municipality
was apparent. Regarding land ownership issue, the Shanghai Daotai stipulated that:
“Chinese merchants alone may engage in selling transactions with reference thereto,

64
The “Universal Gazette,” August 14, 1906, quoted in ibid., 42.

86
and foreign merchants shall not be permitted to have Chinese title deeds; this is by
way of showing them the limit, and thus putting a stop to their longings.” The report
continued by stating that: “For many years, the Foreign Settlement has been extending
daily, and there is need now for precaution against their invasion one step across the
line.” Thus, “This matter will be the starting point of our unity with the merchant
classes and of opposition to foreign influence.”65
Meanwhile, a foreign neighborhood was also established in Zhabei. As early as
1903, by virtue of Article VI of the Land Regulations authorizing the Council to
purchase land outside the settlement limits for the purpose of roads or public gardens,
the road known as the North Sichuan Road Extension was constructed in Zhabei,
giving access at its northern end to the existing Rifle Range and to the adjoining
Hongkou recreational grounds subsequently formed. In the coming years, several
municipal-administrated public institutions, such as a municipal hospital, a public
school, a foreign gaol, and a police station, were erected on the North Sichuan Road
Extension, the North Henan Road Extension. And many foreign houses were built
along the privately owned lanes and pathways throughout Zhabei between these two
main arteries. The competing development of the Chinese and foreign neighborhoods
in Zhabei revealed a serious difference in opinion with regard to the right to exercise
administrative control in the Baoshan County.
Numerous conflicts emerged because of the overlapping municipal powers,
especially when the Zhabei Constabulary and the Municipal Council held different
attitudes toward sanitation. For example, in 1907, twelve foreign residents in
Markham Place inside the settlement complained of the nuisance caused by the
presence of over eighty uncovered coffins or boxes and of corpses enveloped in mats
within 300 yards of the northern end of the Markham Road Bridge beyond the
boundary. 66 The Municipal Council sent its own men to keep clean the native
thoroughfares leading to the settlement and insisted on the removal of unburied

65
Shanghai Municipal Council, Municipal Report, 1912: 105B.
66
Ibid., 106B.

87
coffins and bodies. This action was regarded as encroachment upon the rights of the
Chinese authorities and to a certain extent upon China’s sovereign rights, and was
encountered with a strong protest from the Shanghai Daotai.

Figure 2.12. Distribution of plague, 1910

Source: Shanghai Municipal Council, Annual Report of the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1910.

Since 1908, the bubonic plague began to spread throughout the neighborhoods in
the northern district of the International Settlement, a place adjoining the Zhabei
Chinese Settlement (Figure 2.12).67 The beggar huts to the north of Jiaxing Road and
the squalor west of Haining Road were lasting proof of the inefficient sanitation in the
Chinese makeshifts. The people’s apprehension on the plague was intensified by the
knowledge that in the districts beyond the northern boundary, the sanitary conditions
were such that the areas became veritable hot beds of disease. Thus, the official
inclusion of Zhabei into the foreign municipal control was regarded as the only
remedy to its unsatisfactory and anomalous position. Particularly noteworthy is the
remark that the Municipal Health Officer Dr. Stanley made in 1908: “The need for
extension for the purpose of sanitary safety is more urgent than ever, at present these

67
Ibid., 110B-11B.

88
grossly insanitary places, becoming more and more populous, just beyond the
boundary, are a standing menace to Public Health.”68

Searching for a New Barrier

On May 28, 1908, the Municipal Council formally addressed the Consular Body,
asking for support of the Council’s proposition to extend the settlement. Aside from
the demand for more grounds, the Council advanced two further requests. First is to
make the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway Line as the northern boundary of the settlement
to form a permanent cordon sanitaire between the Chinese and foreign territories,
and to establish a “desirable boundary for plague prevention” in the absence of any
natural barrier.69 Second is to officially include Zhabei Chinese Settlement to the
International Settlement and abolish the power of the Zhabei Constabulary.
In reply to this letter, the Consular Body forwarded to the Viceroy of Liang-jiang
on July 3, 1908 a dispatch requesting him to instruct the Shanghai Daotai, or any
other officer, to negotiate on the subject with the Consular Body.70 The Viceroy
refused to enter into such discussions, stating that the Consular Body should not
again raise the question once already settled.
In 1909, the Consular Body requested the submission by the Municipal Council
of a plan showing the extension required and inquired on what conditions the Council
would agree in case an extension were granted. A Ratepayers’ Meeting was held
immediately after the receipt of this communication, and a subjoined resolution was
passed as follows:

That this meeting would approve of the inclusion within the limits of the
Settlement, of the tract of land lying between the Railway and the Soochow
Creek, from the Cantonese Cemetery to the Hongkew Recreation Ground: and

68
Ibid.
69
Ibid., 106B-07B.
70
Kotenev, Municipality and the Chinese: 44.

89
 that the Council be authorized to maintain unrelaxed endeavors to this end.71

This resolution was communicated to the Consular Body in reply, together with a
plan showing the new limits proposed (Figure 2.13). The adjustment of the
Yangshupu boundary, rendered necessary by the extension, involved the inclusion of a
triangular tract of agricultural land between the Hongkou recreational grounds and the
Huangpu River.

Figure 2.13. Plan showing the projected extension of the International Settlement, 1909
The projected area of extension is in yellow.
Source: Anatol M. Kotenev, Shanghai: Its Municipality and the Chinese (Shanghai: North-China
Daily News & Herald, Limited, 1927), 43-44.

At this time, a new Viceroy of Liang-jiang was appointed. Through the Daotai, he
replied that the issue of settlement extension had several times been objected to and
opposed by the Board of Foreign Affairs and the former Viceroy that it need not be
discussed again, and that if the Consular Body adhered to its wish to send a deputation,
it would be received with courtesy but it would be preferable that the issue be not
alluded to.
As in the last time, the problem of the settlement extension aroused great
interest among the foreign mercantile community. The China Association forwarded

71
Shanghai Municipal Council, Municipal Report, 1912: 108B.

90
a dispatch that strongly urged for an extension to the British Legation and the
Foreign Office, while the American Association of China, acting upon the request of
the Council, addressed the United States Legation in Beijing and the State
Department in Washington. The latter’s reply was very favorable to the plans of the
Council. The Council, on the request of the Consular Body, submitted a detailed
report on the police and the health conditions in the Baoshan County, and 100
registered owners of land under foreign title deeds in Baoshan protested against the
attempt of the Zhabei Municipality to exercise police function in foreign-owned
property.72 The dispatches and resolutions of these various bodies were addressed to
Beijing, London, and New York.
However, the position of the Viceroy was firm, and he declined to discuss the
matter with a delegation of the Consular Body, which intended to proceed to Nanjing
for a personal interview with him. There was no other option left to the Consular
Body but to appeal again to the Foreign Ministers in Beijing. However, all
negotiations were for a time brought to a standstill by the Chinese Revolution that
broke out in 1911.

The 1915 Agreement

The Chinese Revolution in 1911 brought to a temporary standstill all

negotiations on the settlement extension. However, brawls, attempted arrests, illegal
seizures, and other such conflicts between the Municipal Council and the new
Chinese Republican authorities beyond the northern boundaries became even more
frequent after 1912 than that in the preceding years. Letters of complaint from the
Council and from the Chinese Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, who replaced the
old Daotai, were incessantly transmitted through the Senior Consul, followed each in
turn by an explanation and a counter-complaint. The Municipal Council remained of
opinion that the extension of the settlement to include Baoshan was the only

72
Kotenev, Municipality and the Chinese: 45-46.

91
reasonable solution to the issue.
In 1914, the French succeeded in obtaining a considerable extension and took in
the land enclosed by the roads they had constructed. This land was bounded on the
north by the Great Western Road, on the west by the Siccawei Road, on the south by
the Siccawei Creek, and on the east from St. Catherine’s Bridge to the Rue Millot by
the center of the Route de Tchao Tcheou.73
The success attained by the French authorities, who had an identical position to
the Municipal Council in terms of the Baoshan County compared with the
neighboring native districts, inspired new hope in the International Settlement. The
Municipal Council was provided with a suitable opportunity to formally engage the
Consular Body’s consideration of a draft agreement comprising the terms through
which an understanding with the Chinese authorities could be reached.
However, the new Republic leaders adopted a more obstructive policy toward
the extension of the International Settlement than their Qing predecessors. Owing to
the fact that the settlement was governed by the representatives of the foreign
countries and that during internal troubles it would adopt the policy of strict
neutrality, it became a place of safety for political refugees and a neutral ground
where representatives of different factions could meet for conferences. In these
circumstances, the persistence of the foreigners in the issue on the extension of the
settlement could easily make the Chinese believe that, under the guise of an
extension, foreigners were aiming at the seizure of one of the most important
political, strategic, and commercial points in all China.
After lengthy negotiations, a “General Agreement Draft” was finally reached in
March 1915 between the Consular Body and Yang Cheng, the Special Envoy for
Foreign Affairs appointed by the Chinese central government. Article I of the
Agreement granted all the land between the existing settlement boundary and the
railway line to the International Settlement. The agreement also granted the
Municipal Council the authority to take over the police station and other public

73
Ibid., 47.

92
buildings, as
a well as the
t waterwoorks, electriic light statiions, and pllant that haad been
built and coontrolled by
y the Zhabeei Municipaality at a price to be agrreed upon by
b both
parties (Figgure 2.14).744

Figure 2.14. Settlement

S exttension accordding to the Geeneral Agreem
ment Draft in 11915
Source: Drawwing by Li Yinngchun based on data from the Shanghai Municipal Coouncil, Annual Report
of the Shanghhai Municipal Council, 19155, 105B-06B.

Howevver, this con

nsiderable eextension would
w to beccome a pollitical deal between
b
the Anglo--American communityy and the Republic government,
g , as the fo
ollowing
articles stippulated the inclusion o f certain Ch ments in the Municipal Council
hinese elem
and the aboolishment of
o the Counncil’s right to
t give asyllum to polittical offend
ders. For
example, Articles
A III and
a IV propposed the esstablishmentt of a Chineese Advisorry Board
to deal joinntly with th
he Municippal Council on matterss affecting the Chinese in the
ng Cheng aalso noted an annotation to the Agreementt, which
whole settllement. Yan
stated that the
t International Settleement should no longerr harbor poliitical refugeees:

As it is obviously undesirable
u e that the International Settlement at Shanghaai should
becomee either a harbor
h of reefuge for notorious
n Chhinese Poliitical crimin
nals and
agitatorrs or a placce where accts of consppiracy and rebellion aagainst the Chinese
Governnment can be b contriveed and prep pared by Chinese,
C thee authoritiess of the
Settlem
ment agree that whenevver they recceive a notification in writing thaat such a
74
Article XI and
a XII of the “GGeneral Agreem
ment Draft,” Sh
hanghai Municip
pal Council, Annnual Report off the
Shanghai Muniicipal Council, 1915.

93
 notorious Chinese political criminal or agitator has taken refuge or is about to take
refuge within the Settlement or that the Settlement is being used by some Chinese
for the purpose described above proceedings will at once be taken to arrest the
accused and if satisfactory evidence as to identity and guilt be produced before the
Mixed Court the accused will be deported by sea at the expense of the Chinese
Government.
In the case of a Chinese taking refuge in the Settlement who is accused by a
responsible Chinese authority of some crime, serious offence or breach of the
laws of a non-political character committed outside the limits of the Settlement,
the authorities of the Settlement agree that such person shall be arrested and they
will on proof of his identity to the satisfaction of the Mixed Court order him to be
handed over to the Chinese authorities.
All person deported from the International Settlement under this agreement
will be warned that if they attempt to re-enter the Settlement, they will be handed
over to the Chinese authorities without further proceedings.
In the case of a Chinese actually resident for not less than 6 months in the
Settlement or who is a bona fide Chinese merchant, who is similarly accused by a
responsible Chinese authority of some non-political offence or breach of the laws
committed outside the limits of the Settlement such person shall as heretofore be
handed over to the proper Chinese Authority only after a prima facie case has
been duly established against him at the Mixed Court; and the corresponding
procedure shall be followed by all competent Chinese Authorities in the case of a
Chinese, subject to their jurisdiction, against whom the Mixed Court may prefer a
charge of some offence or breach of the laws committed within the limits of the
Settlement.75

It was not an easy matter for the Municipal Council to agree to the inclusion into
the Settlement Extension Agreement of stipulations that had bearing on the political
neutrality of the settlement and its traditional right of affording asylum to political
offenders. However, the need for extending the settlement was so great that the
Ratepayers’ Meeting on March 23, 1915 unanimously adopted the resolution that
approved the draft agreement.
A copy of the Resolution was forwarded in due course to the Senior Consul for
the information of the Consular Body. The matter was submitted to the foreign
representatives and the Chinese authorities in Beijing. The British Minister exerted all
his influence to make the Chinese central government ratify the agreement, but the
Chinese found many excuses not to comply with the requests of the ministers,

75
“Note by Yang Cheng,” ibid., 106B.

94
particularly as some of the Western countries displayed absolute indifference to the
question and found it inopportune. Britain was engaged in the war against the central
powers and was unable any more to bear pressure upon the Chinese government. At
this juncture, it was hardly in the British interest to destroy its relations with China by
pressing the latter to accept the demands of a small group of British merchants. The
failure of the extension negotiations from 1915 to 1916 clearly showed that every
hope of a direct extension of the settlement limits had to be abandoned once and for
all.

Summary

The boundary line of the International Settlement is recognized as the most

distinctive urban element in Shanghai. Its existence explicitly indicates that, under
the Treaty System, the foreign municipality was not only placed under the “multiple
layers of domination” but was also constrained within a limited urban fragment.
Nevertheless, its expanding enclosure, from 138 acres in 1845 to 1447 acres in 1863
and 5, 584 acres in 1899, reflects the considerable increase of Western influence in
Shanghai.76
This chapter differs from other interpretations of the settlement boundary in two
major aspects. First, the study deals with the boundary line as an urban form by
emphasizing its exact route and physical form. Second, it reveals the divergent
intentions and the dynamic urban process underlying the physical form. By
examining the initial settlement site selection, the changing jurisdictional nature of
the settlement boundary, and the four major boundary negotiations between 1845
and 1915, I find that the boundary route penetrated into an increasingly complicated
urban fabric composed of existing natural, administrative, and property boundaries,
and that the boundary negotiations involved an increasing number of political
authorities and social forces.
76
Kotenev, "Short Outline of the History and Procedure of the Municipal Government of the International
Settlement of Shanghai," 1-2.

95
 The boundary line also had intricate interrelationship with city planning and
construction. The determination of the settlement boundary, as will be investigated in
the following chapters, was followed by the road schemes in the newly added
districts. In turn, road planning and construction were, in some cases, deliberately
initiated to earn the Municipal Council a favorable position in the boundary
negotiations, whereas in other cases, they were abandoned when trying to go beyond
the boundaries. However, with the irresistible population growth and industrial
development, and under the multiple layers of political domination, the settlement
boundary did not become a strict watershed between urban and rural areas, nor did it
act as the cordon sanitaire between the foreign-occupied area and Chinese territory.
Instead, it served as the demarcation line between complete and incomplete foreign
urban administration, including city planning, policing, administrating, and tax
collecting. Thus, the roads inside and outside the International Settlement were laid
out under different procedures and took a different physical form.

96
 CHAPTER 3
INITIAL LAYOUT OF THE SETTLEMENT

The initial street network of the Shanghai International Settlement was laid out
during the second half of the nineteenth century, and the major construction work
was completed by the end of 1917.1 This street network, though well recognized as
the foundation of modern Shanghai, has never been seriously investigated in terms
of its form, meaning, and historical influence. Generally, the street network is
regarded as lacking of monumentality and visual attraction: the street grid was not
perfectly proportioned in all sections; several districts were divided more densely
than others; several streets were laid out diagonally instead of orthogonally; and
most streets were slightly crooked instead of completely straight. This street pattern
is often interpreted as a spontaneous result of economic and technological
development, and modern city planners and architectural historians criticized the
short-sightedness of its strategic scope. Nevertheless, the lack of geometric order
does not necessarily mean the lack of planning ideal and ideology. As rightly pointed
out by Kostof, streets, as a public domain, are “established neither through benign
laissez-fairism nor through cultural force of habit. The common course is a process
dictated by law and constantly negotiated.”2 In this sense, we can discern that, in
addition to the apparent economic and technological factors, the street pattern also
reflects the ideal of city planners and the ideology of the various agents. The ultimate
result was more of a compromise between the ideal and ideology, which shall be
further examined in the specific historical, political, and cultural conditions.

1
Shanghai Municipal Council, Report for the Year 1917 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly & Walsh, Limited, 1918),
1B.
2
Kostof, The City Assembled: 200.

97
3.1 Weight of History

Everyday Life in Shanghai County

As discussed in Chapter Two, the initial site for the Settlement was strategically
placed in the northern suburb of Shanghai County. Later on, the Settlement extended
to the western suburb, and to nearby Baoshan County. Although Daotai Gong reported
to his superiors that the site he chose for the foreign settlements was “a piece of waste
land” outside the Walled City, the choice did not indicate that the suburbs could be
easily separated from the walled city either in physical or in social sense. Historically,
the walled city and the suburbs were closely interrelated. Urban and rural areas
coexisted inside the city walls, while extensions of urban functions were outside the
walls. Specifically, the physical and social landscape of Shanghai County had been
tightly bounded by several temples scattered inside and outside the city wall.
Since the mid-sixteenth century, most government offices and educational
facilities were gradually moved into the walled city. However, some religious
buildings continued to exist on their original sites. If we put the maps in Hucheng
Beikao (see figure. 2.1) and in Tongzhi Gazetteer (see figure. 2.2) together, we may
recognize that all the three important temples that appeared in the thirteenth-century
map have remained in their original sites in the nineteenth-century map. The first is
the Tian Hou Gong (Temple for the Queen of Heaven), which stood at the juncture
of Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek. Although the buildings of the temple were
frequently sacked, burned, and rebuilt throughout history, the location remained
unchanged because it was a “sacred spot.” The second was the Jing’an Buddhist
Temple, which was located three miles to the west of the walled city and built on a
bubbling well that was considered sacred. The third structure was the Gaochang
Temple. Used to mark the south edge of the un-walled city, the Qing officers went to
this temple on the fourth day of February every year to welcome the opening of
spring. The three temples appear in both maps exactly in the same places, suggesting
the existence of other surviving temples from the earlier periods.
98
 According to the survey undertaken in the 1840s by Walter Henry Medhurst, a
missionary and interpreter for the first British Consul at Shanghai, only sixteen
Buddhist temples and seventeen Taoist temples were located within the walled city,
whereas seventy similar temples were outside the city wall.3 Medhurst observed other
types of religious buildings that were entirely different from the Buddhist and Taoist
places of worship, which he called “national temples.”4 These temples and altars
were connected with the government because civil and military officers were required,
periodically, to present services and offerings.
We can recognize from figure 1.4 the following national temples or altars.
Xiannong Altar outside the Chaoyang Gate to the southeast of the city is dedicated to
the founder of husbandry. Shanchuan Altar to the south of the city is dedicated to the
spirits of the hills and river. Sheji Altar outside the Fengyi Gate to the west of the city
is dedicated to the spirit presiding over the land and grain. Liyi Altar to the north of
the city is dedicated to the discontented ghosts of the County. Besides these structures,
officers of the government erected or patronized about forty more temples, altars, and
shrines in different parts of the County to commemorate the benefits conferred from
distinguished individuals on the inhabitants of Shanghai. Most of these national
religious facilities were deliberately placed outside the walled city based on the ideal
cosmological principles.
Therefore, before the establishment of the foreign settlements, urban residents
frequently visited the ancient Buddhist or Taoist temples outside the city wall.
Government officers went out of the city periodically to worship the “national
temples.” The significance of the religious facilities was reflected in the boundary
negotiations discussed in Chapter Two. For example, the Land Regulations of 1845
excluded Liyi Altar from the foreign municipal control. The “Stipulations re boundary
of Hongkew or the American Settlement at Shanghai” stated that several temples as
well as a Chinese public cemetery shall remain without interference, in perpetuity,

3
Walter Henry Medhurst, General Description of Shanghae and Its Environs, Extracted fron Native Authorities
(Shanghai: Printed at the Mission Press, 1850), 165.
4
Ibid., 162-64.

99
after the settlement extension. Specifically, Clause 4 of the Stipulations stated that the
public cemetery in the 25th Parish, 2nd District, which belonged to the
Tung-yun-poo-yuen Charitable Institution, should not be interfered by the Municipal
Council, and no public road that would cut through the cemetery could be built.
Clause 8 exempted five Chinese temples from municipal control. These were
San-guan-tang Hall, Xia-hai-miao Temple, Lu-ban-dian Temple, Tian-hou-gong
Temple, and Jing-tu-an Temple.5

Canal System

Another important factor that made the walled city and suburbs an inseparable
entity was the canal system. Early Western settlers had recorded that their settlement
was low-lying, marshy, and full of creeks, ditches, and ponds, which caused great
inconvenience to their daily life and threatened their health.6 This situation was
particularly true after the twentieth century when waterways were used as garbage
dump, open sewer system, or were polluted in other ways. Prior to those problems, the
intricate network of waterways and canals had played a crucial role in the life of the
people by supplying irrigation water for high-yield agriculture, and serving as the
primary means of transportation for a flourishing waterborne commerce.
The canal system at Shanghai was by no means naturally developed. The canal
was shaped by a series of large-scale water control projects initiated since the
sixteenth century, if not earlier.7 Several canals and ditches were carefully designed
to form a grid that stretched from the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek all the way to
the vast hinterland. This system created fertile agricultural land, and more importantly,
shaped a deep-water transportation system for regional commercial activities. After

5
Dallas and Mayne, "Special Report on the Delimitation of the Boundaries of Hongkew or the American
Settlement at Shanghai," 20-22.
6
Pott, A Short History of Shanghai: 13.
7
Mark Elvin, "Market Towns and Waterways: The County of Shanghai from 1480 to 1910," in The City in Late
Imperial China, ed. G. William Skinner (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1977), 441.

100
the foreign settlements were established, the canal system played a vital part in the
local economy and transportation. The importance of the canal system to the Chinese
community was expressed in the “Stipulations re boundary of Hongkew or the
American Settlement at Shanghai” in 1893, the Clause 5 of which stated that “the
Council undertakes not to fill in any existing tidal creek or canal until after
consultation with the Local Authorities.”8
The conservancy policy of Chinese officials did not raise complaints from the
foreign community, as the canal system in fact benefited the Chinese and foreign
residents alike. The municipal engineers recognized that the canal system was actually
a sewerage scheme of considerable magnitude developed by the Chinese a long time
ago. The position and route of the artificial creeks were determined through careful
consideration, i.e., these structures should be able to induce tides twice a day to carry
on its scour function. This unrestricted flow of tidal water, according to the municipal
engineers, was necessary for the proper cleansing of the sewers laid down in the
settlement. Since the 1860s, the Council exerted every effort to conserve and to
promote such tidal circulation. In 1906, Mayne even proposed to dig out a new canal
connecting the Suzhou and Siccawei Creeks for the drainage of the Western District
and for freshening up the creeks in this area.9 Further, the Municipal Report of 1910
indicated that the Council strong protested against the Zhabei Constabulary
concerning the reckless and indiscriminate interference with creeks, which “is likely
to render the drainage of certain parts of Shanghai exceedingly difficult before
long.”10
Although it was not easy, if not impossible, to reconstruct a detailed comparative
picture of the canal system and the street system because old Chinese maps that
survived were made in a substantially different way than the modern ones, we may

8
Dallas and Mayne, "Special Report on the Delimitation of the Boundaries of Hongkew or the American
Settlement at Shanghai," 20-22.
9
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31st December 1906 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly &
Walsh, Limited, 1907), 243-44.
10
Shanghai Municipal Council, Annual Report of the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1910, 164.

101
still claim based on sufficient textual evidence that when the opportunity was taken to
change or to create a road in the Settlement, the common practice followed such lines
as former creek beds, and the original waterways were kept either as open ditches or
as culverts. Although “this was rarely productive of the best type of thoroughfare, as
is well illustrated in the case of the Eastern district, on the tendency of a large number
of roads to run transversely across the district and concentrate on one point,”11 these
street lines could hardly be changed for economic sanitation until the pump system for
drainage was introduced to Shanghai in the late 1910s.

“Rent-in-perpetuity” System

In addition to the pre-existing religious facilities and canal system, the Chinese
land control institution influenced the city planning of the International Settlement.
This institution was commonly known as Yongzuzhi (rent-in-perpetuity). Under the
Treaty System, “the British Concession at Shanghai was neither a transfer nor a lease
of the land in question to the British Crown. It was simply an agreement that British
Subjects should be allowed to acquire land for their personal accommodation within a
certain space, in order that they might have the advantage of living together….The
land so acquired remains Chinese territory, it is subject to the land tax.”12 In this
sense, the right of land was excluded from the “extraterritoriality” enjoyed by
foreigners. The land upon which the foreigners were to live and to build on were
subjected to the same legal maxims and specific customs stipulated by governed land
tenure in China, provided that the land did not conflict with the express provisions of
the Treaties, and were not in excess of privileges granted to foreigners. In other words,
foreigners enjoyed, in respect to their property in China, only the rights that were
enjoyed by their predecessors, the original Chinese owners.

11
Shanghai Municipal Council, Annual Report of the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1921, 35B-36B.
12
Letter from Sir Frederick Bruce, H. B. M.’s Minister at Beijing, to W. H. Medhurst, H. B. M.’s Consul at
Shanghai, dated September 8, 1862, quoted from Anatol M. Kotenev, "Riparian rights, 1845-1930: General,"
(Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-1-1250, 1930), 18-19.

102
 The procedure for land acquisition of foreigners was stipulated in Articles I, IX,
and XVI of the Land Regulations of 1845, which was simply a slight modification of
the land transaction procedure generally applied in China during the Qing Dynasty.
The procedure involved two distinct parties, namely, the original transaction of the
deed between the lessee and the lessor, and the formal registration of the transaction
in the government. 13 Similarly, the documents accompanying the procedure
consisted of two parts: the Deed of Sale granted to the lessee by the lessor in which
the exact location, boundaries, and deposit of the land were given, and the Deed End,
which was issued by the respective authorities. The two formed the Title Deed,
which was the only legal document necessary for the property conveyed by them.
Therefore, the foreign lessees, after having determined the site, size, and deposit of
the land with the original Chinese owners, applied for registration with the Consul of
his home government, who forwarded all the documents together with the deposit
fee to the Daotai. The Daotai, after having fulfilled all formalities according to
Chinese law, issued the Title Deed. Subsequently, the Title Deed was registered with
various Foreign Consulates. After the registration, the foreign land renters
contributed a ground rent to the Chinese Government as “yearly grain tribute.”14
Yongzuzhi affected the city planning in the International Settlement in two
important ways. Firstly, the system inevitably led to the decentralized administration
of urban land, which caused considerable trouble to land appropriation for the purpose
of public works. In the ordinary course, if a foreigner desired to register a piece of
land in his name, he was required to take or send the Chinese documents to his
Consulate through which the documents were forwarded to the Chinese authorities.
The Daotai issued a deed, which was sent to the Consulate, and the registration was
completed. An anomaly was possible because the documents that showed the
registered owner, position, and acute boundary of the lot were kept in the Daotai

13
"Extra-settlement Roads, 1853-1930," (Special Collection of the Main Library at the University of Hong Kong
ULB 346.51132043 E96, 1931), 8-9.
14
"Land Regulations of 1845," Art.I, IX, and XVI.

103
Office or in various Consulate Land Offices, which were seventeen by 1907.15 The
Land Officers often went to great trouble keeping their offices informed as far as their
authority, but repeated changes among the officials often led to lack of continuity in
the information.
Secondly, private arrangements with the original Chinese proprietors in acquiring
land resulted in considerable variations in the scale and shape of the building lots.
Although the Land Regulations of 1845 stipulated, “hereafter when English
merchants rent land, the number of mow must be defined: each family may not have
more than ten mows, so as to prevent those first arrive from possessing broad large
lots, while those who come subsequently have small and narrow ones,”16 this policy
was never seriously enforced. In general, the scale of the single building plot in the
Settlement varied between less than one mow (7,176 square feet) and more than
10 mows (71,760 square feet), which was a scale that was significantly larger than the
deliberately planned British colonies, which generally varied between 300 and
800 square feet.17 These large building lots would turn out to be huge obstacles when
new roads were laid out through them.

Legacy of the “Grand Modell”

Before the first British Settlement was established in Shanghai, Britain had a
long history of establishing and planning overseas settlements and colonies. A
standard model of colonial city planning gradually emerged in the early seventeenth
century when England planted new settler colonies in Ireland, the New World, and
the Antipodes in accordance with a central scheme. This scheme, called the “Grand
Modell” by Lord Shaftesbury in the 1670s, comprised eight components, namely, (1)
a policy of deliberate urbanization, or town planting, in preference to dispersed

15
Shanghai Municipal Council, Report for the Year of 1907 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly & Walsh, Limited,
1908), 129.
16
"Land Regulations of 1845," Art. XV.
17
Home, Of Planting and Planning: 13.

104
settlement; (2) land rights allocated in a combination of town, suburban, and country
lots; (3) the town planned and laid out in advance of settlement; (4) wide streets laid
out in geometric, usually grid-iron form, usually on an area of one square mile; (5)
public squares; (6) standard-sized, rectangular plots, spacious in comparison with
British towns of the time; (7) some plots reserved for public purposes; and (8) a
physical distinction between town and country, usually by common land or an
encircling green belt (Figure 3.1).18
This model was universally applied all over the British colonial cities, and
showed a remarkable continuity of approach and concept with slight modifications
and refinements. However, the adoption of the model in the East Asian treaty ports in
the mid-nineteenth century largely reduced its scale and integrality. The major reasons
for the debasement are as follows. Firstly, the treaty ports were largely considered as
temporary dwellings rather than permanent settlements despite their economic
significance. Secondly, the colonizing theory was moving from central direction to
laissez faire doctrines in the 1840s, and as such, many influential politicians and
planners tended to reject government-controlled urban development.
However, some elements that survived were employed in the planning of the
British Settlements in the Chinese treaty ports. Consequently, these elements shaped
one of the prototypes of modern Chinese cities. The policy of deliberate urbanization
was privatized as boosterism, and the rectilinear or grid-iron layout of streets,
sometimes with squares or open spaces, was the general urban form. Although there
were common practices, the wide streets, which had been universally adopted in the
White settlements, were greatly debased. Charleston (1672) and Philadelphia (1682)
were both planned with a main street of 100 feet, and secondary streets measured
60 and 50 feet for Charleston and Philadelphia, respectively. Savannah had main
streets 75 feet wide. In Kingston, roads were 50 to 66 feet, in Freetown at 80 feet,
and in Adelaide at 132 feet.19 By contrast, the first street grid laid out in the British

18
Ibid., 9.
19
Ibid., 11-12.

105
Settlement of Shanghai was rather imperfect and irregular, and main streets were
merely 25 feet in width.

Figure 3.1. Plan (or “plat”) of Londonderry, Northern Ireland in 1622

Planned as the chief town of the Ulster Plantation, the map shows some of the basic elements of the
“Grand Modell,” such as grid layout, regular plots, central square, and green belt. This drawing was
published in 1884 in the Facsimiles of National Manuscripts of Ireland of John Gilbert.
Source: Robert K. Home, Of Planting and Planning: The Making of British Colonial Cities (London: E
& FN Spon, 1997), Figure.1.3.

3.2 Ideal, Ideology and Compromise

First Grid

The first street grid of the British Settlement was determined jointly by Daotai
Gong and Consul Balfour, and was promulgated in the Land Regulations of 1845.
The Regulations have long been interpreted by the historians of Modern China as an
“Unequal Treaty,” but Qian rightly points out that this document is also the first

106
modern city planning in China.20 It contains a detailed physical plan for the streets,
quays, warehouses, and other public facilities within the agreed boundaries.
This plan comprised six “large roads” that ran from east to west, and connected
the jetties and warehouses on the water frontage with the back of the settlement.
These roads were described in Article III of the Regulations. From north to south, the
roads were as follows:

One south of the Consulate lot

One south of the Four-Lot ground
One upon the Old Rope Wald
One north of the Custom House
One on the north side of the Kwei-sha-pang Creek
One of Allum’s Jetty21

Later on, as “numerous persons will now be passing to and fro, it is to be

apprehended that disputes and brawls may take place,” another straight road was
determined to be made as a thoroughfare to the westward direction of the river, and
upon the small canal, commencing north, at the public road on the south side of the
Ice House, adjoining the military working sheds, and ending south, on the west side
of the Liyi Altar on the bank of the Yang-jing-bang Creek.22

20
Qian, "Shanghai Jindai Chengshi Guihua De Chuxing," 107.
21
"Land Regulations of 1845," Art. III.
22
Ibid., Art. IV.

107
Figure 3.2. Fiirst street grid
d of the Shanghhai British Seettlement
Light gray tinnt shows the sttreet grid stipuulated in the Land
L Regulations of 1845. T
The lots showwn in this
map had beenn transferred to o foreign landd renters.
Source: Drawwing by Li Yin ngchun based on “The Grou und Plan of the Foreign Setttlement at Shaanghai,”
published in Shanghai
S tush
huguan 上海圖 圖書館, ed. La ao Shanghai Ditu
D 老上海地 地圖 (The alb bum of
Shanghai during the past 150 years) (Shaanghai: Shang ghai huabao chhubanshe, 20001 ), 37.

This pllan was an imperfect grid, neitheer straight nor

n parallell, with each
h block
varying sligghtly in sizze and shappe. The plan
n was not a work of m
military surv
veying,
which had been the cu
ustomary ppractice in laying
l out British
B coloonial ports. Rather,
R
the plan waas derived from
f the conntinual strug
ggle to reco
oncile the neew function
n of the
area to the previous uses and patths, and as a mechanism to designn agreemen
nts with
groups of Chinese
C ow
wners, who hhad differin
ng demandss and resenttful of the foreign
f

108
presence.23 As a result, the streets were laid out from three major sources. The first
source led to or allowed the street to go through several important public buildings
and facilities, which had been decided upon or had been constructed beforehand. By
1845, Consul Balfour selected the former Chinese military camp, which was situated
at the junction of Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek, as the site for the British
Consulate, and Daotai Gong had chosen the mid-point along the waterfront to build
the Chinese Customs House. Meanwhile, several jetties were also constructed along
the foreign anchorage. Roads were made to the “south of the Consulate site” (Beijing
Road), “north of the Custom House” (Hankou Road), and “to the Allum’s Jetty”
(Guangdong Road).
The second source should have the capability to absorb the pre-existing
waterways and alleys, such as the roads “upon the Old Rope Walk” (Jiujiang Road),
“upon the small canal” (Sichuan Road), and “on the north side of the Kweishapang”
(Fuzhou Road). The third source was identified to be along the boundary of the
pre-existing agricultural land, temples, and graves, such as the road made “south of
the Four-Lot ground” (Nanjing Road). Meanwhile, the width of the streets did not
follow the standard of the British colonial city. The widest street in this planning was
the “Old Rope Walk,” which was originally two Zhang and five Chi of the Canton
Customs House measurement (approximately 30 feet) in width. The rest of the
streets were stipulated to be two Zhang in width (approximately 24 feet), which was
a customary standard adopted in the Walled City of Shanghai (Figure 3.2).24
However, the first grid stipulated in the Land Regulations of 1845 was merely a
scheme on paper. Neither Daotai Gong nor Consul Balfour had committed the
necessary actions to bring the plan into practice. The proper construction, paving,
and drainage of the streets as well as the plan of the necessary public facilities, were
left entirely in the hands of the early foreign settlers.
In1846, the Foreign Land Renters held a meeting at Richards’ Hotel, and

23
Alan Balfour and Shiling Zheng, Shanghai (Chichester: Wiley-Academy, 2002), 51.
24
"Land Regulations of 1845," Art. III.

109
appointed three merchants among them to found a “Committee on Roads and Jetties.”
By 1851, the Committee had raised a public fund of Tls. 13,300 to construct the
“public thoroughfares” laid out in the Land Regulations. Between 1852 and 1854,
the committee spent nearly Tls. 20,000 on repairing, leveling, metalling, sanding,
and dressing of the thoroughfares wholly or in part as necessary. Meanwhile, some
foreign merchants acted individually or collectively to make several public buildings
and spaces. In 1846, a Messrs. Lindsay Co. spent Tls. 2500 to rent a 14-mow piece
of land at the heart of the Settlement to establish the “General Cemetery” for the
Foreign Community, and built around it “a well-built wall, gateway, and a mortuary
chapel.” In 1847, Messrs. Bell Co. donated its own premises and erected the Holy
Trinity Church. In1848, six Land Renters acquired an 80-mow piece of land at the
junction of Nanjing and Barrier Roads for a playground, and in 1855, they sold it,
and rented a 170-mow ground even further westward to build a more spacious
racecourse.25
By 1854, all the public spaces and facilities that were essential for a small
European mercantile community had taken shape. Thus, the settlement comprised
nearly all the basic elements of the “Grand Modell,” such as the grid-iron street
layout, the central square (in front of the Trinity Church), and the moat. The
racecourse at the west side of the Settlement was both a green belt and playground,
and served as an important buffer zone during wartime.

Military Roads and the Early Suburbs

In the mid-1860s, a new element was added primarily outside the Settlement
boundary, that is, the upper middle-class residential suburbs. Manchester had
established a model for middle-class suburbanization by the 1840s. In the 1850s and
1860s, the model established itself outside the rapidly growing cities of the United

25
Peter Hibbard, The Bund Shanghai: China Faces West (Hong Kong: Odyssey; Distribution in the U.S.A. by W.
W. Norton, 2007), 10-12.

110
States.26 The major engine of the Anglo-American tradition of suburbanization was
industrial development. In the case of Shanghai, however, the conflicts between the
Chinese government and the Taiping rebel forces forced the well-off families out of
the settlement.
The Taiping Rebellion began in the Province of Guangxi in 1850. The rebellion
spread northwards through Hunan to the Yangtze River, and established its capital at
Nanjing on March 19, 1853. After the taking of Suzhou by the Taipings in 1860,
Shanghai felt the consternation that an attack would be made on the rich foreign
settlement. 27 On August 17, 1860, the rebels seized the Mission premises at
Siccawei and made the Cathedral into their headquarters. The next day, they attacked
the city of Shanghai. Three days later, the Taipings advanced toward the foreign
settlements, but were repelled by shells and rockets when they moved close to the
racecourse. 28 On January 11, 1862, some 30,000 Taipings advanced towards
Shanghai from the direction of Wusong. They reached a point a mile and half north
of the British Consulate, but withdrew when they found opposition from the
volunteers and a battalion of Indian troops. At the same time, another force
threatened Songjiang to the west of the Settlement, and a third army advanced from
Hangzhou.29 In the summer of 1862, the Taiping forces, after being exasperated by
frequent defeats, were stirred to greater activity, and with a large force, penetrated as
far as the Jing’an Temple, two miles west of the Defence Creek.30
The original policy adopted by the Municipal Council towards the Taiping
Rebellion was neutrality. But they soon found that the policy of defensive neutrality
could only be secured by aggressive measures in cooperation with the Chinese
government forces. In 1862, the Chinese and foreign authorities agreed that joint
military actions should be taken to clear the Taiping marauders within a 30 mile
26
Robert Fishman, Bourgeois Utopias: The Rise and Fall of Suburbia (New York: Basic Books, 1987), 13-14.
27
Pott, A Short History of Shanghai: 42-43.
28
Ibid., 49-50.
29
Ibid., 53.
30
Ibid., 56.

111
radius of Shanghai.31
The 30-mile defense radius covered not only the administrative territory of the
Shanghai County, but also part of the Qingpu and Baoshan Counties. This policy
swept away all the territorial and conventional barriers, which were carefully
maintained by the local Chinese authorities between the foreign settlements and
neighboring native cities and villages, and reshaped the urban structure of Shanghai
in many aspects.
First, to transport supplies and ammunition from the foreign warships anchored
at Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek, the foreign military authorities obtained
permission from the Chinese authorities to make detailed surveys in the entire
defense area, and to construct a system of “military roads” outside the settlement
limits. Although no visual record could show the exact position and direction of this
road system, we do know that later, several major trunk roads formed a part of this
system. For example, the Siccawei Road (later named as Haig Road) connected the
Walled City with the Taiping headquarters in the Siccawei Cathedral. The Bubbling
Well and Xinzha Roads connected the racecourse, which acted as parade ground
during war time, with the Taiping headquarters in the Jing’an Temple. Carter Road
connected the Bubbling Well Road with the Fan-wang-du Ferry (Jessfield) on the
Suzhou Creek. Jessfield Road connected Xinzha with Suzhou Creek. Wusong and
North Henan Roads connected the settlement with the Rifle Range (Figure 3.3).
Meanwhile, several roads were also built by the Chinese military authorities, but
their exact positions cannot be traced in the available records.32
At the beginning, the small group of foreign residents appeared to be not
interested in keeping these military roads in good condition, nor did they think of
converting the surrounding areas for residential purposes. However, tens of
thousands of Chinese refugees flocked into the settlements during the Rebellion,
many did not return to their hometowns after the conflicts. The Settlement became

31
Ibid., 55-56.
32
"Extra-settlement Roads, 1853-1930," 4-5.

112
over congeested, and led
l to geneeral insanitation and high
h rentalss. The foreeigners,
particularlyy the wealthy bankerss and merchants, thus purchasedd land outsiide the
settlement for their residences.
r The formeer military--road areas , which prrovided
relatively direct
d comm
munication w
with the urb
ban core, turned out to be the prop
per site
for the escaape of the up
pper middlee class.

Figure 3.3. Military

M roads built
b during thhe Taiping Rebellion
Source: Drawwing by Li Yin ngchun based on “Memoran ndum on Outsside Roads byy W. H. Medhu
urst,
1871,” quotedd from "Extra-settlement Rooads, 1853-19 hai Municipal Archive, 1931),
930," (Shangh
18-22.

In the years imm

mediately ffollowing the
t Rebelliion, the fooreign community
expressed real enthusiasm for maintainin
ng these fo
ormer milittary roads, either
vided a nice green belt against
individuallyy or collectiively. As thhe new raceccourse prov
the dense Chinese
C neig
ghborhood within the settlement, the area aloong the sou
uthwest
boundaries of the setttlement waas the first to flourish. The Annuual Report of the
Municipal Council for 1861 stattes that a wide
w militarry road, runnning from
m Will’s
Bridge on the
t Suzhou Creek into the western
n suburb, was construccted by Hanbury at
his own exxpense.33 Between
B 18863 and 18
865, the nu
umber of fforeign resiidences
outside thee settlementt in the W
Western distrrict increased to suchh an extent that a
special “Coommittee off Managemeent of the Bubbling
B Weell Road” w
was formed to
t keep
the road inn order.34 In
n 1866, thee Municipall Council to
ook over thhe managem
ment of
Wusong, Bubbling
B Weell, and the surroundin
ng roads. In the followiing year, Siiccawei

33
Ibid., 10.
34
Ibid., 11-12..

113
Road followed suit. Jessfield Road was maintained for a time by James Hogg,35 and
in 1871, management of the road was taken over by the Council.
The area around the Rifle Range was developed rapidly, too. Every effort was
made, with the cooperation of the local Chinese authorities, to connect this district
northeast with the mouth of the Yangtsze River. At the Annual Meeting of the Rate
Payers held in 1871, a resolution was passed to repair the old Wusong Road, and to
reconstruct it into a 30-feet wide thoroughfare all the way “to Jiangwan, the halfway
house between this (Rifle Range) and Wusong so far as the finances will reasonably
allow.”36 In the Municipal Report of 1872, the Yangshupu Road was extended to
Wusong, and the documentation said, “a wooden bridge is being erected [a]cross the
Yangshupu Road, every facility for extending the road has been gained through the
kindly offices of Mr. Seward, U. S. Consul General, and the Daotai, and an
understanding has been arrived at with the Daotai and the Council, by which Chen
the Magistrate at the Mixed Court and Mr. J. Hans, the Council's Interpreter, will act
as a permanent committee for arranging with the native land holders.”37 Until 1873,
the report mentioned, “the various outside roads have been kept in repair. The new
road to Wusong has been continued 9,590 feet beyond the Yangshupu Creek.”38
By 1870, most military roads primarily situated in the southwest and in the
northeast areas of the settlement had either been converted to public roads by the
Municipal Council or subjected under the management of the Council, while a large
portion of the adjoining area was developed by foreigners.39 However, these early
suburbs were created without overall planning or formal discussions. The wealthy or
the middle class residences followed a rudimentary pattern characterized by irregular
lot patterns, dispersed single-family houses, and large front and back yards.

35
Pott, A Short History of Shanghai: 77.
36
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1871: 33-34.
37
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1872: 20-21.
38
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31st March, 1873 (Shanghai: Printed at the
"North-China Herald" Office, 1873), 22.
39
"Extra-settlement Roads, 1853-1930," 18-22.

114
Road Schemes for Hongkou

While the British Settlement was developed based on a calculated plan, although
simple and debased in nature, the American Settlement at Hongkou, in the words of
H. B. Morse, was “not created, but just grown.”40 In 1863, the American and the
Chinese authorities arrived agreed to define the settlement boundaries. Unfortunately,
this agreement did not throw any further light on the physical planning of the
settlement. The streets in Hongkou were constructed by the efforts of various private
entrepreneurs to establish communication along the riverside, and to link the water
frontage and the back area. Such projects were in most cases carried out in a
piecemeal way, and for the sake of landowners who lacked professional and
long-term planning (Figure 3.4).
In 1872, the Municipal Council finally worked out the first road scheme to
impose a “block and circus system” in Hongkou.41 However, in the succeeding
years, the Council only exerted limited actions in implementing the schemes, and
private entrepreneurs played an important part in the construction of roads for their
own benefit. On the one hand, private entrepreneurs were frequently required by the
Municipal Council to assist in negotiating with foreign and Chinese landowners to
obtain the land for public roads at a reasonable price; on the other hand, they were
authorized to urge the Council, on behalf of owners of small lots, to claim, to design,
and to construct roads within reasonable time.42
The reluctance of the Municipal Council in constructing roads at Hongkou
radically changed in the late 1880s. One reason for this shift was the settlement
boundary dispute between the Council and the Chinese authorities. Boundary
40
Quoted in Pott, A Short History of Shanghai: 19.
41
This scheme aimed to add one more public thoroughfare that parallels the river and connects the new road to
the Broadway through six roads that meet the river at right angles. See Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal
Report, 1872: 22.
42
Correspondence between R. F. Thorburn, Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Council, and Messrs. Morrison
& Gratton. Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31st December 1887 (Shanghai: Published
by Kelly & Walsh, Limited, 1888), 100-02.

115
negotiations lasted for several years until a new line was agreed in 1893. During this
long period, the Council formulated a series of schemes for a large extension of roads,
especially in the controversial district between the Seward Line and the
Shanghai-Baoshan border. These roads rapidly opened the entire area for foreign
occupation. Another contributing reason was the appointment of Charles Mayne as the
Chief Engineer and Surveyor in 1889, who, unlike his predecessors, appeared to
possess a more aggressive attitude toward road construction.
In 1888, a Resolution was brought forward during the Annual Meeting of Foreign
Ratepayers, which authorized the Council to raise 45,000, by the issue of Debentures
Tls, for acquiring land to construct new roads and to extend existing roads at
Hongkou. The Resolution further explained that priority should be granted to roads
that “are likely to be required immediately owing to the extension of the
Settlement.”43 With this object in view, Mayne mapped out a system of roadways
toward the Seward Line in 1890, a year after he assumed office in Shanghai. This
scheme, comprising nineteen roads within the entire length of nine miles, was aimed
to impose in advance a grid-iron street network in the area where no roads had been
established at the time (Figure 3.5). These streets were laid out with a uniform width
of 30 feet and were marked from A to T in the proposal (Table 2).44

43
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31st December 1888 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly
& Walsh, Limited, 1889), 95.
44
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31 December 1890: 154-56.

116
Table 2. Scheme of proposed roads at Hongkou, 1890
Width
No. Name Location
(ft.)

Roads running North and South

D North Shansi Road extension
E New Road
F ...
G Chapoo Road extension
H Miller Road extension
I ...
J Fearon Road extension
K Dixwell Road extension
L New Road
M Chaou-fong Road extension
N Dent Road extension
O Kung-ping Road extension
30 Continued to meet the North Honan and
Western boundary road, at the back of
the Rifle Butts
30 Continued in a straight line along the
North Honan Road from the Chinese
Government property (leased to Ching
Chong) toward the 200-feet mound at
the Rifle Range
... ...
30 Continued from Quinsan Road toward
the Rifle Range
30 Continued north of Morrison Road to
connect to the North boundary road
... ...
30 Continued from Seward Road to connect
to the Northern boundary road
30 Continued from Broadway to the
Hanbury Road extension
30 Running parallel to the eastern boundary
of the Kung-ping Filature, from the
Hanbury Road extension to the Northern
boundary road
30 Continued from Seward Road to
Hanbury Road
30 Continued from Seward Road to
Hanbury Road
30 Continued from Seward Road to
Hanbury Road

Roads running East and West

P North Soochow Road extension 30 Continued from North Shansi Road to

North Fuhkien Road bridge
Q New Road 30 Connecting North Shansi Road
extension and North Kiangse Road,
running between the Chinese
Government property (leased to Ching
Chong) and the Canton Garden
R Morrison Road extension 30 From North Shansi Road extension to
Fearon Road extension
S New Road 30 Parallel and midway between Morrison
Road extension and the Rifle Range,
connecting to North Shansi and Fearon
Road extensions
T Hanbury Road extension 30 From Yuen-fong Road to the east
direction of the Kung-ping Roads
Source: Data from Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31 December 1890: 154-56.

117
 The proposal, unfortunately, was met with strong objections during the Annual
Meeting of Ratepayers. Morrison commented that the roads were not drawn squarely
to each other or at any definite angle, and the entire Hongkou appeared to be laid out
in a way that was inconvenient for construction. He then proposed the following
resolution, which was seconded by Kingsmill, that “the plan be referred back to the
Council for further consideration as regards the exact line of roads to be adopted.”45
This obstacle was the first but not the last that Mayne encountered during his two
decades of service in Shanghai, which forced him to consider the necessity to
“ascertain the views of the professional gentlemen in Shanghai.”46 In the succeeding
year, a new plan was formulated, which adopted the suggestions of Messrs. Ambrone,
Cory, Downdall, Kingsmill, and Morrison. All of them were leading surveyors,
engineers, and architects of the local foreign community.
In 1894, the published new road scheme comprised 41 road extensions and
provided a total length of 14 miles.47 This scheme was intended not only to avoid
foreign-registered properties, but also to avoid blocking existing waterways, temples,
and a Chinese public cemetery. Meanwhile, all existing dwelling houses, which
belonged to and were inhabited by original Chinese proprietors, and all old or new
houses on land, which belonged to original Chinese proprietors that were far from
municipal roads or had not benefited from improvements were not to be taxed.48

45
Ibid., 176.
46
Ibid., 154.
47
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31st December 1894 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly
& Walsh, Limited, 1895), 170-75.
48
Dallas and Mayne, "Special Report on the Delimitation of the Boundaries of Hongkew or the American
Settlement at Shanghai," 20-22.

118
 F
Figure 3.4. Th
he street grid aat Hongkou in
n 1866
SSource: Drawing by Li Yinngchun based on o the “Map of
o Hongkew oor American
S
Settlement at Shanghai,”
S puublished in Sh
hanghai tushug
guan 上海圖書 書館, ed. Lao
S
Shanghai Ditu
u 老上海地圖 圖 (The album m of Shanghai during the passt 150 years)
(
(Shanghai: Shhanghai huabaoo chubanshe, 2001 ), 52.

Figure 3.5. Th
F he Scheme of P Proposed Roaads for Hongk
keou, 1890
S
Source: Adaptted from Qiann Sun 孫倩, Shanghai
S Jinda
ai Chengshi G
Gonggong Guanli
Z
Zhidu Yu Kong gjian Jianshe 上海近代城 城市公共管理制 制度與空間建 建設 (Urban
a
administration
n and public sppace in moderrn Shanghai) (Nanjing:
( Donngnan daxue
c
chubanshe, 20
009), Figure. 33-3b.

Figure 3.6. Maap of Hongkoou, 1900

F
S
Source: Adaptted from Qiann Sun 孫倩, Shanghai
S Jindaai Chengshi G
Gonggong Gua anli
Z
Zhidu Yu Konggjian Jianshe 上海近代城市公共管理制 制度與空間建 建設 (Urban
a
administration
n and public sppace in moderrn Shanghai) (Nanjing:
( Donngnan daxue
c
chubanshe, 20
009), Figure. 33-4.

119
 The 1894 road scheme was rather a compromise between the Mayne, the foreign
mercantile community, and the Chinese authorities. In the Map of Hongkou drawn in
1900, Roads R and S, which were part of the Scheme of Proposed Roads for Hongkou
in 1890 providing important east-west communication, was replaced by Haining
Road which was a road following the entire length of the North Chuan-hong-bang
Creek. The projected extension of Hanbury Road in a perfect straight line was also
abandoned, and Tangshan Road was constructed alongside a serpentine waterway
instead (Figure 3.6).

Squaring the New Districts

The settlement extension in 1899 expanded its administrative territory from 2.75
to 8.35 square miles. The Municipal Council then divided the entire area into four
districts. The initial British Settlement, defined by the Huangpu River and by the
Suzhou, Yang-jing-bang, and Defence Creeks, became the Central District. The
western portion of the initial American Settlement, which was enclosed by the Suzhou
Creek, Hongkou Creek, and by the Shanghai-Baoshan border, became the Northern
District. The newly added areas to the west of the Defence Creek and to the east of the
Hongkou Creek were the Western and the Eastern Districts, respectively (Figure 3.7).
The Central and the Northern Districts had been fully established, whereas a large
portion of the Western and the Eastern Districts remained undeveloped.
In view of prospective urbanization, Mayne initiated immediate steps for a
comprehensive survey of the newly extended districts. After completing the survey, he
spent two more years preparing the road plan, and submitted a preliminary scheme of
new roads and extensions in 1903. Compared with his previous plan for Hongkou,
this scheme recognized the topographic condition and the pre-existing building fabric.
He also strived to arrange the streets in an orthogonal manner for the convenience of
building activities. A special loan of Tls. 169,816 was allocated for the New Road

120
Scheme, and work was to be implemented as fast as possible.49 Mayne was extremely
confident of the plan and to its appropriateness for the future needs of the Settlement.
He asserted proudly in his Annual Report in 1902: “At no time in the history of the
Foreign Settlement has so much work been done in the way of opening up of
wide-and as far as may be-straight roads.”50
However, this road scheme was designed to construct roads on the land that
remained in the hands of Chinese landowners. Hence, the scheme required the
Municipal Council to negotiate with the native owners individually, which was a long
and difficult process. In the Western District, the scheme obtained enthusiastic support
from the local Chinese community. In October 1901, the Shanghai Daotai issued a
Proclamation (Daotai Xiaoyu) by virtue that the Municipal Council has negotiated
directly with native headmen and the Dibaos of the Western District for the purchase
and for the construction of new roads.51 The proclamation of the Daotai allowed the
Council to obtain the land that will be transformed into roads by offering a nominal
compensation to native owners whose lands were required to be expropriated. The
compensation was usually based on the price of the agricultural land rather than on
the market price of urban land. The removal of houses and graves, which had caused
disputes between the Chinese and the foreign communities, was accomplished
without any signs of friction or opposition. The local gentry also rendered
considerable service to road construction.
The Municipal Report of 1910 cited the important role of a headman named Zee
Soon in obtaining the Proclamation from the Taotai. He further allowed a road to be
built on his property without asking for any compensation, and was the first to declare
that his property had benefited from the construction of the road. With the help of Zee,
20 miles of roads were laid out in the Western District, which necessitated the

49
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Annual Report of the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1902, 197.
50
Ibid.
51
Letter from W. G. Bayne, Chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Council, to J. Goodnow, Consul-General for
the United States and Senior Consul, dated January 6, 1903. Municipal Council of Shanghai, Annual Report of
the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1903, 270.

121
acquisition of 611 mows of land for which only Tls. 72,400 was paid. Several
important east-west trunk roads, such as Wei-hai-wei Avenue, Connaught Road, and
Ward Road, were also extended directly forward without obstruction.52
For the Eastern District, however, the same Daotai was reluctant to issue a
proclamation that was similar to what was previously applied in the Western District.
His grounds for refusal included lesser amount of traffic at that time in the Eastern
District, and the occupation of most of the land by farmers. The proposed filling in of
several creeks, such as the Sih-ka-pang, Tsai-ka-pang, and Liu-wei-pang, and
converting them into roads was perceived as unfavorable to the interests of farmers in
the district. Moreover, one of the projected roads was found to pass through the Fu
Yun Tang Public Cemetery, while the removal of the graves or the digging up of
remains was a contradiction to the general feeling of the public. However, the most
important reason was the fact that part of the district went beyond the
Shanghai-Baoshan border and approached near the Wusong Bar, which was a vital
military node at that time. The Daotai, on behalf of the Chinese central government,
certainly did not like to lose his control easily on the district. Only after a lengthy
correspondence, which lasted for almost two years, and with the pressure brought by
the Consular Body, did the Daotai finally issue the necessary proclamation. The
Municipal Council, in its turn, was compelled to agree that the survey of the land and
the creation of the map of the proposed roads be conducted jointly with the Chinese
Land Office.53
On November 12, 1903, a Deputy of the Chinese Land Office, who was
appointed by the Daotai, together with the local headmen Zee Sing-chien and Chow
Tse-ching, and a foreign employee of the Municipal Engineer’s Office, surveyed the
prospective roads in the Eastern District. The Chinese official submitted a report
afterwards that the identified areas were unfavorable to the scheme of the Council. He
pointed out several amendments on the issued Proclamation. The amendments aimed

52
Shanghai Municipal Council, Municipal Report, 1910: 163.
53
Kotenev, Municipality and the Chinese: 38.

122
at the protection of the water supply of farmers and the maintenance of the cemetery
as well as in compliance to the public sentiment in general. First, the Council was
asked not to make any roads pass through the cemetery to prevent the movement of
the graves and to avoid causing anxiety to the public. Second, if filling the creeks was
absolutely necessary, the Council was allowed to make some ditches alongside the
roads so that farmers could still collect water for their fields. Finally, for the buildings
of the residents and the graves, the Council must first discuss matters with the owners.
Nothing compulsory or against the general wishes of the public should be done.54
All three conditions were accepted by the Council in the dispatch dated January 7,
1904 from W. G. Gayne, Chairman of the Municipal Council, to C. Kleimenow,
Consul-General for Russia and Senior Consul. The Daotai subsequently issued the
Proclamation in July 1904. After describing the desire of the Council to construct new
roads throughout the Eastern District, the Proclamation recommended a meeting of
the Land Office Official with several headmen to enumerate their recommendations
on the road construction matter. 55 Because of this meeting, several Chinese
cemeteries were excluded from the terms of the Proclamation. The Council was
enjoined to adhere to the standing agreement with the Chinese authorities about
gaining control of tidal creeks. Moreover, the council was requested to lay out the
new roads with due regard to existing houses and graves, for which compensation
must be paid when removal was absolutely necessary. After several years of delay, the
network of roads in the Eastern District was completed in 1917 (Figure 3.8).56

54
Translation of letter from Shanghai Daotai to Senior Consul, dated December 13, 1903. Municipal Council of
Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1903: 277-78.
55
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Annual Report of the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1904, 273.
56
Shanghai Municipal Council, Municipal Report, 1917: 32B.

123
Figure 3.7. Thhe Four Distriicts of the Inteernational Setttlement, 1899
Source: Drawwing by Li Yinngchun based on the map pu ublished in Municipal Counncil of Shangh
hai,
Report for thee Year Ended 31st Decembeer 1899 (Shan nghai: Printed by Kelly & W
Walsh, Limitedd, 1900).

Figure 3.8. Pllan of Shanghai showing Seettlement exteensions and road developmeents that had taken
t
place betweenn 1898 and 19917
Source: Shanghai Municipal Council, Annnual Report of the Shangh hai Municipal Council, 1918 8.

3.3 Road Improvement in the N

Nineteenth Century
C

Municipal-controlled Roads
R

Througghout the second half of the nineteenth cen

ntury, the SShanghai Municipal
M
Council engaged in laaying out thhe initial streeet network
k on one sidde, and man
naged to

124
improve the existing streets to meet the rapidly increasing traffic requirements on the
other side. By 1870, the streets in the Central District proved to be insufficient for the
increasing traffic. Several thoroughfares that covered the eastern portion of the district
were planned under the Regulations of 1845, and their standard widths were between
20 to 30 feet. Majority of the streets in the western portion were constructed during
the Taiping Rebellion when a number of Chinese refugees occupied the area, thus
some streets merely reached 10 more feet in width. A resolution was passed during the
meeting of the Council on July 4, 1870, which stated: “40 feet shall be the minimum
width-unless otherwise ordered-of all main roads, made on and after this date by the
Council for the Foreign Settlement of Shanghai.”57 This resolution meant that all
roads in the Central District were to be widened, and large amounts of valuable land
were to be expropriated.
At that time, the Municipal Council did not have compulsory power of land
expropriation, nor did it keep records of land registration and transactions. However,
Article VI of the Land Regulations of 1869 stipulated that land renters shall
surrender the necessary land for public use. It states:

(T)he Council appointed by the Land Renters and others entitled to vote, will at
the beginning of each year examine the map, and determine what new lines of
road are necessary, and all land subsequently rented shall only be rented on the
terms of the renter surrendering to the public use the beach ground aforesaid, if
any, and the land required for such roads; and in no case shall land surrendered,
or which shall now be dedicated to the use of the public, be resumed, except
with the consent of the proper majority of Land Renters and others who may be
entitled to vote as aforesaid in the public meeting assembled.58

The same article, however, also provided “no act of appropriation or dedication
for public uses of the said ground for roads, other than those already defined, shall,
contrary to the will of the renters thereof, in any case, be sanctioned or held lawful

57
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1871: 32.
58
"Land Regulations and Bye-Laws for the Foreign Settlements of Shanghai North of the Yang-King-Pang,"
Art. VI.

125
under these Regulations.”59 The land renters were further granted the right to protest
against the road extension and the widening plan within fourteen days after the plan
was issued.
The somewhat controversial stipulation in the Land Regulations placed the
Council in a very difficult position. To acquire the necessary land for road widening
and to avoid conflicts with property owners, the Council adopted a relatively passive
policy in advancing road widening, and declared that road improvements would not
be implemented until the houses fronting a public thoroughfare were demolished by
fire or were abandoned by land owners.
In 1875, the Public Works and Watch Committees agreed that the Police shall be
mandated to observe carefully every change in the removal of or alteration on the
houses, and to inform the municipal engineer at the first instance. The engineer was
then required to report in writing, together with his remarks and suggestions, for the
information of the Council. The report was needed for the immediate opening of
negotiations for extending, widening, and constructing roads. The Council further
called on the assistance of individual land renters by suggesting to them to report to
the municipal officer upon any intentional alterations in existing or constructing of
new buildings before building plans had been decided upon.60
Meanwhile, the Municipal Council was obliged to pay a heavy sum as
compensation for the property it wished to acquire for road widening. As a rule, the
price paid was based on the assessed value of the land, with an allowance for the cost
of moving walls.61 In practice, however, the Council usually paid more than the
assessed land value, especially in obtaining valuable land from several important
business streets. In 1883, to acquire the strip measuring 0.662 mow in the Nanjing
Road and the strip measuring 0.094 mow in the Shandong Road, for widening the
street corner, the Council was required to pay Thomas Hanbury, the registered owner

59
Ibid.
60
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1874-5, 119.
61
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1878, 49.

126
of the said land, Tls. 15,914 including 10,000 for the estimated cost of rebuilding the
lot, Tls. 1,000 for the loss of rental fees, and Tls. 4,914 for the ground surrendered at
the assessed value of Tls. 6,500 per mow. After a lengthy negotiation, the Council
offered Hanbury Tls. 12,000 for the strip of land, which was more than twice the
assessed land value.62 In the same year, the Council acquired a strip of land from
Arthur D. Sassoon to widen the corner of the Nanjing and the Sichuan Roads. They
not only paid the owner Tls. 9,900 per mow for a total of 6,600 square feet, but also
shouldered all the expenses for the construction of the pavements and curbings, and
for the creation of the side channels.63 In 1888, when the houses at the corner of the
Nanjing and the Henan Roads were burned down, the Council immediately wrote to
the registered land owners regarding their acquisition of a small strip of land for
straightening the Nanjing Road. An attorney of a registered owner refused to open
negotiations with the Council as he believed that “could only be done by a long and
expensive telegram, or to send the proposal by letter, which would necessitate a great
loss in the rental from this block.”64 The case was finally settled after the Council
agreed to pay the cost of sending a telegram to England that amounted to $50 and the
loss of rental fees at $126 per month, while they waited for the reply of the land
owners.
The large amount of money for road compensation resulted in a serious financial
problem. To present attractive offers for road widening after being demolished by the
fire and before the redevelopment of the premises, the Council was forced in February
1883 to raise the sum of Tls. 15,000, by the issue of debentures, in addition to Tls.
7,000 provided in the budget, for widening roads. In October of the same year, a sum
of Tls. 30,000, in addition to the above-mentioned amounts, was raised for the special

62
Correspondences between R. F. Thorburn, Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Council, and Messrs. Iveson &
Co., Agents for Thomas Hanbury, dated from March to July, 1883. Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the
Year Ended 31st December, 1883 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly & Walsh, 1884), 76-78.
63
Correspondences between C. B. Clarke, Surveyor of the Shanghai Municipal Council, and Arthur D. Sassoon,
by his Attorney, J. S. Ezekiel, dated June , 1883. Ibid., 78.

64
Messrs. Iveson & Co. to R. F. Thorburn, Secretary of the Municipal Council, dated January 17 1888.
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1888: 86.

127
purpose of widening the Nanjing Road and other important thoroughfares. The
amount in the debentures was redeemable in not less than five and not more than
twenty years from date of issue, bearing interest rates that did not exceed 7% per
annum.65 In 1891, the Council was again authorized to raise Tls. 20,000 by issuing
debentures for the widening and improvement of roads.66
The considerable cost, however, did not practically enable the Council to advance
the road schemes in an efficient way. On the contrary, when applications were made
to the owners or agents of houses that were located on the proposed sites for building,
rebuilding, or widening of the roads, only in a few cases were the improvements
implemented. Some proprietors declined to surrender the land at any price. Others
asked incredibly high prices for the land, while others refused to appear for
negotiations resulting in delays in rebuilding. From the annual reports of the Council
between 1890 and 1899, the percentage of cases in which improvements were done
did not reach 50%, while in 1894 and 1899 successful applicants were only 18%
(Table 3). In cases in which negotiations failed, and new buildings were constructed
while encroaching the road line, the Council was left with no option but to wait for
them to be burned down or to be redeveloped.67

65
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1883: 75-76.
66
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31st December 1891 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly
& Walsh, Limited, 1892), 112.
67
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31st December 1893 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly
& Walsh, Limited, 1894), 208.

128
Table 3. Applications of land for public roads, 1890-1899
Year Cases applied Case effected Percentage of effect
1890 22 . . . . . .
1891 7 3 0.43
1892 13 6 0.46
1893 16 4 0.25
1894 17 3 0.18
1895 ... ... ...
1896 27 7 0.26
1897 25 5 0.20
1898 23 8 0.35
1899 17 3 0.18
Sources: Data from Report for the Year Ended 31st December 1890, 157; Report for the Year Ended 31st
December 1891, 157; Report for the Year Ended 31st December 1892, 174; Report for the Year Ended 31st
December 1893, 206-07; Report for the Year Ended 31st December 1894, 175; Report for the Year Ended 31st
December 1896, 172; Report for the Year Ended 31st December 1897, 194; Report for the Year Ended 31st
December 1898, 182; and Report for the Year Ended 31st December 1899, 205.

Extra-settlement Roads

In the extra-settlement area, the construction of all the roads was deemed as an
emergency measure, and thus, Chinese authorities did not issue official Title Deeds.
Consequently, difficulties arose on the protection of these roads from being
destroyed by local villagers. While some local villagers regarded the area as still
belonging to them and, therefore, was open for encroachment, others utilized the
opportunity to avenge their loss by destroying the roads and pilfering the wood work
of the bridges.68
To remedy this anomalous condition of the affairs of the Consular Body, a
meeting was held on January 30, 1869. A committee consisting of Consul-General
Seward, Consul-General Brenier de Montmorand, and Consul Medhurst was created
to collect from the Daotai the remission of taxes on the land utilized as military
roads, and to assist in maintaining the roads and in protecting them from
encroachment or destruction. The proposals of the Council were subjected to lengthy
discussions, but no definite reply was received from the Daotai.69 The Daotai later
agreed with H. E. Sir Rutherford Alcock to contribute $1,200 annually for the
68
"Extra-settlement Roads, 1853-1930," 18.
69
Ibid., 18-22.

129
maintenance of the roads outside the settlements.70 But in general, the condition of
the roads in the extra-settlement areas was relatively unsatisfactory compared with
the roads within the settlement, being lack of light, drainage, and police visibility,
and these roads usually became impassable under wet weather conditions.71

Summary

The second half of the nineteenth century witnessed the rapid growth of the
International Settlement. New street networks were laid out to facilitate
transportation, to urge settlement extension, and provide electricity, telephone, and
telegraph for domestic life and industrial activities, and to generate a sanitary urban
environment. The economic-driven ideology provided the great engine that drove the
expansion of new roads inside and outside the International Settlement.
The original road schemes in the four districts were intended to divide the urban
artifact into orthogonal grid with roughly standardized intervals. However, the plans
had to adjust not only with the concerns of the foreign mercantile community, but also
the Chinese authorities. The layout of the settlement provides an opportunity to see
how various people struggled to define and re-define the “modern city” in the initial
stage of modern urbanization, and how they sought their own interests, identities, and
desires in the urban environment. The ultimate street pattern represented the engineers’
ideal to regularize the urban landscape, the foreign businessmen’s desire to pursuit
wealth, and the Chinese authorities’ ambition to keep the city “static” despite of the
foreign presence.

70
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31st March, 1869 (Shanghai: Printed at F. & C.
Walsh, 1869), 43.
71
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1880, 74-77.

130
 CHAPTER 4
MODERATING THE URBAN LANDSCAPE

The initial street network planned and constructed in the second half of the
nineteenth century turned out to be increasingly problematic in the early twentieth
century. The various tramways and modern mechanically propelled vehicles quickly
replaced the old systems of transport driven by manual labor or horses, and the street
network laid out in the pre-automobile period was inappropriate to the new traffic
means. In addition, the newly added Eastern and Western Districts rapidly developed
into dense industrial and residential areas, but their connections with each other and
with the city center were undesirable.
Meanwhile, the "art of town planning" was rapidly elevated to a high social
purpose and its practitioners sought after in many parts of the world. In Europe, that
decade also saw the First World War further enlarge the role of the State and add a
sense of social urgency. In the colonized world, it was a decade in which the British
Empire's "illusion of permanence" was challenged by the growth of political
violence. 1 In this context, the ideology of state control re-emerged after being
submerged since the mid-nineteenth century. Both the municipal governments in large
European cities and the colonial governors and ruling elites sought to deal with the
new socio-political problems with the civic design language. Garden city movement
and the City beautiful Movement were the most important planning trends at the time.
Local urban problems and the global socio-political atmosphere comprised the
twofold origin of the new city planning practice in the International Settlement. In the
first two decades of the twentieth century, several comprehensive road schemes were
proposed for the settlement in general, and a couple of surgical schemes to moderate

1
Home, Of Planting and Planning: 141.

131
the city center in particular. Old streets were also under radical reconsideration in
terms of their width and pattern. Other than the utilitarian purposes, people also
started to talk about the aesthetics of streetscape. However, most radical schemes
were abandoned in the end, and town-planning with its high social purpose was never
applied in Shanghai in full scale. Instead, “moderating planning,” which is of a
retrogressive tendency, became the main trend. Nanjing Road is the best example of
such mode of planning in which public and private interests competed, and street form
and building form were shaped simultaneously and interactively.

4.1 Expansion of Municipal Power

This new stage of city planning was initiated with the expansion of municipal
power. Several important changes, including the introduction of new legislations,
establishment of new institutions, and clarification of the responsibility of the public
and private agents all began in the early twentieth century.

Compulsory Power of Land Expropriation

As previously discussed in Chapter Three, road improvement was a slow and

frustrating process in the nineteenth century, as a project was not initiated until the
houses fronting a public thoroughfare were demolished in fire or turned down by their
landowners. Toward the end of the century, more permanent buildings were
constructed using expensive materials and updated building techniques, rendering
road improvement even more difficult.
The conflict between road widening and building activity was eventually settled,
at least in the legislative aspect, in 1899, with the Privy Council in London deciding
the “McMurray Case” in favor of the Shanghai Municipal Council, consequently
conferring powers on the Council for the compulsory acquisition of land. 2

2
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31st December 1899 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly &
Walsh, Limited, 1900), 182-85,205. We are heretofore unable to find the original documents about McMurray
132
Accordingly, Clause VIA was introduced in the “Land Regulations” and enforced in
1900, which stipulated that “the Ratepayers should have fuller power than they at
present possess for acquiring land for new roads, extension and widening of existing
roads, extension of lands already occupied by public works and for purposes of
sanitation, it is hereby agreed that they shall have the following powers in addition to,
and not in substitution for, those possessed by them under Regulation VI.”3
According to the clause, the Council had compulsory power of land
appropriation for road purposes, by paying the assessed value of the acquired land
plus 10% for compulsion. However, land proprietors retained their right to protest
against road schemes, and the period of plea was extended from fourteen days to
three months. The Land Commission was thus created to mediate between the
Council and private landowners.
The Land Commission was composed of three members. The first one was
appointed by the Council. The second one was elected by registered settlement
landowners who paid taxes of Tls. 10 per annum or more (later, the amount was
changed to $14 per annum), and is voted by ballot at the Council Office on the same
day as the election of Council members. If only one name was suggested, then that
person was appointed Commissioner without a poll. The third Commissioner was
elected by resolution during a meeting of ratepayers. Any two ratepayers qualified to
vote were entitled to nominate candidates for the position by sending in the names to
the Council one week prior to any meeting of ratepayers; the Council published the
names of all such candidates with the notices of motions for the meeting. If no name
was sent, any qualified candidate can be proposed, seconded, and elected at the
meeting. The expenses of the Land Commissioners were covered by public funds.
No salaried official of the Council was eligible for appointment as Land
Commissioner.4

Appeal case in the Archives in Shanghai and Hong Kong. The Municipal Reports, while devoting many
paragraphs to the decision’s great advantage to road improvement, did not provide for any description of the
content of the case itself.
3
"Land Regulations for the Foreign Settlement of Shanghai, North of the Yang-king-bang," (1899), Art. VIa.
4
Ibid.; Kotenev, "Short Outline of the History and Procedure of the Municipal Government of the International
133
 In case the Council and proprietors were unable to agree on the compensation for
the compulsory acquisition of land, the Land Commissioners would be asked to
arbitrate, four months but not exceeding one year after the publication of the official
road plan. After hearing the parties and calling for evidence, the Land Commissioners
determined any required compensation for the land and buildings, with respect to
tenancy of the said land and buildings and with consideration for any increase or
decrease in the value of the remainder of the property and surrender of the land. In
case the amount of compensation set by the Land Commission was not satisfactory to
the concerned parties, the cases would be sent for pleading in the Supreme Court of
the proprietors’ home country. However, in practice, majority of the cases were settled
in the Land Commission.
Meanwhile, the Cadastral Office was established to collect and keep all
information pertaining to land transactions in the settlement. The office was also
granted the right to survey the settlement and its surroundings, by defining the
boundaries of every lot on one central plan to keep a central record of land;
incomplete and fragmented records in various Consular Land Offices and the Daotai’s
office also served as bases.5 The survey work also enabled the city planner to easily
obtain information on the lots intended for road purposes, particularly, on their
registered owners, locations, and accurate boundaries.
The advantage brought by the introduction of Clause VIA and the establishment
of the Land Commission and Cadastral Office could not be overestimated. As Charles
Mayne stated in 1900 with great optimism that “a good many of the difficulties in the
way of carrying out road extensions to which I referred in my last annual report have
been removed. Given sufficient funds, there should not be any difficulty in extending
roads on such lines as may seem expedient.”6

Settlement of Shanghai," 35.

5
Shanghai Municipal Council, Municipal Report, 1907: 129.
6
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31st December 1900 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly &
Walsh, Limited, 1901), 227.

134
Introduction of “Betterment”

The acknowledgement of the compulsory power of the Council in land

appropriation had a positive impact on the development of the settlement. As a result,
road mileage increased rapidly between 1900 and 1902; total mileage was 53 miles
701 yards, 68 miles 1,184 yards, and 76 miles 536 yards, at the end of 1900, 1901,
and 1902, respectively, which translated to an increase of 23 miles in two years.7
However, the rise in land value brought increased shortage in public funds, especially
in the rapidly developing districts. As shown in table 4, the amount expended on new
road construction increased dramatically from Tls. 27,000 in 1899, to Tls. 239,000 in
1903, nearly a tenfold increase in four years (Table 4).8

Table 4. Road mileage and expenditure, 1899–1903

Year Road mileage (Mile. Yard) Expenditure (Tls.)
1899 ... 27,000
1900 53. 701 78,500
1901 68. 1,184 94,000
1902 76. 536 207,000
1903 ... 239,000
Sources: Data from Municipal Council of Shanghai, Annual Report of the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1902, 198;
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Annual Report of the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1904, 257

Problems arose in the contested development of the neighboring French

Concession. After acquiring considerable extension in 1900, the French municipality
carried out ambitious road schemes to square the newly added areas. Not only were
the important thoroughfares opened up as wide and straight as possible, but water
mains and lighting were introduced, opening up the district to immediate residential
purposes.9 By contrast, much road work had to be abandoned or deferred in the
International Settlement, not because its implementation was questioned but because
the public funds could no longer cover the expenses in continued road construction.
One concern was that many wealthy Western and Chinese families would be forced to
7
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1902: 198.
8
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Annual Report of the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1904: 257.
9
Ibid., 209-10.

135
live in the French Concession.
In this context, policy revisions were needed to provide sufficient avenue for
road construction and improvement. The municipal engineer asked for special loans
to be raised for urgent road widening projects, and in 1904, the Council recorded the
following opinion in its minutes:

(W)ith the present area of the Settlement and the number of roads scheduled for
widening and extension in each of its districts, it has become impossible to carry
out these improvements out of revenue levied on the present scale of taxation,
and that the Ratepayers must therefore in the near future face the question
whether they will modify and reduce the scheme of such public improvements or
consent to increased taxation, or, as a final alternative, take steps to introduce
legislation whereby the owners of land through which new roads are projected,
may be compelled to bear a part of the cost of their construction, following the
practice usually adopted in other places.10

Acting on the suggestion contained in the final paragraph of the minutes, the legal
advisers drafted a new “Land Regulation” for the levy of contributions from
landowners toward the construction of new roads. However, this regulation was not
approved, following a failure to meet the necessary quorum in the special meeting of
ratepayers convened for this purpose. In the years that followed, the construction and
widening of several important roads depended considerably on “voluntary
contributions,” which added little to the remunerative development of settlement
areas.
The “contribution policy” finally received the approval of ratepayers in a special
meeting held on March 13, 1906, and then added to the “Land Regulations” as
Clause VIC. In May 1907, the Senior Consul communicated to the Council that the
new clause had been confirmed by the Foreign Representatives and Supreme
Chinese Government in Beijing.11 The clause introduced the important idea of
“betterment” in municipal legislation in the following stipulation:

10
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1903: 223-24.
11
Shanghai Municipal Council, Municipal Report, 1907: 193.

136
 (T)he Council may…proceed to level, pave, metal, sewer, culvert and complete
such new road, and not more than 2/3 of the total cost and expenses properly
incurred by them in so doing shall be paid by those persons who shall at the time
of the giving of such notice be and those who shall afterwards become foreign
renters of land immediately fronting, joining, or abutting on such new road—but
so that the aggregate number of such foreign renters on either side of such new
road respectively shall not pay more than 1/3 of such total cost and expenses in
such proportion as the Council may determine. Provided that any such foreign
renter dissatisfied (as regards the amount payable by him) with the
apportionment as settled by the Council shall, during a period of three calendar
months from the date of the first publication of such apportionment, have a right
of appeal therefrom to the Land Commissioner who shall be entitled to take into
consideration the degree of benefit accruing by reason of such new road to and
the depth of frontage of the land in respect of which such appeal is made as
compared with adjoining lands and also the irregular or peculiar shape of such
land and all other circumstances of the case, and shall determine such appeal and
(as regards the appellant and the lands in respect of which the appeal is made)
affirm or reduce the apportionment settled by the Council s they shall consider
just.12

Subsoil of Public Roads

The authority of the Council over the subsoil of municipal roads was crucial to
the widening and straightening of the existing roads, and to the distribution of
infrastructure facilities. The question was first raised in a test case on the Shanxi Road
widening, which was heard before the Land Commissioners on January 6, 1902. An
important point pertained to “the rights of frontage-owners to utilize the subsoil of
municipal roads for the foundations and footings of buildings, with more special
reference to cases where a strip of the frontage is being purchased for the
improvement of the road way."13
The land over which public roads pass was acquired by the Municipal Council in
various ways, including:

12
Land Regulations, VIC.
13
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1902: 309.

137
1. Land acquired by the Council as land and afterwards converted into a road
2. Land voluntarily surrendered by the owner to the Council for use as a
road—either free or at an agreed price
3. Land over which a road has been made by the Council with consent or without
objection on the part of owner
4. Land over which a public right of way previously existed and over which the
Council now maintains a road
5. Land taken for a road without payment under Article VI
6. Land compulsorily purchased under Article VIA and surrendered for a road
7. Land compulsorily purchased under Article VIA and surrendered for general
public use

The legal opinion of Counsel Alex Macmorran, K. C. in London was obtained.

Macmorran provided his opinion on the following situations:

1. With regard to land acquired by the Council as land, and afterwards converted into
a road, the Council are to be regarded as owners of the soil, and that adjacent
owners have no proprietary interest in the soil of the road, such as would entitle
them to place foundations or footings under it. But in every such case the Council
would have to prove that they purchased the soil of the road as distinguished from
a mere easement or right to make and maintain a road without any interest in the
soil itself.
2. In the case of land voluntarily surrendered by the owner to the Council for use as a
road without payment, as that could be done without passing the property in the
soil, the Council did not acquire such property. In such case the owner would
remain owner of the soil of the road subject only to the public right and to the
right of control which the Council possesses as the highway authority: he might
lawfully place foundations or footings under the road. If payment was made it
would have to be determined as a matter of fact whether the owner assigned all his
interest in the soil of the road, or only an easement.
138
3. In the case of land over which a road has been made by the Council with consent
or without objection by the owner, the Council is not owner of the soil and cannot
prevent the owner from placing foundations or footings under it.
4. In the case of land over which a public right of way formerly existed, and over
which the Council now maintain a road, the soil does not belong to the Council.
5. In the case of land taken without payment under Article VI, the Council has no
property in the soil.
6. In the case of land compulsorily purchased under VIA and surrendered for a road,
as it is unnecessary for the Council to acquire the soil of the road they must be
assumed to have purchased only an easement. If they really pay for the property in
the soil, the form of surrender should be altered so as to show this.
7. In the case of land compulsorily purchased under Article VIA and surrendered for
general public uses, the Council are presumably the owner of the soil, and that an
adjacent owner could not lawfully place footings or foundations under the road
without their consent.14

Macmorran further clarified that when land was compulsorily acquired under
Article VIA for public purposes, the particular purpose should appear, as it may affect
the right of the Council to utilize it afterward, and may significantly affect the
compensation to the former owner. Additionally, in cases where land was acquired for
a road, contract provisions should explicitly state that the owner relinquished all his
rights on the soil, if that was the intention of the Council.
Thereafter, if land was purchased from frontage owners for the purpose of a
widening a public road, the compensation should be commensurate to the Council’s
purchase of an easement only. If the full market value was paid, then the surrender
deed should grant the Council full rights as owners of the soil. This case would
materially affect the street form of the settlement, as the soft soil of the city demands
foundations and footings projected beyond the building line. In certain conditions, the

14
Ibid., 309-13.

139
Council’s rights over the subsoil practically established a fixed setback line for new
buildings.

Joint Commission for Road Planning

After the First World War, most Western countries placed much attention on the
future possibilities of highway traffic, recognizing the urgent necessity for
comprehensive road planning and improved methods of construction. In these
countries, road construction and maintenance often constituted a national concern.
However, in Shanghai, the fragmented municipalities and their diverse interests
tended to make the comprehensive city planning more difficult than in other places.
In the 1910s, the municipal engineers recognized that the most efficient way of
laying out the urban area of Shanghai was to consider it as a large urban entity, from
Longhua to Wusong, eastward to the Yangtze River, and westward to the end of
Hongqiao Road. This vast urban area was then under independent control of the
Chinese, French, and Anglo-American municipalities. The municipal engineers thus
suggested creating joint institution for city planning to ensure administrative and
financial unity and cooperation.
In 1910, Chas. H. Godfrey, the newly appointed municipal engineer and surveyor,
urged the Municipal Council to seek cooperation with the Chinese and French
municipalities with regard to road planning and construction. He suggested using the
newly established Roads Board in Britain as reference. 15 This board, a central
authority in England granted with powers to assist local authorities through grants of
money for adopting improved methods of road construction and maintenance,
stipulated that applications should be confined to the most important and urgent
ones.16
However, in the end, Godfrey’s effort to establish a cooperative road planning

15
Shanghai Municipal Council, Municipal Report, 1910: 162.
16
Shanghai Municipal Council, Annual Report of the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1913, 2B-4B.

140
institution was not realized, and no external financial assistance was obtained. The
city continued to be laid out in a piecemeal manner, with municipal taxation and
special loans as major sources of funding for road construction, thus largely reducing
the scale of city planning and improvement.

4.2 Tentative Experiment of Town Planning

The term “planning” was unknown in Shanghai for most of the nineteenth century.
The municipal engineer might talk of laying out an area, but not of planning one.
According to Robert Home’s study, the term “town-planning” was first used in Britain
in 1906, as Birmingham politician and screw manufacturer, J. S. Nettlefold,
supposedly translated it from German. However, an earlier use could be traced to
Australia in a colonial context, when in 1890, British-born architect John Sulman
submitted a paper to the Australian Association for the Advancement of Science in
Melbourne entitled “The Laying Out of Towns.” In his paper, Sulman criticized the
grid system used in most Australian cities, and argued for a more rational, efficient,
and aesthetic approach, which he termed “town-planning.”17 A key event in the rise
of the new idea of town planning was the First International Conference of “Town
Planning,” held in London in October 1910. A total of 1,300 delegates attended the
conference. Plans, drawings, and models were displayed at the Royal Academy, and
the subsequent transactions were published in a handsome volume of 800 pages.
Britain was placed at the forefront of the international town planning movement.18
In the same year, the term “town planning” was first adopted in Shanghai in the
municipal engineer’s annual report to the Council. Since the very beginning, town
planning had seemingly lost the high ambitions entertained by the first generation of
town planners in Europe. In Godfrey’s words: “Town planning, in its true sense,
would be difficult to apply in Shanghai, since existing roads have been laid out by our

17
Home, Of Planting and Planning: 2.
18
Ibid., 141.

141
predecessors and one hears the opinion on all sides that they were laid out with very
little regard to the needs of posterity.”19 He also pointed out that “planning” in
Shanghai can only be adopted in the form of “road planning,” instead of a
comprehensive control of the urban artifact as a whole.
In such a context, the ideal of town planning was largely reflected in efforts to
standardize road widths, improve road patterns, and beautify streetscapes. Although
most schemes were never implemented, they reflected the vision of the city planners
concerning further development of the city.

Road Classification

Road classification, in its true sense, was first introduced to Shanghai by Charles
Mayne in 1894. According to this scheme, streets were generally classified as either
trunk road or branch road, and each classification had two subcategories. Nanjing
Road was ranked as a primary trunk road, which should be 70 feet wide between
Zhejiang and Shanxi Roads, and 50 feet wide between the Bund and Henan Road.
Two other trunk roads were Fuzhou Road and Broadway, scheduled to be widened to
50 feet. All branch roads should be either 30 or 40 feet wide (Table 5 and Figure
4.1).20
In 1902, the standard width for extensions in the Eastern District was modified:
50 feet for trunk roads and 40 feet for branch roads, inclusive of adjoining creeks.21
Nevertheless, in the decades that followed, several main trunk roads, such as Nanjing
Road, Fuzhou Road, and Broadway, remained either 30 feet or 40 feet wide.

19
Shanghai Municipal Council, Municipal Report, 1910: 163.
20
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31st December 1894: 170-75.
21
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1902: 287-88.

142
Table 5. Proposed road extension and widening in the English and Hongkou
Settlements
Road width (ft.) Road Name Section
70 Nanjing Road Between Zhejiang and Shanxi Roads

50 Nanjing Road Between the Bund and Henan Road

Foochow Road From Jiangxi to Henan Road
Broadway Between Huangpu and Seward Roads

40 Beijing Road From the Bund to Jiangxi Road

Museum Road
Jiangxi Road Between Hankou and Songjiang Roads
Henan Road
Hankou Road Between Henan and Jiangxi Roads
Fujian Road
Fuzhou Road From Fujian to Henan Road
Broadway East of Seward Road
Seward Road West of Hongkou Creek
Wusong Road South of Bonne Road

30 Yuan-ming-yuan Road
Sichuan Road
Kiangse Road North of Hankou Road
Shandong Road
Shansi Road
Beijing Road West of Henan Road
Ningbo Road
Tianjin Road
Jiujiang Road
Hankou Road With the exception of that portion between
the Honan and Jiangxi Roads
Fuzhou Road East of Jiangxi Road
Canton Road
Zhapu Road Between Wuchang and Tiantong Roads
Minghang Road
North Fujian Road
Wuchang Road
Source: Data from Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31st December 1894 (Shanghai:
Printed by Kelly & Walsh, Limited, 1895), 170-75.

143
 Figure 4.1.
4 Road Classsification Schheme, 1894
Source: Drawing by Li
L Yingchun bbased on Mun nicipal Council of Shanghai,, Report for th
he Year
Ended 31st
3 Decemberr 1894 (Shangghai: Printed by
b Kelly & Walsh, Limited,, 1895), 136-3 37.

A
Alteration of
o Road Patttern

The rooad classificcation schem

me of 1894
4 continued to treat thee settlement as two
independennt districts: Nanjing annd Fuzhou Roads
R weree stipulated as two trun
nk roads
for the Brritish Settleement, wheereas Broad
dway was trunk
t road for the American
A
Settlement in Hongko
ou. No northh–south tru
unk road co
onnected thee two distriicts, and
the roads onn the south and north bbanks of Suzzhou were connected
c too each other.
As a reemedy to th
he problem, Charles Mayne
M proposed a radiical road scheme to
the Counccil in 1907 velopment of the setttlement, aiimed at
7 for the future dev
transforminng the existiing rectangu
gular street network
n into a radiatinng one. In th
his plan,
he anticipaated that th
he area of tthe settlem
ment would treble, thuus a boundaary road
should be established
e around as m
much of thee area as possible, and connected with the
nucleus of the city by park avenuues. Further,, Pudong sh
hould be reggularized with
w wide
roads alongg the waterr frontage oon both sid
des of the Huangpu
H Riiver, and trramways
traversing these
t roads.. Finally, a ttransporter bridge shou
uld be builtt to connectt the two

144
parts of Shanghai across the Huangpu River.22
This attempt was the first to address the city as a whole. However, it apparently
exceeded the administrative and economic capacity of the Municipal Council, thus it
did not receive a favorable response. In the following years, the need for a trunk road
system became more obvious, partly brought about by anticipation of very extensive
development in Shanghai upon the termination of the First World War. As highway
traffic was expected to become a huge concern, the need for additional trunk roads
and improved methods of construction became urgent.23 Another reason is that both
city planners and the public began to realize that the root of traffic congestion in
Shanghai was not the inadequacy of roads, but the absence of a well-designed arterial
road system.24 A trunk road that leads from east to west without touching any part of
the Central District was most needed.
The Council’s somewhat conservative attitude toward the trunk road system was
partly due to the high land values and the consistent shortage of funding for public
work. A more important reason was sanitation, as the sewage and drainage system
under the roads had to follow the route of pre-existing waterways. This situation
finally changed in 1917 when the pneumonic plague threatened the settlement.
Mosquitoes that bred in the numerous waterways were considered a cause of
disease.25 In May 1918, Professor Gilbert J. Fowler was invited to Shanghai to
provide his advice on the sewage disposal and sewerage problems and their relation to
water supply. His primary recommendations were to adopt a waterborne system and
to treat sewage on a system known as the “Activated Sludge Process.”26 Fowler also
recommended inverting or culverting smaller creeks. He believed that the increasing
pollution of drainage creeks in and around the settlement was an inevitable result of
the increasing population and an extension of the built-up areas, and that tidal
22
Shanghai Municipal Council, Municipal Report, 1907: 130-31.
23
Shanghai Municipal Council, Municipal Report, 1917: 2B.
24
Shanghai Municipal Council, Annual Report of the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1918, 3C.
25
Pott, A Short History of Shanghai: 224.
26
Shanghai Municipal Council, Municipal Report, 1918: 2C.

145
irrigation and drainage creeks were suited only to agricultural areas. Thus, he
suggested that only Hongkou Creek, Suo-jing-jiang Creek, and Yangshupu Creek
required and deserved special investigation to prevent their increased pollution and
maintain them as useful transport canals; all other small canals should be reclaimed.27
As a result, considerable work was done in culverting the creeks in the following
years. Meanwhile, schemes for new arteries were prepared, which aimed at
superimposing a more rational and efficient trunk roads system upon the existing grid
system.
On November 20, 1917, Godfrey submitted a general plan for establishing a trunk
road system upon the existing road network in the settlement. The system consisted of
fourteen trunk roads of either 50 or 60 feet wide, which would provide direct
connection among the Western, Northern and Eastern Districts without passing the
main routes in the Central District. The proposal was as follows:

1. Construct a main road from East to West by joining East Yalu Road to Pingliang
Road south of Yinghsiang Kong Village, widening Yalu and Haining Road to 50
feet (or 60 feet) in width, deviating the latter near Wusong Road and extending
across the Zhabei Chinese Settlement to Haiphong Road Extension where the
Suzhou Creek would be crossed. Singapore Road which forms an extension of this
route is already 50 feet in width and it was suggested that Brenan Road should be
widened to 50 feet as far as Jessfield Park or the Railway Station.
2. The widening of Muirhead Road to 60 feet and its extension in the northwesterly
directions to Chaoufoong Road near the junction of the latter with Yoohow Road,
widening of a section of Chaoufoong Road to 50 feet and its extension beyond the
Settlement Boundary to meet Dixwell Road near North Sichuan Road.
3. The widening of East Seward, Seward and Tiantong Roads to 60 feet to form a
main thoroughfare from Wayside District to North Sichuan and North Henan
Roads.

27
Ibid.

146
4. The widening of Henan and North Henan Road to 50 feet.
5. The widening of North Fujian Road Extension to 40 feet and its deviation to meet
Cunningham Road.
6. The widening of Fuzhou Road to 50 feet throughout, which was one of the most
important Chinese roads in the Settlement and was the center of the chief places of
amusement.
7. The widening of Bubbling Well Road to a width of 60 feet; its extension to Tifen
Road and junction with Great Western Road.
8. The widening of Yuyuan Road to 50 feet.
9. The widening of Great Western Road west of Siccawei Road to 60 feet.
10. The widening of Siccawei Road south of Edinburgh Road and extension of the
latter northward to Jessfield Village.
11. The construction of a new road from Jiaozhou Road-Singapore Road corner
northward to the Suzhou Creek.
12. The widening of Gordon Road to 50 feet and a short extension northward to the
Suzhou Creek.
13. The widening of Carter Road to 50 feet throughout and Marham Road south of
Connaught Road.
14. The widening of North Tibet Road to 60 feet forming a continuation northward of
the wide road formed by the culverting of the Defense Creek.28

Although Godfrey’s scheme was effective from the point of view of practice and
finance, it reflected the same idea as Mayne’s proposal to integrate the fragmented
gridiron sections into an entity (Figure 4.2). Such similarities are especially seen in
the proposals for Road Nos. 1, 2, and 4, which were designed to conceive a network
of thoroughfares among various districts and key points by extending beyond the
actual boundaries of the settlement. Road No. 1, measuring 8 miles in length, formed
a continuous and direct road from “The Point” to Jessfield by intersecting the Chinese
28
Road Extensions and Widenings prepared by the Engineer, dated November 20, 1917. Shanghai Municipal
Archive, U1-14-5769.

147
Settlement at Zhabei. Road No. 2 provided direct access between the Eastern District
and the Hongkou Recreation Ground by extending beyond the Shanghai-Baoshan
border. Road No. 4 created a direct route from the old North Gate of the City to the
Shanghai Railway Station, by extending northward to Zhabei and southward to the
French Concession. In the fourteen proposed roads, drastic treatment was necessary,
and the demolition of a fairly substantial number of residential buildings was
unavoidable.
The scheme was submitted and discussed in the Works Committee Meeting held
on December 3, 1917. The Committee noted that although such scheme of general
development must be considered in planning road extensions and widening each year,
the members were not prepared to adopt the entire proposal at the time. The members
agreed with Godfrey that some form of direct connection is eventually needed
between the Western District and the Hongkou Recreation Ground, as well as with
Jiangwan, and that travel from Jessfield to the Point without using the Nanjing and
Sichuan Roads must be made feasible. However, they were of the opinion that in such
cases, a mere minor connection of existing roads would suffice, whereas more radical
treatment was required in others, and certain desirable features must be eliminated to
reduce cost. In the end, as the scheme was deemed too large for the Works Committee
to consider, the direction was for “each member of the Committee [to] be provided
with a copy of the plan for study at ample leisure after which this matter will again
receive consideration.”29
Based on these resolutions, C. Harpur, then Acting Engineer and Surveyor, again
presented the Trunk Road Scheme the following year, specifically, on October 17,
1918, for review by the Council. However, the original fourteen trunk roads proposed
were reduced to three, merely for providing connection between the Eastern and
Northern Districts (Figure 4.3).

29
Minute of Works Committee Meeting held on December 3, 1917, Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-5769.

148
Figure 4.2. The proposed
d trunk road ssystem, 1917
Source: Drrawing by Li Yingchun
Y baseed on Road Exxtensions and Widenings prrepared by thee
Engineer, dated
d Novemb ber 20, 1917, SShanghai Munnicipal Archiv
ve, U1-14-57669.

Figure 4.3. The proposed

d trunk roads for Hongkou,, 1918
Source: Shhanghai Municcipal Archive, U1-14-5769.

149
 The first one was the widening of Seward and East Seward Roads to 60 feet, from
Muirhead Road to Tiantong Road, as well as the widening of Tiendong Road from its
junction with Seward Road westward to North Honan Road. Compared with the
proposed Road No. 3 in Godfrey’s Scheme, which was a straight line between North
Henan Road and Muirhead Road, the revised route forms an angle of approximately
120 degrees by the junction of Seward Road and Tiantong Road. Harpur believed that
“with good widening, it does not seem to me to be too acute for Tiantong Road to be
considered as an extension of Seward Road, thus forming a main artery from
Muirhead Road to North Honan Road.”30
The second one was the widening of Muirhead Road to 60 feet, to extend past the
Medhurst College to the vicinity of the Public School for Boys and Hongkou
Recreation Ground.
The last one was the widening and straightening of the North Henan Road and
Henan Road from the French Concession to the Railway Station.
Even this reduced scheme required constructing roads beyond the settlement
boundaries. In constructing roads outside the settlement limits, the Council usually
sought those interested in developing the locality to foresee future needs, and by
surrendering their holdings of the requisite land, to cooperate in providing ample
width in this quarter of the roads for future requirements. However, the engineer
tended to suggest overall arrangements with either the Chinese authorities or real
estate companies for simultaneous acquisition of roads.

1. By co-operating with the Chinese Authorities. This would mean that the road
would be constructed in the course of the next few months, but the control would
pass to the Chinese, whereas the cost of acquisition, construction and maintenance
would have to be borne principally by the Council.
2. By purchasing a series of holdings adjacent to each other and from these
acquisitions cutting out the necessary road area. This method would necessarily be
30
Letter from C. Harpur, Deputy Engineer & Surveyor, to McEuen, dated October 17, 1918. Shanghai
Municipal Archive, U1-14-5769.

150
 slow as extensive purchases at one time would tend to raise land values.
3. By arranging with a company, such as the Shanghai land Investment Company,
Ltd., to purchase an estate on the proposed lines of roads, it being understood that
the Council would construct a road whenever the necessary land was acquired and
on the further condition that say one-half of the purchase prices of the road would
be refunded to the Company.

In 1921, the Municipal Council published a new trunk road scheme. This scheme
was a further reduced version of the 1917 scheme that focused on the narrow neck
between the Central and Western Districts (Figure 4.4). Certain recommendations
were also considered drastic, but “they were inevitable, if a failure to allow for future
needs was to be avoided.”31 The scheme proposed widening and straightening of the
four most important trunk roads, namely, Beijing Road, Avenue Road, Xinzha Road,
and Sichuan Road.
Beijing Road. - The rapid development of the Western district, particularly along
the Suzhou Creek, and the development of the hinterland of the Eastern district,
causes an ever growing volume of traffic to flow the length of the Settlement. The
connecting link between these two growing districts is the narrow neck of the Central
district which itself has very restricted capabilities of road development, the situation
of the Race Course leaving only a comparatively narrow channel available for the
construction of road links between the two districts. A further complication arises
from the fact that traffic from the Western to the Northern district must pass through
the Central district. For years the main traffic artery through the Central district has
been the Nanjing Road which is rapidly becoming incapable of bearing the volume of
traffic thrown upon it. Beijing Road is the only other East and West artery capable of
being improved in such a manner as efficiently to cope with the problem, and it was
accordingly scheduled to a width of 70 feet.
Avenue and Xinzha Roads. - From the Western end of Beijing Road radiate two

31
Shanghai Municipal Council, Municipal Report, 1921: 35B.

151
important arteries, Avenue and Xinzha Roads, both serving the Western District; these
were shown widened and improved, the former being carried through to Jessfield
Road at a width of 70 feet, and its lines of entry into Beijing Road straightened, whilst
the latter was scheduled through to West Suzhou Road at a width of 60 feet. These
two roads in the Western District are considered of great importance, as both serve the
rapidly developing industrial area, and one also connects up with a growing
residential area. Their improvement, with that of Beijing Road, should serve to draw
traffic from the Nanjing and Bubbling Well Roads, and provide better access across
the Suzhou Creek for industrial traffic into the Northern District.
Sichuan Road. - Of the North and South arteries in the Central District this road is
rapidly increasing in importance, particularly as it communicates with the main outlet
from the Northern District, and accordingly, to meet not only present requirements but
to anticipate the needs of the future, it was scheduled to a width of 70 feet.32

Figure 4.4. The Proposed trunk roads for the Central and Western Districts, 1921
Source: Shanghai Municipal Council, U1-14-4673.

32
Official Plans for 1921. Ibid., 35B-36B.

152
 Nevertheless, neither the 1918 nor the 1921 scheme were implemented in full
scale. Only several existing roads within the settlement boundaries were widened and
straightened, with the proposed widths greatly reduced. In providing a well-designed
trunk road system eagerly desired by the city planners, the almost insurmountable
obstacles are the fragmentation of municipal power on the one hand, and the lack of
financial sources on the other. The unsatisfactory situation was vividly described in
Harpur’s Annual Report to the Council in 1921, which states the following:

(I)t is the view of the writer that the only means of reasonably meeting the
additional traffic which this population will surely bring into the central area is by
proceeding with the widening of certain well defined, and some new, routes to the
extent of about 6 miles, without waiting for rebuilding to take place by individual
owners. Such a course would, however, cost something like Tls. 5,000,000, and
would take perhaps 10 years to carry out and would affect approximately 250
cadastral lots. Great resentment would inevitably be expressed by many of the
owners whose properties would thus be disturbed.33

Streetscape Beautification

Throughout the nineteenth century, city planning and construction in Shanghai

followed a very rudimentary pattern, seldom revealing concern with aesthetic
matters. However, after the First World War, “City Beautiful” became a heated topic
in the Works Committee Meetings and in the English newspapers. The most pressing
issue was the beautification of the streetscape in main thoroughfares. Interestingly, in
Europe, the pursuit of physical beauty, especially the pursuit of a general unity of
color, material, and architectural style, was interwoven with the ideal of social
harmony, 34 whereas in the United States, the City Beautiful Movement was
primarily aimed at creating moral and civic virtue among urban populations.
Meanwhile, in Shanghai, such movement tended to focus primarily on eliminating
Chinese-style buildings, and establishing a purely Western urban landscape.

33
Ibid., 3B-4B.
34
Raymond Unwin, Town Planning in Practice: An Introduction to the Art of Designing Cities and Suburbs
(New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1994), xii.

153
 Figure 4.5. The three major residential types in Shanghai
Left, the foreign building blocks; middle, the Chinese house blocks; right, the garden house
blocks.
Source: Yongjie Sha 沙永傑, Yan Ji 紀雁, and Zonghao Qian 錢宗灝, Shanghai Wukanglu:
Fengmao Baohu Daolu De Lishi Yanjiu Yu Baohu Guihua Tansuo 上海武康路: 風貌保護道路
的歷史研究與保護規劃探索 (Shanghai Wukang Road: a historical approach to urban
regeneration) (Shanghai: Tongji d xue chubanshe, 2009), Figure 1-31.

Figure 4.6. Bird’s eye view of the Chinese residential block

Source: Xiaowei Luo 罗小未 and Jiang Wu 伍江, eds., Shanghai Longtang 上海弄堂 (Lilong
house in Shanghai) (Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin meishu chubanshe, 1997), 50.

The municipal rules governing the construction of new buildings were broadly
divided into those concerning foreign and Chinese buildings (Figure 4.5). The first
rules for Chinese buildings were promulgated in 1901, followed by the issuance of
rules for foreign buildings in 1902. Both sets of rules were modified in 1916, which
resulted in a marked difference in stipulations between the two. Based on the new

154
building rules, a Chinese building is defined as a building not more than two stories
high, designed for Chinese occupation, and with the weight carried by posts, except
in the case of buildings with firewalls.35 In addition to the distinctive building
materials and construction methods, Chinese buildings also had a special layout
compared with foreign ones. A single building unit often tended to be attached with
other buildings to form an immense, highly dense residential urban block. Pedestrian
access to each unit was provided only by means of several main and side alleys. The
entire block was bounded by two-story shop houses, the majority of which have
verandas projecting above the road. This house form was largely derived from the Li
system, which was the prevailing method of urban housing arrangement in
traditional Chinese cities. In Shanghai, such house form is commonly known as a
Lilong house.
The first Lilong houses were built in the International Settlement in the early
1870s, and were developed rapidly in the succeeding decades. Until the early
twentieth century, such houses offered accommodations for 97% of the urban
population in the settlement, and occupied 80% of the built-up urban area (Figure 4.6).
Lilong houses provided most commercial roads within the settlement a Chinese
atmosphere, characterized by adjacent two-story shop houses, wooden verandas with
carved railings, and ornamented and brightly gilded hanging signboards. Although
many of the Chinese houses were owned and built by Western landowners, their
prevalence led to complaints from numerous Western residents.36 Between the 1910s
and 1920s, several proposals were made either by ordinary foreign residents or by city
planners to abandon the further construction of Lilong houses, and to transform them
into foreign ones gradually.

35
Tang, Urban Building Control: 103-04.
36
Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-5769.

155
 Figure 4.7. The result of the Building Control Act in the French Concession
Left, Baochang Road (the later Avenue Joffre) in the 1910s; right, Avenue Joffre in the 1930s
Source: Left, Shiling Zheng 鄭時齡, Shanghai Jindai Jianzhu Fengge 上海近代建築風格
(The evolution of Shanghai architecture in modern times) (Shanghai: Shanghai jiaoyu
chubanshe, 1999), Figure 2.40; right, ibid., Figure 2.42.

Figure 4.8. Streetscape of the Broadway in the 1910s

Source: Lynn Pan, Liyong Xue, and Zonghao Qian, Shanghai: A Century of Change in
Photographs, 1843-1949 (Hong Kong: Hai Feng Pub. Co., 1993), 44.

The first effort against the construction of Chinese houses was recorded in 1916,
when a lady named Ada French, on behalf of residents living in the Eastern District,
approached the Municipal Council and suggested a town planning action in the area.
With reference to what had been done in the French Concession, she suggested that
one foreign house should be built facing the street within each developable lot,
whereas Chinese buildings should be placed at the rear (Figure 4.7). She specifically
convinced the Municipal Council to initiate the action in Broadway, starting from

156
Yangshupu Road to as far as Tongshan Road, to develop a “model settlement” in
Shanghai (Figure 4.8).37
The proposal of French did not result in a favorable response from the Municipal
Council, as the acting secretary was directed to state with regret that “the Council has
no powers as to stipulate the style of buildings which shall be erected in any specified
locality. Ready support would be given to any such project as that which you propose,
but it would require the sanction of all the landowners concerned.”38 However, this
case was only the beginning of efforts exerted to abandon the construction of Chinese
buildings.
On September 22, 1920, Godfrey presented before the Municipal Council a report
dealing with the relationship between traffic congestion and urban block size. In the
report, Godfrey explained that when intersecting streets are a considerable distance
apart, that is, when the blocks of housing properties are large, the roads serve a larger
number of people than would be the case in smaller blocks. Thus, the greater the road
area compared with the property area, the less the road congestion. Most large cities
had regulations governing the distance between intersecting streets, and despite the
dense population of Shanghai, most of the blocks of properties were much larger than
would be allowed elsewhere. Godfrey compared several large British cities with
Shanghai. For example, the maximum distance allowed between intersecting streets in
Leeds was 150 yards; and the regulation was the same in Liverpool, except that in the
case of blocks of properties in one area, a distance of 400 yards was permitted. In the
Shanghai International Settlement, only the blocks bounded by the Bund and Hankou,
Sichuan, and Fuzhou Roads were of 150 yards square. In other parts of the settlement,
particularly in the northern and eastern districts, the urban blocks were excessively
large primarily due to the existence of immense Chinese residential blocks.39 The

37
Letter from Ada French to Mackinnon, dated August 7, 1916. Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-5769.
38
Letter from Acting Secretary to Ada French, dated August 18, 1916. Shanghai Municipal Archive,
U1-14-5769.
39
Letter from C. H. Godfrey, Commissioner of Public Works, to the Secretary, dated September 22, 1920.
Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-5769.

157
road area, compared with the property area, comprised 15% in the eastern district,
where Chinese residences occupied a large portion, whereas the corresponding figure
for the central district, which was the foreign business area, was 20%.40 Hence,
municipal roads that bounded the Chinese blocks had to accommodate more people
per square yard than would be the case in foreign areas, where the blocks of properties
were smaller.
However, considering the enormous cost of reducing the Chinese blocks with the
construction of additional intersecting roads, and the strong opposition that influential
landowners and Chinese residents would wage, Godfrey was forced to admit that his
report was “tentative only, but the subject might be considered with advantage.”41
In 1925, a planning advisor submitted a report to the Municipal Council titled
“Density of Population: How it affects the traffic problem and how it results from
Building Rules.” Compared with the suggestion of French, which merely intended to
confine Chinese houses at the rear of the blocks, and that of the report of Godfrey,
which considered the possibility of dividing the extensively large Chinese residential
blocks by constructing municipal roads, the planning advisor report contained a more
ambitious plan, which aimed at demolishing the Chinese buildings and gradually
replacing them with Western-style houses.
The Chinese building rules already provided stipulations regarding open spaces
within the Chinese residential block. In every block of buildings, an allowance of
unobstructed space shall be provided for each house, equivalent to 5/12 of the ground
area to be built upon. In the case of houses abutting on a municipal road, a width of 5
feet of the road may be included in the space. If permanent ventilation was provided
by covered courtyards, then half of the court area may be taken as an open space
under certain conditions. Specific widths were provided for alleys, varying from 10
feet to 3 feet, the latter measure being permitted where access is at the back of houses,
and that kitchen wings are of one story only. The rules specified that every habitable

40
Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-3444.
41
Ibid.
158
room should have a mean height of at least 8 feet.42
But the planning advisor did not think that the Chinese building rules controlled
the issue of density in an efficient way. As no definite height limitation was stated in
the rules, numerous Chinese owners constructed buildings as high as 13 feet or 14 feet,
and provided sleeping quarters in the form of a half mezzanine floor without violating
the two-storey rule and thus increased the living accommodation of the building.
Moreover, he explained that the construction of verandas over the road had a bearing
on the density of occupancy of the building, as they were often enclosed to add to the
space for sleeping on the upper floor. The planning advisor determined that a Chinese
building has a minimum area of “dead” space, that is, no entrance hall, no corridors,
the staircase is a little better than a ladder, and no bathroom, among others. Nine of
these houses can be built on one mow of land for Tls. 9,000. He compared the density
of the Telephone Building, which was a six-storey building and was regarded as the
most densely occupied Western-style building at that time, with the Chinese houses
and concluded that the former had considerably fewer occupants than would be the
case had the building been developed into a two-storey Chinese building.43
The advisor concluded his report by suggesting that the Municipal Council should
conduct a population survey on typical blocks of both foreign and Chinese buildings
in the Central, Northern, and Eastern Districts. Furthermore, he was not definitely
opposed to demolishing all Chinese houses and shops and replacing them with foreign
buildings numerous stories higher to reduce population density.

4.3 Road Schemes for Central

The Central District was the earliest developed area in the International
Settlement, and was the heart of the latter in every aspect (Figure 4.9). In the early
days, almost all of the leading foreign trade companies established their headquarters

42
Tang, Urban Building Control: 104.
43
"Density of Population: How it affects the traffic problem and how it results from Building Rules," (1925).
Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-3444.

159
in this area. After the twentieth
t ceentury, mosst companies rebuilt theeir headquarters in
a massive and grand manner, giiving the Central
C a striking and impressivee urban
landscape.

Figgure 4.9. Bird’’s eye view off the Central District

D of the Shanghai Inteernational Settlement
Souurce: Virtual Shanghai,
S httpp://www.virtualshanghai.net.

Figgure 4.10. Thee triumphal Juubilee arch con he conjunctionn of the Bund and
nstructed at th
Naanjing Road, 1893
Souurce: Zonghao o Qian 錢宗灏 灏, Bainian Huiwang:
H Shan nghai Waitan JJianzhu Yu Jin
ngguan
Dee Lishi Bianqiaan 百年回望 : 上海外灘建 建築與景觀的歷史變遷 (A Architecture an
nd
lanndscape on thee Shanghai Buund) (Shanghaai: Shanghai kexue
k jishu chuubanshe, 20055),
Figgture 1.43b.
160
 The Central was also the public arena of the Anglo-American community in
Shanghai. The Race Course, which was located in the west end of the district, was
built during the Taiping Rebellion for military and recreational purposes. However, it
later became a large public open space suitable for all types of ceremonies. The Race
Course was connected to the Bund by two major thoroughfares: Nanjing Road in the
north side and Fuzhou Road in the south side, both providing appropriate routes for
parades and celebration-related activities during public festivals.
In 1893, the Municipal Council of the International Settlement celebrated its
Silver Jubilee with parades and a series of public events that lasted for two days, with
the Central as the main arena for ritual displays. A Jubilee arch, as symbol of triumph,
was constructed at the junction of the Bund with Nanjing Road and Yang-jing-bang
Creek (Figure 4.10). A special multicolored Jubilee fountain was opened in the
Shanghai Public Garden, together with the illumination of several major public
thoroughfares, namely, the Bund, the Garden Bridge, and Nanjing Road. Based on the
preliminary schedule published in North China Herald, majority of the Jubilee events
were held in Central. The event began with a parade of the Shanghai Volunteer Corps,
which was the self-vaunting urban militia that stood for the protection of foreign lives
and property, and men from the men-of-war in the harbor, marching with a band from
the Garden Bridge. The parade proceeded west to Nanjing Road to the Race Course,
and returned to the Bund by noon. At noon, the Reverend William Muirhead delivered
a public speech at the Bund between Nanjing and Beijing Roads, encompassed within
a protective cordon formed by the navy and the volunteers. Afterward, artillery and
men-of-war rendered a fifty-gun salute. Events of the first day ended with afternoon
games for children at the Race Course.44
In 1918, the Municipal Council organized a celebration for the Allied victory in
the First World War, which became one of the greatest events ever held in Shanghai.
A triumphal arch for victory was again erected at the junction of the Bund and
44
Bryna Goodman, "Improvisation on a Semicolonial Theme, or, How to Read a Celebration of Transnational
Urban Community," The Journal of Asian Studies 59, no. 2000 (2000): 897.

161
Nanjing Road. The official program began on November 21, 1918 but the
celebration reached its climax on the third day, featuring a military parade on the
Race Course. Thousands of soldiers, sailors, members of the police force, Sikhs,
Chinese regulars, volunteers, and specials under the command of Captain Marryat, a
senior British naval officer, gathered for the parade. The troops represented the ten
countries with presence in Shanghai at the time. The route of the march was again
down Nanjing Road, along the Bund, up Rue du Consulat, Rue Montauban, Avenue
Edward VII, Tibet Road, and then back to the Race Course. At night, when an
illuminated Shanghai was transformed into fairyland, the last act of the program was
performed, consisting of the torchlight procession. The procession started on Avenue
Edward VII and extended from the Bund to Boulevard de Montigny. Numerous
floats, cars, torchbearers, and people in fancy costumes joined the procession. When
the procession reached the Race Course, participants gathered around a structure
erected to represent the House of Hohenzollern, which was committed to flames with
unrestrained glee and wild rejoicing.45
Central was not only the foremost showcase of Western civilization in Shanghai
but also the foremost urban problem that had burdened the Municipal Council for a
long time. This situation was especially true as far as the traffic problem was
concerned. Traffic congestion in Central was not simply attributed to the district
being a busy area but to the following reasons: first, most streets in the Central
District were planned and constructed between the 1850s and 1860s, and were
relatively narrow and crooked compared with roads in other districts; second, the
Race Course seriously interrupted the connection between the Central and Western
Districts; third, the streets in Central, especially the Bund and Nanjing Road, were
the only routes that traversed the settlement from the Point in the eastern end to
Jessfield Park in the western end; last, the competing uses for shopping and
transportation turned the traffic situation from bad to worse, especially after the
introduction of modern transportation systems such as tramways and motor vehicles.

45
Pott, A Short History of Shanghai: 227-29.

162
The problem was especially evident in Nanjing and Fuzhou Roads, which were the
most crowded shopping streets but were ranked as primary trunk roads.
As previously discussed, until the 1920s all efforts to connect and widen suitable
roads to constitute a trunk road system, and thereby to facilitate direct connection
among the Western, Northern, and Eastern Districts and to relieve the pressure of
traffic on the main route in Central were frustrated. In 1924, two road schemes were
prepared to solve the traffic problem by improving the road system inside Central.
The first scheme involved a new diagonal road cutting through Central, and the
second was a new trunk road/tunnel going through the Race Course.

Diagonal Road across Central

In 1924, the Shanghai Municipal Council received a road scheme from

London-based city planner G. W. Shipway, together with a sketch map prepared by
Harpur. In this scheme, Shipway urged for a radical alteration of the street pattern in
Central by suggesting a new main trunk road of not less than 100 feet wide that would
cut through diagonally from the “New World” at the junction of Tibet and Nanking
Roads46 to the south end of Sichuan Road Bridge over Suzhou Creek. Shipway
explained that such a road would greatly relieve Nanjing Road by providing an
alternative traffic route between Hongkou and the Western District. Shipway further
suggested that trams between the two areas should pass along the proposed road
(Figure 4.11).

46
New World was a Pleasure Palace situated at the junction of Tibet and Bubbling Well Roads to the north side
of the Race Course. It was opened to the public in 1914, and immediately became an exceeding popular place for
diverse entertainment, including dance halls, opera houses, rooftop bars, teahouses as well as restaurants. This
recreational place greatly increased the traffic congestion in the Central, so much so that the proprietors obtained
permission to make a tunnel beneath Bubbling Well Road. But owing to faulty construction, it was not an
unqualified success, more or less water seeping into it. Ibid., 222.

163
Figure 4.11. The proposed trunk road connecting the New World with the Sichuan Road Bridge, G.
W. Shipway, 1924
Source: Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-3-2585.

Shipway explained that this new road could be constructed without cost to the
ratepayers by the following means. Instead of buying merely a 100-feet strip, he
argued that a width of at least 300 feet should be bought at the assessment rates plus
10% for compulsion. The sites on both sides of this road should remain the property
of the Municipal Council, and will be retained on building lease. Rentals would
eventually cover much more than the interest on the road cost. Even at high rentals,
the sites would certainly be all taken, although possibly in their entirety and not for
ten years or so.47
The scheme did not obtain favorable response from the Municipal Council
because it was regarded as entirely impractical in Shanghai, especially as far as the
economic condition was concerned. The Council explained that acquiring “a width of
at least 300 feet” at the assessment rates plus 10% for compulsion would involve
buying a considerable portion of the Central District. The council also considered that
“Mr. Shipway is evidently not very familiar with the state of the money market, or as

47
Letter from G. W. Shipway to the Commissioner of Public Works, Public Works Department, Shanghai
Municipal Council, dated March 22, 1924. Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-3-2585.

164
to what his proposal would mean in increased borrowing rates applicable to the whole
of the Council's loans.”48

Road/Tunnel across the Race Course

Local city planners also elaborated road schemes to improve the road pattern in
Central. Instead of intervening in valuable private properties, they advanced the idea
of paving additional trunk roads at the cost of public amenity by traversing the Race
Course into a public square with one or several wide trunk roads going through it.
In the opinion of Harpur, the Race Course, although a valuable recreational and
public arena located in the center of the city, constituted a traffic impediment. In his
letter to the Municipal Council, he explained that the width of the settlement between
the Race Course and the Gas Works is less than 1/3 of a mile, and that one 60-foot and
two 70-foot arterial roads existed, or were planned, in that area. From north to south,
the Race Course occupied more than half the width of the settlement, but no direct
way could be provided to connect the central and the western districts. Thus, he
recommended the scheduling of a Central to Western artery by widening Fuzhou
Road (West of Henan Road) to 60 feet or 70 feet, which would be carried across the
Race Course to meet Wei-hai-wei Road, and deflected to Avenue Foch. The Race
Course would then be turned into a public park.49
This scheme was discussed in the Works Committee meeting held on January 8,
1924. Although members appreciated that such a scheme would improve the existing
traffic conditions in the Central, they did not unanimously agree that it should be
achieved at the expense of the Race Course.50 As an alternative proposal, a member
suggested that Dagu Road be widened and deflected from Fuzhou Road to meet

48
Letter from Acting Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Council to C. Harpur, dated April 1, 1924. Shanghai
Municipal Archive, U1-3-2585.
49
Letter from C. Harpur, Commissioner of Public Works, to the Secretary & Commissioner General, dated
March 26, 1923. Shanghai Municipal Council, U1-14-4673.
50
Minute of Works Committee Meeting, held on January 8, 1924, Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-4038.

165
Avenue Edward VII, or that in continuation thereof, a road be constructed around the
Race Course. However, this suggestion did not commend itself to the members in
view of the unsatisfactory alignment of the road, which would detract from its value
as a main arterial thoroughfare such as was required. After a lengthy discussion, the
committee only approved the scheduling of Fuzhou Road to 70 feet. The question
whether a direct road shall traverse across the Race Course was referred for decision
to the Concillors of the Municipal Council.
At the Concillors’ meeting, the view was expressed that, in the case of any large
area in the center of a city, strong reasons can be advanced for traversing it with a
road; however, the contention was that the Race Course and its interior space are a
valuable lung of the city, and that a road across it is not necessary, especially as Dagu
Road, with other main routes, already meet traffic requirements.51 Therefore, the
majority of council members decided that the proposed road across the Race Course
be abandoned. The scheme for the widening of Dagu Road, at an approximate cost of
Tls. 301,500, was approved accordingly.
The desire for roads across the Race Course was again advanced at the end of
1924, when the Race Club was planning to re-develop a parcel of the recreation
ground into a clubhouse. This time Harpur submitted a more elaborate scheme,
containing four alternative proposals and sketch plans for the roads and the clubhouse
(Figure 4.12).52
Scheme No. 1 provided for straightening Bubbling Well Road from Myburgh
Road to Tibet Road with an 80-foot-long highway, leaving an area in the north
suitable for public building construction. Fuzhou Road was extended to Wei-hai-wei
Road, 80 feet wide in a direct line across the Race Course. The new road from
Longmen Road to Bubbling Well was more of an approach to the new public
buildings. A site for the new sports club was provided at the junction of Fuzhou and

51
Letter from J. M. McKee, Assistant Secretary of the Council, to the Commissioner of Public Works, dated
February 26, 1924, Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-4038.
52
Proposed Road Extension Scheme Recreation Ground, December 12, 1924. Shanghai Municipal Archive,
U1-14-4038.

166
Longmen Roads.
Scheme No. 2 provided for new traffic routes similar to those in Scheme No. 1,
which will connect crossroads from Nanjing Road to Wei-hai-wei Road and from
Fuzhou Road to Bubbling Well Road. A site for new public buildings was provided in
the north and one for the clubs in the west.
Scheme No. 3 provided for connecting roads similar to those in Scheme No. 1 but
with the addition of a direct route from Bubbling Well Road to Fuzhou Road. This
route provides an excellent site for large public buildings in the west, and the northern
site can be allocated for smaller buildings and the clubs.
Scheme No. 4 was a modification of Scheme No. 3, whereby Fuzhou and
Wei-hai-wei Roads are combined in one Central Road that is 150 feet wide. The site
for clubs in this case was in the east.
Harpur explained that Scheme No. 1 is a useful scheme but not ideal, as the site
for new public buildings is too limited, and the approach is not sufficiently
economical or serviceable. Scheme No. 2 is the most utilitarian but has a poor layout.
Scheme No. 3 is the best scheme in terms of both layout and service, and provides all
that is necessary in the way of connecting routes. Scheme No. 4 has nearly all the
advantages of Scheme No. 3, as the routes are not so direct but are more economical
in terms of space compare with Scheme No. 3. In all schemes, throwing a portion of
the existing Bubbling Well Road into the proposed gardens and diverting all traffic
along the new road are advisable. In the end, the engineer suggested that Scheme No.
3 is the most useful and effective scheme, and a finished drawing of the layout was
prepared.53

53
Ibid.

167
Figure 4.12. The alternating schemes for roads across the Race Course, 1924
Source: Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-4038.

Only until the end of 1926, after two years had elapsed without any progress, that
a guiding principle was passed in the form of Recommendation No. 7 of the Traffic
Commission Report, which held a negative view toward the four schemes. The
168
recommendation emphasized that “Road across Race Course was last in priority to
several recommended road schedules. It should be scheduled for the protection of the
public but not intended for early execution. It need not interfere seriously with the
Recreation Ground and arrangements could be made for no interference of horse
racing.”54
Intense opposition by Race Club stewards and Recreation Fund trustees were
recorded in the joint Watch and Works Committees’ meeting held on November 4,
1926. McBain challenged the power of the Municipal Council to implement a road
project on public recreational space by emphasizing that, based on the original Bill of
Sale of the Public Recreation Ground, such action would constitute a breach of
covenant, either on the part of the Trustees of the Recreation Fund or of the Race
Committee, and “if the Race Course be used for any other purpose except recreation,
it might revert to its original Chinese owners.”55 However, when Harpur proposed
that legal opinion shall be obtained regarding the land tenure of the Race Course, the
Secretary said that as the matter was not urgent at the time, and that money should not
be wasted on a legal case to ascertain the position of the Municipal Council.
During the following two joint meetings of the Watch and Works Committees,
two alternative plans were submitted to replace the road schemes across the Race
Course. One was for the extension of Dagu Road to connect with Wei-hai-wei Road,
following the consideration that Dagu Road should be widened to 70 feet and
extended to connect with Wei-hai-wei Road based on the submitted Scheme No. 3.
The other plan was for connecting Fuzhou and Wei-hai-wei Roads by tunneling.56
Harpur reported that the estimated cost of widening Dagu Road to 70 feet and its
extension to connect with Wei-hai-wei Road was Tls. 572,000, inclusive of the cost of
the land scheduled under existing road plans. The cost of constructing a tunnel under

54
Traffic Commission Report - Recommendation No. 7, dated Ocotober 20, 1926. Shanghai Municipal Archive,
U1-14-4038.
55
Minute of Joint Watch and Works Committee Meeting held on November 4, 1926. Shanghai Municipal
Archive, U1-14-4038.
56
Minute of Joint Watch and Works Committee Meeting held on November 22, 1926. Shanghai Municipal
Archive, U1-14-4038.

169
the Race Course and Recreation Ground would amount to Tls. 450,000 for a two-way
track, and Tls. 800,000 for a four-way track.57 He explained that the Dagu Road
scheme provides wide carriageway and adequate sidewalk accommodations. He
further expressed doubt to the powers of the Municipal Council under the “Land
Regulations” to construct a tunnel under the Race Course and Recreation Ground if
owners objected.
Considerable discussion ensued regarding the advantages of a road across or a
tunnel under the Recreation Ground vis-à-vis the widening and extension of Dagu
Road. Ultimately, consensus was reached and recorded, whereby the latter road
improvement should be included in the Road Plan of the next year.58 Consideration
was also given that if, at a later date, one of the two alternative proposals for a road
over or a tunnel under the Recreation Ground would be regarded as essential, then
future traffic conditions and the relief thereto afforded by the improvement of Dagu
Road would assist the Municipal Council in determining the scheme that would best
serve such conditions, as regards various considerations governing either of these
projects. In the circumstances presented, the recommendation was that no action be
taken at the time regarding the matter.

4.4 Demarcation of Nanjing Road

Nanjing Road, more commonly called Waiguo Damalu (foreign great horse
road), has been the most important street in Shanghai since the mid-nineteenth
century. The road was one of the public thoroughfares stipulated in the “Land
Regulations” of 1845, and became a shopping street in 1851 after a playground was
opened at its junction with the old Barrier Street (Henan Road). In 1854, a Race
Course was opened between Barrier Street and Defence Creek, and the road was
extended westward accordingly to be part of the horse road. In 1862, the Race

57
Minute of Joint Watch and Works Committee Meeting held on December 6, 1926. Shanghai Municipal
Archive, U1-14-4038.
58
Ibid.

170
Course was moved further westward to the west side of Defence Creek, and Nanjing
Road was extended accordingly (Figure 4.13).

Nanjing Road, 1855

Nanjing Road, 1866

Nanjing Road, 1947

Figure 4.13. Nanjing Road through history, 1855, 1866 and 1947
Source: Above, drawing by Zhang Yu based on based on “The Ground Plan of the Foreign Settlement
at Shanghai,” published in Shanghai tushuguan 上海圖書館, ed. Lao Shanghai Ditu 老上海地圖
(The album of Shanghai during the past 150 years) (Shanghai: Shanghai huabao chubanshe, 2001 ),
37; middle, drawing by Zhang Yu based on “Plan of the English Settlement at Shanghai, 1866,”
published in ibid., 38; below, drawing by Zhang Yu based on Zai Cheng 承載 and Jianxi Wu 吳健熙,
Lao Shanghai Baiye Zhinan: Daolu Jigou Changshang Zhuzhai Fenbutu 老上海百業指南: 道路機
構廠商住宅分布圖 (Shanghai street directory) (Shanghai: Shanghai shehui kexueyuan chubanshe,
2004), 11-12; 17-18.

171
 Planning of Nanjing Road was a dynamic process. The section between the
Bund and Henan Road was initially scheduled in the “Land Regulations” of 1845 to
be 24 feet in width, which was a standard and allowed only two wheelbarrows to
pass. The section between Henan Road and Defence Creek was scheduled as 40 feet
wide for horseride purposes. The 1894 Road Classification Scheme stipulated
Nanjing Road as the primary trunk road of the settlement, with the section between
Zhejiang and Shanxi Roads to be 70 feet wide, and that between the Bund and
Henan Road to be 50 feet wide. However, this scheme was never put into practice.
Based on the Official Plans of 1919, Nanjing Road was schedule to be 50 feet wide
between Tibet and Henan Roads, and 40 feet wide between Henan Road and the
Bund.
The traffic problem caused by insufficient carriageways became more evident
toward the 1920s. Subsequently, the Official Road Plans of 1923 scheduled Nanjing
Road to have a width of 60 feet, but the section between Henan Road and the Bund
remained 50 feet in width.59 Two years later, the road, as the second widest trunk
road in the settlement, was radically rescheduled to have a uniform width of 80 feet
throughout its entire length. It was next only to the 110-foot-wide Avenue Edward
VII.
The rapidly changing plan for Nanjing Road was primarily due to the increasing
traffic congestion. For many years, Nanjing–Bubbling Well Roads were among the
two main routes that provided direct connection between the Eastern and Western
Districts. As previously mentioned, the Municipal Council had exerted every effort to
relieve the traffic situation in Nanjing Road by proposing trunk roads that connected
the two districts without touching Central, or by opening up either a diagonal road or
a road across the Race Course to achieve the same purpose. However, all efforts were
put into abeyance in the end. The widening of Beijing Road to 40 feet in 1907 and
Jiujiang Road to 60 feet in 1923 formed alternative routes for the large volume of
traffic then confined to Nanjing Road. However, the expenditure was also heavy, as

59
Shanghai Municipal Council, Annual Report of the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1924, 276.

172
the cost of land alone (at assessed value plus 10%) in the latter case amounted to
approximately Tls. 1,310,000. Until the early 1920s, city planners were convinced
that the best solution to the traffic congestion in Nanjing Road was to widen the street
itself.
However, Nanjing Road was not a mere traffic channel but also an important
commercial street and the most valuable property in the city. Commercial activities
initiated along Nanjing Road in the early 1850s. Several leading British-operated
department stores, such as Watson and Lane Crawford, opened along the eastern
section of the road.60 The reputation of Nanjing Road was further enhanced during
the 1910s and 1920s, when several modern department stores, particularly the “Big
Four,” namely, Sincere, Wing On, Dai Sun, and Sun Sun, were erected. Henceforth,
Nanjing Road became a great attraction not only to residents in the International
Settlement but also to those who lived in the French Concession, the Chinese town,
as well as the adjoining country and provinces.
In addition, the wealthiest and most influential members in the foreign
community owned properties along Nanjing Road. These people were eager to build
permanent monuments upon the most valuable land along Nanjing Road. They
adopted the latest building techniques, used the most expensive building materials,
and followed the most fashionable architectural styles in Europea and North
America.
In short, the increasing traffic flow demanded more carriageways, shopping
activities required more space for footpaths, whereas architectural monuments rose
to a height that nearly infringed building regulations and had a broader façade that
almost invaded the scheduled road line. The contested and sometimes conflicting
uses of Nanjing Road not only created a splendid urban spectacle from the cultural
perspective but also led to unprecedented challenges for the city planners.

60
Chang, Daduhui Cong Zheli Kaishi: 56.

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Lot and Road Improvement

Lot is a key word in understanding the widening process of Nanjing Road,

which was implemented by re-demarcating the boundary lines between individual
lots and the public road. In Shanghai, a lot was of crucial importance to its owner not
only in the economic sense but also in the political one. According to Article XIX of
the “Land Regulations,” a foreigner, “being an owner of land of not less than Tls.
500 in value, whose annual payment of assessment on land or houses or both shall
amount to the sum of Tls. 10 and upwards, or who shall be a householder paying on
an assessed rental of not less than Tls. 500 per annum and upwards,” shall be entitled
to attend the public meeting and vote in the Council member elections. According to
Article X, only a foreigner who “shall pay an annual assessment, exclusive of
licenses, of Tls. 50, or shall be a householder paying on an assessed rental of Tls.
1,200 per annum,” can be nominated as a Council member. Consequently, road
widening by way of compulsory land appropriation, especially when the strip of land
to be surrendered has high value and large size, usually caused great loss to
landowners in both economic and political aspects. This condition was especially
true in the widening of Nanjing Road because the land along this road had the
highest appraised value in the entire city.
Lot shape was another important issue in the road widening negotiation. A
straight road line may spoil the shape of adjacent lots and destroy straight shop
frontages. In extreme cases, the loss of a considerable proportion of land may make
the remainder of the lots no longer suitable for building activities (Figure 4.14). In
1926, when Nanjing Road was re-scheduled to be a trunk road with a uniform width
of 80 feet, almost half of the frontage lots were considerably affected (Figure 4.15).

174
Figure 4.14. Reshape of the individual lots by the widening of Nanjing Road
Left, Cad. Lot 244 reshaped by the 60 feet road line in 1905, Messrs. Probst, Hanbury& Co.,
Nanjing-Henan Roads corner; middle, Cad. Lot 360 reshaped by the 60 feet road line in 1921,
Nanjing-Fujian Roads corner; right, Cad. Lot 238 reshaped by the 80 feet road line in 1933, near the
Nanjing-Shanxi Roads corner.
Source: Left, Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-4603; middle, Shanghai Municipal Archive,
U1-14-4381; right, U1-14-3505.

Figure 4.15. The scheduled 80 feet road line of Nanjing Road, republished in 1935
Source: Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-4515.

To preclude heavy expenditure on the reinstatement of buildings, the Municipal

Council, except in special cases, considered that immediately exercising the
compulsory powers of expropriation was expedient. The scheduled widening was
dealt with piecemeal, as rebuilding operations were undertaken. That is to say, road
widening and lot redevelopment were conducted simultaneously: the newly published
Official Plans affected building design, whereas the demand for specific building
types modified the road line. In the following section, we examines how the
streetscape of Nanjing Road was shaped and moderated by the tension between public
and private interests by paying special attention to three commercial building types
175
along Nanjing Road, namely, Chinese shop house, multistory office building, and
modern skyscraper.

Cutting the Chinese Shop Houses

The layout of Chinese shop houses was restricted by the scale of the single
building unit, which was further determined by the span of timber structure of
approximately 12 feet in width and 24 feet in depth. In the International Settlement,
the layout was further affected by the Rule of Chinese Buildings, which stipulated the
maximum number of units in a single row and the open space for fire protection and
ventilation purposes. In every building block, an allowance of unobstructed space for
each house equivalent to 5/12 of the ground floor built area should be provided. In
case houses abut on a municipal road, 5 feet of the road width may be included in the
space. Where permanent ventilation was provided by covered courtyards, half the area
of the courtyard may serve as open space under certain conditions. The specific
widths of alleys varied from 3 feet to 10 feet. The former width is permitted where the
alley serves as access to the backs of one-story houses and kitchen wings.61
Both the building methods and regulations were moderated by the Official Road
Plans. Some examples were the re-development of the old Mixed Court neighborhood
in 1883 and the widening of the corner of Nanjing–Zhejiang Roads.
On February 6, 1883, the Municipal Council addressed H. Lester, the registered
owner of the aforesaid lot, to acquire the entire strip of street frontage measuring
0.341 mow and 23 feet in depth for widening and straightening the Nanjing Road at
this section.62 The proposal encountered strong protest from the landowners because
they believed that the value of the property was attributed to its prominent projection
into Nanjing Road, which, if removed, would depreciate its value. Lester continued to

61
Density of Population: How it affects the traffic problem and how it results from Building Rules, 1925.
Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-3444.
62
Letter from R. F. Thorburn, Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Council, to H. Lester, dated February 6, 1883.
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1883: 79-81.

176
oppose the plan by stating that: “To surrender the strip of land in question would
make one side of the block wider that the other, so that the Chinese houses would
have to be constructed, leaving a piece of land at the South-east corner, which could
not be utilized, nearly as large as the strip required by the Council. It would also
prevent one row of ten houses being erected in addition to those taken by the Council,
thereby causing a loss of rental amounting in all to about Tls. 570 per annum.”63 He
concluded that: “The surrender of the strip of land so seriously affects the remainder
of the property that at present I do not see how the matter can be arranged.” In his
letter to the Council dated March 31, 1883, Lester further stated that, “whether the
whole of the strip or any portion of it is surrendered to the Council, the result is the
same as regards me not being able to construct one row of houses, there being only
just sufficient room at present to allow me to squeeze them in.”64
Negotiations lasted for nearly eight months. In November 1883, an agreement
was finally reached between the two parties. The Municipal Council would pay Tls.
1,500 to Lester, and would permit the owners to reduce the width of the passages and
yards, and make the row of houses 15 feet deep instead of 23 feet, which they ought
to be. The owner would surrender a strip of land of approximately 0.2 mow from the
outside corner of the stone base to the post at the corner of Nanjing Road and Loong
Ze Yuan, along Nanjing Road to Zhejiang Road, parallel to Hiang Fun Long. This
final agreement enabled the Council to remove the objectionable projection into
Nanjing Road and widen the road to approximately 10 feet 6 inches instead of 23 feet
as originally scheduled (Figure 4.16).65

63
Letter from H. Lester to R. F. Thorburn, Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Council, dated March 26, 1883,
ibid.
64
H. Lester to R. F. Thorburn, Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Council, March 31, 1883, ibid.
65
Correspondence between H. Lester and R. F. Thorburn during November 1883. Ibid.

177
 Figure 4.16. Transformation of the old Mix Court site and Nanjing-Zhejiang road corner
Left, the road line and building arrangement in the 1860s; right, the road line and buildings
arrangement in 1947.
Source: Drawing by Zhang Yu based on Zai Cheng 承載 and Jianxi Wu 吳健熙, Lao Shanghai
Baiye Zhinan: Daolu Jigou Changshang Zhuzhai Fenbutu 老上海百業指南: 道路機構廠商住
宅分布圖 (Shanghai street directory) (Shanghai: Shanghai shehui kexueyuan chubanshe, 2004),
11-12; 17-18.

Negotiation on Tall Buildings

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the erection of tall building blocks to
centralize business quarters was expected to add more traffic along Nanjing Road.66
The erection of multistory office and apartment buildings in permanent nature would
considerably add difficulties to further road widening. The new trend altered the
implementation of planning policy along Nanjing Road.
In the 1910s, the heavy expenditure of road improvement was greatly reduced
after “Betterment” was introduced into the “Land Regulations.” The new clause
stipulated that owners of land immediately fronting, joining, or abutting the road shall
shoulder 2/3 of the total cost and expense of road improvement, with the aggregate
number of such renters on either side of such road not paying more than 1/3 of the
total cost. Nevertheless, the generally accepted 1/3 Betterment was largely abandoned

66
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Annual Report of the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1901, 238.

178
insofar as the widening of Nanjing Road was concerned after the Lot 84 Case was
settled between the Municipal Council and Messrs. David Sassoon & Co. in 1912.

Figure 4.17. Redevelopment of Lot 84 at the junction of Nanjing and Jiangxi Roads
Source: Drawing by Zhang Yu based on Zai Cheng 承載 and Jianxi Wu 吳健熙, Lao Shanghai Baiye
Zhinan: Daolu Jigou Changshang Zhuzhai Fenbutu 老上海百業指南: 道路機構廠商住宅分布圖
(Shanghai street directory) (Shanghai: Shanghai shehui kexueyuan chubanshe, 2004), 17-18.

Figure 4.18. Façade of the new building for Lot 84

Source: Qing Chang 常青, Daduhui Cong Zheli Kaishi: Shanghai Nanjinglu Waitanduan Yanjiu 大
都會從這裡開始: 上海南京路外灘段研究 (Origin of a metropolis: a study on the Bund section of
Nanjing Road in Shanghai) (Shanghai: Tongji daxue chubanshe, 2005), Figure 4-1-47.

179
 Lot 84 was situated at the southeast corner of Nanjing and Jiangxi Roads. In 1909,
Messrs David Sassoon & Co. purchased the western portion of the Nanjing–Jiangxi–
Road block, merged Lots 84 and 85 into one building site, and planned to build two
large office buildings containing residential flats (Figure 4.17).67 At the time, this
project was the largest real estate development in Shanghai, with all the two- or
three-story structures in the two lots demolished and replaced with six-story
multi-functional edifices (Figure 4.18). In October 1910, Moorhead & Halse, the
architect of the new building, received from Godfrey a plan showing a required strip
of land for the widening of Nanjing and Jiangxi Roads. For three years, the Council
and the landlord negotiated the amount of compensation payable with respect to the
abovementioned strip of land. The question of “Betterment” was the most important
issue.
According to the Municipal Council, the landowner would considerably benefit
from the widening of such an important shopping street as Nanjing Road. The road
widening improved the approach for carriages and pedestrians, and rental value would
be enhanced. Meanwhile, new buildings would enjoy ample light and air after the
road was widened. The Betterment was suitably calculated at 1/2 instead of the
regular rate at 1/3.68
The architect, although admitting that the improvement would benefit the shops
by virtue of the less dangerous approach for carriages and pedestrians, strongly
opposed the 1/2 Betterment rate. He listed five points to illustrate that such
compulsory land expropriation would worsen than improve the conditions of the lot:

1. The further widening of the Nanjing Road would inevitably turn it into a trunk
road, making shopping environment considerably worse than was formerly the
case, if not positively dangerous.

67
Letter from Moorhead & Halse to W. E. Leveson, Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Council, dated
September 13, 1911. Shanghai Municipal Council, Annual Report of the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1911, 156.
68
Letter from W. E. Leveson, Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Council to Messrs. Moorhead & Halse, dated
October 7, 1911, ibid.

180
2. The total loss of frontage is about 28 feet.
3. The loss of frontage to the Nanjing Road is increased by the rounded corner
scheduled by the Council to about 20 feet.
4. The lot prior to surrender had a frontage to the Nanking Road of 73 feet, sufficient
for three fair shops. The surrender limits it to two shops which are larger than
necessary and which will not produce the rent which three smaller shops will
return. The loss of frontage is also large in comparison to the area surrendered.
5. That setting back the frontage line compelled the owner to leave the adjoining
shop on the Jiangxi Road in an uninhabitable condition during building
operations.69

The architect further laid before the Council two general considerations regarding
the question of Betterment in the Nanjing Road widening. First, the widening of such
an important public road will far more benefit the general public than the landowner
or his tenants. Thus, the public shall contribute more than the landowner in the road
improvement project. Second, the increased light and air enjoyed by the new building
is entirely due to its outstanding height and the effort of the architect to design the
building rather than the average increase in road width. The architect was convinced
that he was able to secure the same light and air by laying out the building upon the
old building lines.
Taking into account all the foregoing considerations, the architect claimed that the
value of the remainder of the site would depreciate because of the excessive loss of
frontage and adaptability for three average shops, expressed in rental value of Tls. 120
per mensem capitalized at 6%. The improved approach for carriages and pedestrians,
expressed in rental value, is Tls. 100 per mensem capitalized at 6%.70
As the opinions held by the Council and the landowners were different, and
neither party was willing to compromise, the case was referred to the Land

69
Letter from Moorhead & Halse to W. E. Leveson, Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Council, dated October
12, 1911, ibid., 156-57.
70
Ibid., 157.

181
Commissioners at the end of 1911. The commissioners considered the various
questions raised by this case and arrived at the following solutions:

1. In the matter of loss of frontage and adaptability, the Commissioners pointed out
that in the matter of height full advantage has not been taken in re-building to
obtain the maximum rental value of the property.
2. As regards light and air, the Commissioners agreed that in great measure the
improvement in this respect is due to the difference in design between the new
building and the old.
3. In discussing the question of betterment, it is noted by the Commissioners that as
this is a case where the Council's claim for 1/2 betterment upheld, the result upon
the completion of the total widening would be that the property owners on either
side would have contributed the entire cost of what will undoubtedly be one of the
most needed public improvements and that this is opposed to the Council's usual
principle of sharing the cost of road widening between the owners and the public
in the proportion of 2/3 and 1/3 respectively.

The Commissioners concluded that while the owner’s building might have
depreciated rental value because of the loss of frontage, the Nanjing road widening
would benefit almost every member of the community; the improved approach for
carriages and pedestrians to the premises exceeds the value for the owner and
tenants.71 The Commissioners stated that Betterment was reduced to 1/6 instead of
1/2, which was proposed by the Council.
As Messrs. David Sassoon & Co. was unwilling to comply with the decision of
the Commissioners, the case was further appealed to the British Supreme Court for
the enforcement of Award. Arrangements were eventually reached with the
landowners in 1912; the landowners surrendered two strips of the area from Lot 84 to
accommodate the scheduled widening of Nanjing and Jiangxi Roads based on the

71
Land Commission. Case LXXXII. Award. Ibid., 159-60.

182
revised Award of the Land Commissioners. Tls. 61,000 plus 10% for compulsory
surrender and less 1/6 for Betterment or a sum of Tls. 10,345 for 0.185 mow were
awarded to the landowners.72

Table 6. Compensation for Lot 84, at the junction of Nanjing and Jiangxi Roads
Municipal Land owners Land Final agreement
Council Commissioners
Assessed Mow 0.191 at Mow 0.191 at Mow 0.191 at Mow 0.185 at
land value Tls. 57,000 per Tls. 65,000 per Tls. 57,000 per Tls. 61,000
mow mow mow
Compulsory 10% 10% 10% 10%
surrender
Worsement Depreciation of
remainder of site
by excessive loss
of frontage (28ft
sufficient for 2
good show
windows) and
adaptability for 3
average shops,
expressed in
rental value. Tls.
120 per mensem
capitalized at 6%
Betterment 1/2 Less betternent 1/6 1/6
due to improved
approach for
carriages and
pedestrians,
expressed in
rental value, Tls.
100 per mensem
capitalized at 6 %
Total (Tls.) 5,988 17,656 9,979.75 10,345
Source: Data from Shanghai Municipal Council, Annual Report of the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1912,
38B-40B.

72
Shanghai Municipal Council, Municipal Report, 1912: 38B-40B.

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 The issues that emerged in the Lot 84 case were of vital importance to the
widening of Nanjing Road and to the planning of Shanghai in general. Theoretically,
by adopting new building materials and techniques, such as steel and reinforced
concrete, high-rise buildings, compared with timber-structured Chinese shop houses,
were more adaptive to the irregular building site, which was a result of the changing
road lines. However, the new building trend largely led to the loss of interest of
landowners in road improvement, as building technique gave much freedom to
architects to arrange the plan and section to obtain favorable light, air, and view,
which were the advantages that could only be obtained from road widening. As a
result, owners of adjacent lots, as was shown in the Lot 84 Case, managed to absolve
themselves from the responsibility of road improvement to the general public. Since
1912, the reduced 1/6 betterment became a customary rule in widening Nanjing Road.
Each time a road widening project was implemented, the reason for the improvement
was stated as: “The public improvement resulting from the widening of Nanjing Road,
which will to be so valuable to almost every member of the community every hour of
the day, that it exceeds the value to the owner and tenant as an improved approach for
carriages and pedestrian to the premises.”

Re-modeling the Sassoon House

Although the layout of individual buildings might have modified the road plan
both physically and institutionally, as represented in the old Mixed Court and the Lot
84 cases, the road plan might also have affected lot re-development. The most salient
yet unknown example might be the redevelopment of Lot 31 at the junction of
Nanjing Road and the Bund, as demonstrated by the rise of an eleven-story skyscraper
called Sassoon House.
The design work of Sassoon House started in 1923, and the building was opened
to the public on September 5, 1929. The building was among the tallest buildings that
had ever been built on the soft soil of Shanghai at the time. The ground floor
contained a shopping arcade with a central glass rotunda. The second and third floors
184
were occupied by the headquarters of the Sassoon Group as well as other rental office
units. Cathay Hotel occupied the fourth to the seventh floors. The succeeding three
floors were reserved for restaurants, bars, and ballrooms. The eleventh floor was the
private saloon of Victor Sassoon. 73 The building was not only a real estate
redevelopment for satisfactory financial return, but also symbolized the prominent
status of the Sassoon family in the foreign mercantile community in Shanghai. The
badge of the Sassoon Clan marked the top of the building and was likewise placed on
the main entrance and all important spaces within the building.
George Leopold Wilson (1880–1967), then a partner at Palmer & Turner
Architects and Surveyors, was appointed as the chief architect of the project. Wilson
had already completed three buildings on the Bund, namely, the Union Building at the
junction of Canton Road, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Headquarters at the
junction of Fuzhou Road, and the Chinese Customs House at the junction of Hankou
Road. His projects earned him an excellent reputation as an emerging and leading
architect in Shanghai. All the three earlier design works intended to return to the
purest principle of classical Greek and Roman architecture, emphasized planar
qualities rather than sculptural volumes, and adopted the purest classical decoration as
a reaction against the eclectic style of naturalistic ornaments, which had prevailed in
Shanghai in the early twentieth century. However, Sassoon House seemed to be the
watershed of Wilson’s design philosophy. The building combined the latest design in
high-rise skyscrapers from Chicago and New York with art deco style in furniture and
interior design popular in Europe to create an architectural image of geometry, energy,
optimism, and light. This building design was repeated in the following works of
Wilson, such as the Hamilton House (1931–1933), Metropole Hotel (1934), and the
Embankment Building (1931–1935). The marriage between art deco and skyscrapers
is described by Ou-fan Lee as a design that lends a peculiar aesthetic exuberance
“associated with urban modernity of Shanghai, which embodied the spirit of

73
Qing Chang 常青, Modeng Shanghai De Xiangzheng: Shaxun Dasha Jianzhu Shilu Yu Yanjiu 摩登上海的象
徵: 沙遜大廈建築實錄與研究 (A symbol of Modern Shanghai: Sassoon House record and analysis) (Shanghai:
Shanghai jinxiu wenzhang chubanshe, 2011), 24.

185
something new and different, something exciting and unorthodox, something
characterized by a sense of joie de vivre that manifested itself in terms of color, height,
decoration and sometimes all three.”74
The Sassoon House was the earliest model of this new architectural trend.
However, some recently discovered sketches made by Wilson suggested that the
design might have undergone a radical change between 1925 and 1926. The rendering
made in 1925 showed that the projected building, which was enclosed in heavy rubble
masonry walls and framed in classical friezes, tablets, and panels, manifested the
same spirit of steady, flat, and symmetry of the HSBC headquarters. By contrast, the
rendering published in 1926 took on an entirely different appearance as it adopted a
simple cubic form, emphasized strong vertical bands, and was adorned with art deco
style details, such as eagle hood ornaments, hubcaps, and sunbursts (Figure 4.19).
Wilson’s visit to the Exposition des Arts Decoratifs held in Paris in 1925 might
explain the radical shift in design, especially in terms of the art deco vocabulary
adopted in the new design. Such shift, as Qing Chang notices, “represents the artistic
sensibility of both the client and the architect to the contemporary Western
architectural trends, and reveals their ambition to create an entirely new form for the
Modern spirit of Shanghai.”75 However, a closer look at the archive reveals that the
direct force that had promoted the new design was the sudden change of the Nanjing
Road plan between 1925 and 1926.

74
Lee, Shanghai Modern: 11.
75
Chang, Modeng Shanghai De Xiangzheng: 12.

186
Figure 4.19. Nanjing Road widening and the transformation of the Lot 31
Left, the 50 feet road line and the Sassoon Twin Houses in the early twentieth century; middle, the 60
feet road line and the original design of Sassoon House in 1925; right, the 80 feet road line and the
revised design of Sassoon House in 1926.
Source: The cadastral maps are from Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-4600; the historical
photographs are from left, Qing Chang 常青, Modeng Shanghai De Xiangzheng: Shaxun Dasha
Jianzhu Shilu Yu Yanjiu 摩登上海的象徵: 沙遜大廈建築實錄與研究 (A symbol of Modern
Shanghai: Sassoon House record and analysis) (Shanghai: Shanghai jinxiu wenzhang chubanshe,
2011), Figture 4; middle, ibid., Figure 12-3; right, archive of the Shanghai Peace Hotel.

Before the erection of the new Sassoon House, Lot 31 was occupied by six
three-story buildings built at the beginning of the twentieth century, among which
were the two waterfront ones commonly known as the Sassoon Twin Houses. Initial
land appropriation agreement was reached between the Municipal Council and Messrs.
E. D. Sassoon & Company in 1919. Based on the agreement, the Sassoon Company
surrendered a total area measuring 0.6 mow, on the basis of the assessed value plus 10%
and less 1/3 deduction for Betterment to widen Nanjing Road to 40 feet and improve

187
the Jinkee Road corner.76
In February 1923, although the Council was aware that the lot was likely to be
redeveloped in the near future, a revised road line was published, which
recommended an increased scheduled width of Nanjing Road to 60 feet. As a result,
the scheduled appropriated area of Lot 31 considerably increased from 0.6 mow to
1.25 mow.77 Messrs. E. D. Sassoon & Company entered strong protest against the
additional expropriation by stating that “with no corresponding advantages to the
property but rather a ‘worsement’ particularly as the proposed increased width of the
Nanking Road reduces the length of frontage to the Bund.”78 The protest, however,
was overruled, and the new Sassoon House was laid out according to the 60 feet road
line.
On May 4, 1925, certain Traffic Commissioners suggested at the weekly
meeting that Nanjing Road should be further widened to 80 feet. Thus, the
Commissioners unanimously tasked the Works Commission to obtain an additional
area of 0.472 mow, measuring 1.71 mow in total, from Lot 31 prior to its owners
erecting new buildings thereon.79
By then, sketches for the new Sassoon House had been well under way, and
preliminary plans showing the proposed building clear of the 60 feet road line were
already submitted to the Engineering Office. Therefore, both the client and the
architect registered the “strongest possible protest” against the resolution of the
Traffic Commission to set the new building behind the 80 feet road line. In addition to
the considerable financial loss, Wilson also managed to bring the attention of the
Council to the potential damages to the lot because of the frequent, radical changes in
road planning from an architectural point of view.
In his letters to Harpur dated May 25, 1925 and February 3, 1926, Wilson
76
Municipal Gazette published on April 8, 1919. Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-4603.

77
Minute of Works Committee Meetingheld on February 26, 1923. Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-4603.
78
Letter from Manager of E. D. Sassoon & Co.to C. Harpur, Commissioner of Public Works, dated March 9,
1923. Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-4603.
79
Minute of the Traffic Commission Meeting held on May 4, 1925. Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-4600.

188
expressed his strong opposition to the planning system adopted by the Municipa
Council under which the scheduled road line had to be altered several times within a
comparatively short period. He thought that the members of the Council did not seem
to “realize the heavy commitments of the clients to date in connection with this huge
building scheme or that the proposed change in the building line would mean far more
than the setting back of one wall of a building which a layman may well be excused to
imagine to be the case.”80
He further stated that the sudden change in the Nanjing Road plan would ruin the
entire design and project in certain aspects. First, as far as the financial aspect is
concerned, the designs had been completed, and arrangements had been made to
commence work on the site on March 1, 1926. Abandonment at this late date of a
building scheme of this magnitude was a very serious and expensive matter. Second,
in the architectural design aspect, the shape of the site was roughly a truncated
triangle, and the building had been planned more or less symmetrically about a
longitudinal axis. The proposed change would not therefore merely mean the setting
back of one wall but the swinging of the central axis northward as well as a
readjustment on all sides. A reduction in the width of the building at its narrow part
would further complicate the planning, particularly of the front staircase, and of light
and air entrance to the building. If the proposed additional widening was pursued,
completely new plans will have to be prepared, including new construction drawings.
Finally, in connection with the arrangements made to start work on the site on March
1, detailed drawings of various fittings had been sent to the headquarters of the renters
in England, and such an alteration in the scheduled line would mean a new start.81
Wilson’s statement, at least temporarily, led to a certain outcome. The suggested
new road line was abandoned by the Council in the middle of 1925. During the
second half of the year, all arrangements in progress and work on the drawings in
connection with the new Sassoon House were based on the original 60 feet line. The

80
Correspondence between Palmer and Turner and the Commissioner of Public Works. Shanghai Municipal
Archive, U1-14-4600.
81
Ibid.

189
plans were generally approved by the Council by August 5, 1925. Every detail in
connection with the planning and construction of the building had been discussed with
the Building Surveyor and the Chief Officer of the Fire Brigade, and alterations were
made from time to time to meet their requirements. The architects had been in
consultation with the Council’s engineers and had settled various points that arose
from time to time when designing the steel frame, reinforced concrete work, and
foundations. A set of plans showed the fire installation was stamped, approved, and
signed by the Chief Officer of the Fire Brigade on December 10, 1925.
The situation, however, changed dramatically in February 1926, only a few weeks
before the commencement of construction of the new Sassoon House. The new
Official Plans were published, and the Nanjing Road was re-scheduled to have 80 feet
in width. This time, the Traffic Commission, on the grounds of future traffic
requirements, was unanimously opposed to any reduction in the scheduled width, and
they further recommended that the protest against this increased widening be
overruled.82 A disapproval notice with respect to the building plans was forwarded to
the architects. The municipal engineer was instructed to prepare a plan showing an
area of 1.808 mow required from the property for road purposes, initiating land
appropriation procedure. The Traffic Commissioners further agreed that, “any heavy
expense entailed in effecting this improvement was justified by the advantages to be
derived.”83
Under such unfavorable circumstances, both the landowner and the architect,
through unofficial interviews with the municipal officiers, delivered the idea that
“provided they do not lose on the transaction, they will not oppose surrender of the
increased area.”84 Palmer & Turner thereafter prepared the “Report on Rebuilding
Scheme Cad. Lot 31,” stating that it was impossible to modify the existing building

82
Minute of Joint Meeting of Traffic and Works Commission held on March 16, 1926. Shanghai Municipal
Archive, U1-14-4600.
83
Ibid.
84
Statement of the Acting Commissioner in the Works Committee Meeting held on February 9, 1926. Shanghai
Municipal Archive, U1-14-4600.

190
plans to suit the new road lines as this can only lead to “much valuable land and
expensive material eventually be[ing] wasted.”85 They claimed that, first, instead of
producing a building similar to the existing scheme, the entire scheme should be
re-planned. Second, the Council should pay the architects’ fees to re-design the entire
work. Finally, the Council should grant permission for the building to waive the
height restriction in Building Rule 14 (b), under which the building height was
restricted to 1.5 times the width of the respective roads beyond a length of 80 feet
away from the Bund.86

Table 7. Compensation fee declared by Palmer & Turner

Items Compensation fee
(Tls.)
(1) Area scheduled for widening 1.8.0.8 at Tls. 300,000 per mow 542,400.00
(2) Architects fees for preparation of new drawings 25% of 7% of
say Tls. 3,000,000 52,500.00
(3) Engineers fees for Structural, Steelwork 5% on estimated cost of
works (Tls. 425,000) 97.5% complete 20,718.25
(4) Engineers fees for reinforced concrete work 5% on estimated
cost of works
(a) Raft (Tls. 497,120.00) 17.5% complete 4,349.80
(b) Superstructure (Tls. 238,950.00) 80% complete 9,558.00
(5) Engineers fees for heating & sanitary work 2.5% on estimated
cost of works (Tls. 164,800.00) 4,120.00
(6) Interest on total expenditure to date for a period of 4 months at
8% per annum. (Tls. 174,609.05) 4,656.27
(7) Loss of rental on existing property for a period of 4 months less
one month for demolition (3 months) 30,000.00
Total (Tls.) 668,302.32
Source: Data from Minute of Works Committee Meetingheld on March 9, 1926. Shanghai Municipal Archive,
U1-14-4600.

After full internal debate and consultation with the Legal Adviser and the Royal
Institute of British Architects, the Council settled the case by fulfilling all the
conditions proposed by the architects. The Sassoon House was re-designed to

85
Report on Rebuilding Scheme Cad. Lot 31 by Palmer & Turner, submitted to the Council on February 25,
1926. Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-4600.
86
Minute of Works Committee Meetingheld on March 9, 1926. Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-4600.

191
accommodate the 80 feet road line. The building height was approved to exceed the
Building Rule upon the understanding that the letting value of the additional space be
taken into consideration when adjusting the claim for surrender of the area required
for road purposes (Figure 4.20). The public paid the fees of the entire re-design work,
which turned out to be more than Tls. 600,000, approximately ten times that of the
expenditure in building the Bund Promenade. The Municipal Report in 1930 stated
that “the most desirous improvement of Nanjing Road has been achieved in this year.”

Figure 4.20. The Nanjing Road-Bund corner in 1910s and 1930s, respectively
Source: Left, Edward Denison and Guang Yu Ren, Building Shanghai: The Story of China's Gateway
(Chichester: John Wiley, 2006), 85; right, Zonghao Qian 錢宗灝, ed. Zouzai Lishi De Jiyili: Nanjing
Lu 1840s-1950s 走在歷史的記憶裏: 南京路 1840's-1950's (History of Nanjing Road, 1840s-1950s)
(Shanghai: Shanghai kexue jishu chubanshe, 2000), 18.

Summary

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Industrial Revolution and the
Transportation Revolution occurred almost simultaneously in Shanghai, calling for a
radical transformation of the road system that was laid out in the second half of the
nineteenth century. Several bold schemes were proposed by the municipal engineers
and invited consultants, including the road classification scheme in 1894, the ring
street proposal in 1908, the trunk road system in 1917, the 300-feet diagonal road
across the Central in 1924, and the road/tunnel across the Race Course between 1924
and 1925. All these schemes were intended to re-unite the piecemeal urban enclaves
192
into an entity and create an integral and efficient road system for automobile traffic
flow.
Chinese authorities, however, did not seem to be interested in the creation of a
comprehensive road system covering both Chinese and Western territories. Their
uncooperative attitude prohibited the implementation of all these plans. The Council
was forced to seek solutions entirely within the settlement, primarily by widening
and connecting the existing streets. In this process, the major obstacle was not the
Chinese waterways, temples, and cemeteries as was the case in the nineteenth
century but the valuable land and imposing buildings owned by influential
landowners. The lengthy, difficult negotiations on land expropriation for road
purposes showed that the differentiation within the foreign community, especially
between the city planners and the Shanghailanders, was increasingly explicit. The
widening of the Nanjing Road–Bund corner from 60 feet to 80 feet provides a good
example to investigate the opposing opinions of city planners and estate developers.
The case was eventually settled in a highly compromised manner that resulted in the
extremely high compulsory fee paid by the public and the re-modeling of the
architectural design.
In short, the road planning and construction process in the first two decades of
the twentieth century witnessed the increasing differentiation of the urban society.
Such phenomenon resulted in the emergence of a distinctive planning model called
“moderating planning.”

193
 CHAPTER 5
COMPETING ON THE WATERFRONT

The waterfront of the Shanghai International Settlement was probably one of the
most attractive urban landscapes in the city. In its heydays in the 1920s, it was a
broad promenade flanked by a wall of imposing edifices owned by leading banks,
trade companies, hotels, and clubs in the city, prominent among which were the
headquarters of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, the Customs House, the Palace
Hotel, and the Sassoon House. This area was commonly known as “The Bund.”
Although the term “Bund” now invariably refers to the Shanghai Bund, it used to be
commonly used to refer to the waterfront area in the British colonial port cities. The
bunds’ panorama, usually photographed from across the river or sea, was the most
familiar feature of these port cities, serving as the celebrated symbol of the power
and privilege of British mercantile imperialism throughout the world (Figure 5.1).
However, the outsider’s perspective overlooks the fact that the Bund in Shanghai
was not a mere line of imposing buildings like that in Bombay, Singapore, Hong
Kong, and Yokohama. Rather in Shanghai, the Bund was the city’s most important
public space. The beautiful crescent-shaped bund line, the spacious waterfront
promenade, and the elaborately designed lawns and parks alongside made it the most
popular destination for both residents and tourists (Figure 5.2). For the Westerners, it
was the heart of the communal life for their community in Shanghai: the municipal
band played classics in its English-style Public Park; the nearby Lyceum Theatre
hosted Gilbert and Sullivan and home-grown British farces; a British court, prison,
museum, library, and church were gathered alongside. It also accommodated
important public events and festivals for the Western community, such as the
Settlement’s Silver Jubilee in 1893, Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897, and
the jubilation for the Allies’ victory in the First World War in 1918. For the Chinese,
194
the Bund was
w more th
han a symbbol of their nation’s weakness
w annd subjugatiion. The
discriminatte opening of
o the publlic parks an
nd lawns, which
w excludded majoritty of the
Chinese coommunity to
o create “thhe atmospheere of a quiiet English park,” laun
nched an
unprecedennted heated
d debate oon “publicity” within
n the Wesstern and Chinese
communitiees. This deb
bate directlyy contributeed to the em
mergence annd expansio
on of the
public spheere led by th
he Chinese ggentry–merrchants.

Figure 5.1. Thhe Bund’s pannorama, 1936

Source: Hackker, Arthur. Shanghai Centuury. Hong Kon
ng: Wattis Fine Art, 2005.

Figure 5.2. Thhe Bund prom

menade overlo oked by the Sassoon
S Housee, 1932-1933
Source: Lynnn Pan, Liyong Xue, and Zonnghao Qian, Shanghai:
S A Century
C of Chhange in Photo
ographs,
1843-1949 (HHong Kong: Hai
H Feng Pub. Co., 1993), 95 5.

195
 Extensive literature, either depictive or analytical, is devoted to the Bund,
specifically on its general history, physical characteristics, and socio-cultural
meaning. However, the interpretation in this chapter differs from others, as it focuses
on the social negotiation process regarding the design and construction of the
promenade along the Bund. The opening up of the Bund as a wide road was not a
smooth and linear process as is conventionally understood. Under the fragmented
political dominations, its legal jurisdiction was ambiguous, and its picturesque
landscape was repeatedly threatened by the desire to turn it into a landing place, a
trunk road, or a car park. In the lengthy decision-making process, the nature of
“publicity,” “utility,” and “beauty,” which was crucial not only to the planning of the
Bund but to the planning of the entire Settlement as well, was sufficiently debated on,
providing an ideal example to investigate the various planning ideologies held by
various social groups at that time.

5.1 Overlapping Controls of the Waterfront

The Bund, initially the embankment where land met Huangpu River, was the
eastern boundary of the British Settlement. Huangpu River was a tidal river, along
which the land was covered and left dry by periodical tides. Moreover, no artificial
embankment was ever constructed to separate land from water. The existence of high
and low water marks led to the introduction of a new term “beach ground” in the
“Land Regulations.” This term is not English; it is a rough translation of the Chinese
term Chupu invented by W. H. Medhurst.1 Chupu literally means “running out or
extending into the stream.” In Chinese laws, there was no definition of the limit of
“running out.” When Medhurst translated “beach ground,” he equated it to
“foreshore” in the British laws, referring to the tract of land extending beyond the

1
W. H. Medhurst to Secretary, S.M.C. March 17, 1885.-Secretary’s Office, S.M.C. Quoated in Kotenev,
"Riparian rights," 31-33.

196
high water mark up to the low water mark, covered and left dry by the tide or land on
the edge of a waterway; it is sometimes accreted land. “Beach ground” first appeared
in Article V of the “Land Regulations” of 1854:

It is clearly understood and agreed to, that land heretofore surrendered by the
various foreign renters to public use, such as roads and the beach grounds of the
rivers within the aforesaid limits, shall remain henceforth dedicated to the same
uses; and as new lots are acquired, such parts thereof as are beach ground shall be
held under and subject to similar uses, and due provision shall be made for the
extension of the lines of roads at present laid down as means of communication in
the Settlement…Provided always, that no act of appropriation or dedication for
public use of the said beach ground or ground for roads, other than those already
defined, shall contrary to the will or interests of such individual renters, in any
case, be sanctioned or held lawful under these regulations.2

The Bund promenade would be reclaimed and constructed upon the “beach
ground” along Huangpu River. However, unlike the “foreshore” in the modern
British law, which is usually under absolute control of the State, the term “beach
ground,” exclusive to the “Land Regulations” in Shanghai, indicates a more
complicated situation of its jurisdiction. On the one hand, Article V stipulated that
the “beach ground” should be “surrendered for public use.” On the other hand, no
appropriation or dedication for public use of the same “beach ground” should
counter the will or interests of individual land owners. The Chinese authorities also
continued to declare their sovereignty upon the foreshore based on the Shengke
procedure stipulated in the Chinese law. Therefore, we need to investigate the
condition of land ownerships on the waterfront, from which function and form can
be further discussed.

Land Ownership on the Waterfront

In practice, land ownership on the waterfront was determined by two sources of

legal documents: the relevant articles in the “Land Regulations” and the description
2
"The Shanghai Land Regulations, 1854," Art.V.

197
of lot boundaries in the individual title deeds.
However, the “Land Regulations” of 1845 defined only two out of four
boundaries, initially stating that “the ground North of the Yang-king-pang, and South
of Le-kea-Chang, should be rented to English merchants, for erecting their buildings
and residing upon, etc.”3 Huangpu River was probably accepted as the natural
eastern boundary of the settlement. In Article II of the same regulations, a “towing
path” should be reserved according to the Daotai’s requirement and be converted
into a waterfront thoroughfare. This road must always be open along the river bank
of the Huangpu for huge grain junks, which, in those days, annually toiled past the
settlement and turned up in the Suzhou Creek on their way to Beijing. Foreign
settlers were “at liberty to walk along it,” but they should be responsible to “repair
and replace this road, so that persons may pass to and from. Its standard width must,
however, be two Chang five Chih of the Canton Custom House measure (around 30
feet), so as not only to prevent passengers from crowding and pressing one against
each other, but likewise to serve as a preventive against the washing of the high tide
upon the house.”4
Based on the survey map made in 1843, the initial towing path was not a
modern road which was marked by a road line and properly raised or paved. Rather,
it was just a mudflat along the riverside (Figure 5.3). Although Article II mentioned
the new road built upon the “towing-path” would “serve as a preventive against the
washing of the high tide,” the water lines the road would follow were not specified.

3
Proclamation issued by Gong Mujiu. Quoted in the "Land Regulations of 1845."
4
Ibid., Art. II.

198
 Figurre 5.3. The initiial embankmen
nt of the Huangp
pu River, 1843
Sourrce: Virtual Shhanghai, http:///www.virtualshanghai.net.

The “L
Land Regullations” of 1854 did not
n answer the questioon. This condition
was shownn in the “Gro
ound Map oof the Foreiign Settlem
ment of Shannghai North
h of the
Yang-King-Bang Can
nal” from a survey off F. B. Yov
vel dated M
May 1855, which
provides onnly a general line of the water boundary and
a remainns unaware of the
difference between
b hig
gh and low w
water mark
ks (Figure 5.4).
The booundary agreement betw
ween Daotaai Huang an
nd US Consuul Seward in
i 1863
concerning the Americcan Settlem
ment clarifieed for the firrst time thee boundary line on
w water marrk as the setttlement bouundary.5 Th
the waterfront, indicatting the low he map
of the British Settlemeent, which w
was surveyeed, lithograp
phed, and ppublished in
n 1864–
1865 refleccted that botth high andd low water marks had been surveyyed by the foreign
f
authorities (Figure 5.5
5). Nevertheeless, in thee “Land Reg
gulations” oof 1869 and
d 1899,
the settlem
ment boundaary on the w
waterfront was
w again made
m in vaggue terms, without
w
w water liness.6 The detaailed plan oof the Intern
any referennce to the hiigh and low national
Settlement,, which wass drawn, siggned, and sealed
s by th
he concerneed parties, did
d not
address or clarify
c such
h concern.

5
Agreement of
o June 25, 1863
3, quoted in Kootenev, "Ripariaan rights," 52-53
3.
6
"Land Regullations for the Foreign
F Settlem
ment of Shanghaai, North of the Yang-king-bang
Y g," Art.I.
199
Figure 5.4. Water
W line alon
ng the Huangppu River, 1855
5
Source: “Groound Map of thet Foreign S Settlement of Shanghai North of the Yan
ang-King-Bang
g Canal,
May 1855,” Shanghai tush huguan 上海圖 圖書館, ed. LaoL Shanghai Ditu 老上海 海地圖 (The album
a of
Shanghai during the past 150 years) (Shaanghai: Shang
ghai huabao ch
hubanshe, 20001 ), 37.

Figure 5.5. Thhe high and lo

ow water liness, 1864-65
Source: “Mapp of the English Settlemeent at Shangh hai,” Shanghaii tushuguan 上 上海圖書館, ed. Lao
Shanghai Dittu 老上海地圖 圖 (The album m of Shanghaii during the paast 150 years)) (Shanghai: Shanghai
S
huabao chubaanshe, 2001 ), 38.

Aside from the “L

Land Regullations,” the private lo
ot boundariees depicted
d in the
individual title
t deeds influenced
i tthe legal ju
urisdiction of
o the Bund.. In the folllowing,
the boundaaries of the Bund fronntage lots, based
b on th
he title deeeds and/or official
plans, are presented
p fro
om north too south (Figu
ure 5.6).
The laand occupy
ying the junnction of the
t Huangp
pu River aand Suzhou
u Creek,
colloquiallyy known as
a the Brittish Consullate Site, was
w acquirred by the British
Governmennt in 1851 after protraacted and difficult
d neg
gotiations bbetween thee British
Consuls annd the Daotais as welll as with many
m Chin
nese landow
wners. The site the

200
British Government secured covered an area of 20 acres and extended throughout the
low water mark of the Huangpu River.7
The land fronts the Bund from Beijing Road to Nanjing Road, which were
registered in the British Consulate as Lots 1, 2, 3, and 4, were the first four lots that
obtained official title deeds from the Daotai. As recollected by Medhurst, a heated
discussion was undertaken on the future riparian rights of the four lots. The Daotai
verbally agreed with their river boundaries reaching the low water mark. However,
to reserve the towing path, these four land renters would not be allowed to place any
structure whatsoever beyond the high water marks.8
The boundaries of the land between Hankou Road and Nanjing Road, namely,
Lots 5, 6, and 7, coincided with the frontage lines.9
The title deed of the Chinese Custom House was issued on November 1873,
covering an area of 7.651 mows, of which 1.870 mow was included in the Bund
frontage, as indicated in an endorsement.10
The boundaries of Lots 11, 55, 34, and 14, which were located between the
Chinese Custom House and Canton Road, were along the Huangpu River, as
indicated in their corresponding title deeds. However, Lots 15, 152, and 50,
registered under the name of Messrs. H. Fogg & Co., did not have any record of their
original title deeds in the Municipal Cadastral Office.
Thus, approximately two-thirds of the frontage lots were extended to the low
water mark; one-sixths of the lots were constrained to the high water mark; and what
remained of the one-sixths of the lots did not have records.

7
Fang Wang 王方, "Waitanyuan" Yanjiu: Shanghai Yuan Yinglingguan Jiequ Jiqi Jianzhu De Shikong Bianqian
(1843-1937) "外灘源"研究: 上海原英領館街區及其建築的時空變遷 (1843-1937) (Urban form and urban
transformation of the former British Consulate site, 1843-1937) (Nanjing: Dongnan daxue chubanshe, 2011), 12.
8
W. H. Medhurst to Secretary, S.M.C. March 17, 1885.-Secretary’s Office, S.M.C. Quoted in Kotenev,
"Riparian rights," 31-33.
9
"Letter from C. H. Godfrey to Liddell, dated August 6, 1920," (1920), Shanghai Municipal Archive,
U1-14-322.
10
"Customs Examination Shed," (1932), Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-322.
201
Figure 5.6. The private lot boundaries according to the Title Deeds and/or official plans
Source: Drawing by Li Yingchun based on Anatol M. Kotenev, "Riparian rights, 1845-1930:
General," (Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-1-1250, 1930), 31-33.

Chinese Law on the Waterfront

The Chinese Imperial Law was very particular on the maintenance of the
navigational system. The reason is that the supply of food to the capital and the
transportation of tribute rice depended entirely on the preservation of free movement
along the many creeks and canals forming the empire’s main commercial system.
The major concerns in sustaining the system were free access to water, loading and
unloading of cargo on the foreshore, and the use of the towing path for boat towing.
However, this principle was contrary to the planning of the waterfront in a
modern port. The development of global trade and the successive innovations in
shipping technology affected the usage of the waterfront in Shanghai as in other
global ports. Specifically, the new business demanded establishing additional
specialized wharves and larger warehouses along the waterfront.
The Chinese officials had always been reluctant to agree to such dramatic
changes. The succeeding Shanghai Daotais protested to the Municipal Council about
the construction activities along the Bund foreshore because they would block the

202
towing path. To avoid such conflicts, the Municipal Council constructed several
pontoons along the Huangpu River in the 1850s. Nevertheless, as most pontoons
projected into the river beyond the low water mark, the Daotai ordered to keep the
waterway available. The order stated that, after March 19, 1863, “no goods shall be
allowed to be landed at, or shipped from jetties constructed or completed” unless the
following conditions were met:

1. That due notice of the construction shall be given to the Harbor Master and his
approval secured.
2. That the jetty shall not exceed in length 130 feet outwards from high water mark.
3. That the jetty shall be made of substantial wood, each pile to be 10 by 12 inches
in dimensions, and the distance between each pile to be not less than eight feet.
4. That the piles at the sides of the jetties shall be of a larger size than the others
and of strength sufficient to allow of vessels being made fast to them by cables or
otherwise.11

These conditions were made binding on British subjects by virtue of a

notification, which was dated March 19, 1863, issued by W. H. Medhust, H.B.M.’s
Consul, and published in the North China Herald on March 31, 1863, providing they
were enforced by the Daotai on the subjects and citizens of all nations alike. As the
Municipal Council did not enjoy the privilege of a legal persona and, in the persons
of its Chairman and Secretary of British nationality, was subject to the jurisdiction of
the H.B.M.’s Consul, it was also binding on the Council. The Council minutes of
November 10, 1865 contained the passage indicating that the construction of jetties
by either private persons or the Council should obtain the necessary permission from
the Chinese Harbor Master.12
The second aspect of waterfront management by the Chinese Government is the

11
Kotenev, "Riparian rights," 36-38.
12
Municipal Report, 1865, quoted in ibid.

203
distribution of reclaimed land on the waterfront. This action was exercised by the
local officials on behalf of “public interest” through a series of proceedings called
Shengke. To Shengke land means the land was measured and issued a title deed, and
tax was collected for the additional area. The Chinese local officials should conduct
the proceedings based on Da-qing-lv-li, the Section LI of Chapter 91 of which
provides the following:

When lands by the side of rivers or on alluvial islands fall in and are wasted away
by the current, the Proprietor is bound to report the fact to the local Authorities in
order that the damage may be surveyed and an entry made on the Land Register.
Likewise, whenever an accretion of new land is formed by the action of the water,
the fact shall also be reported and a survey made, and an allotment shall be made
out of such new land sufficient to make up for the previous lass, but the
proprietor of the adjacent land shall not be permitted to take lawless possession of
more than he may have previously lost, nor shall any allotment at all be made to
him out of the accretion unless he has previously reported his loss. In respect of
Proprietors of other than adjacent lands who have suffered loss through the action
of the current and have duly lodged their claims, an allotment shall be made to
those out of the surplus of newly-formed lands, and if there be not enough to
satisfy them all, those who have first lodged their claims shall take precedence. If
there is still land over/all claimants have been indemnified, it may be allotted
under official deeds to any poor cultivators at the discretion of the officials.13

According to the law, new land could be extended either by the gradual action of
the water or by an artificial project of being theoretically a public property and
subjected to equitable claims of the adjoining owners. However, the adjoining
proprietor had no absolute right to the new land, unless he could prove that he had
previously incurred a corresponding amount. This rule contemplated an agricultural
state of affairs in which land was valuable only for growing crops and the “principle
of equalitarian” was a primary concern in exercising such public power. Moreover, a
corresponding fee should be paid to cover the expenses of the recording office so a
permanent increase in revenue would accrue without any expense being incurred by
the government. In the case of accretion of foreshore, the government should oversee
the determination of the bund line. Thus, the registration of land that would interfere

13
Da-qing-lv-li 大清律例 Chapter 91, "Inspection of Lands in Times of Distress." Quoted in ibid., 7-10.

204
with navigable waterways would not be permitted.
Under the Chinese law, the rights of the riparian owners were insignificant. The
riparian owners barely enjoyed any rights without the express consent or official
knowledge of local authorities. However, the waterfront is the most valuable land in
a port city like Shanghai, generating considerable profits by providing desired space
for loading, unloading, and storing goods. Thus, the Shengke proceedings had
considerable influence on the question of the Huangpu River’s waterfront and of
other tidal creeks crossing the International Settlement. Shengke instigated conflicts
between the foreign community and the Chinese local government, as the latter
always tried to re-distribute the strip of valuable land based on the “principle of
equalitarian.”
The first and most well-known case is the Shengke of the Public Garden, a piece
of “beach ground” located in front of the British Consulate site at the northern end of
the Bund. It was created by reclaiming a piece of mudflat at the mouth of the
Huangpu River and the Suzhou Creek (Figure 5.7). On June 19, 1868, Daotai Ying,
upon the opening of the garden to the public, forwarded a Conditional Certificate of
land tenure of the garden. To him, the land, although inhabited by the Municipal
Council, should still belong to the Chinese government. Thus, a title deed should be
issued, and a proper quota of land taxation should be contributed. However, the
Chinese government preferred the land to be a “free gift” to the foreign community,
provided that the following were met: (1) the land in question would be elevated
soley as a place of recreation, and only a pavillion was to be constructed on it. No
buildings must be built for the sake of profit; (2) no foreign merchant should rent or
let the land or construct buildings thereon with a view to profit; (3) immediately on
the infringement of such condition, the land would be confiscated, the certificate
would be cancelled, and other legal steps would be taken as necessary.14

14
Ying, Intendant of Su-Sung Tai Circuit, hereby issues of conditional certificate, dated 19 June, 1868.
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31st March, 1870 (Shanghai: Printed at the
"North-China Herald" Office, 1870), 59-60.

205
Figure 5.7. The Public Garden in 1868
The garden was built up exactly to the low water mark.
Source: Above, Virtual Shanghai, http://www. virtualshanghai.net; below, Arthur Hacker, Shanghai
Century (Hong Kong: Wattis Fine Art, 2005), 81.

206
 The Daotai’s declaration, which asserted the Chinese authority over the
waterfront, invoked strong protests in the foreign community. Edward Cunningham,
Chairman of the Municipal Council who acted “on behalf of the renters general,”
addressed a letter to C.A. Winchester, H. B. M.’s Consul, to protest against the
“principle of spoliation” advanced by the Daotai. In this letter, Cunningham
emphasized the possible danger of accepting the Chinese authority over the beach
ground, as the whole river frontage of the foreign settlement “could be lost to the
original owners and to the Public; the land, lapsing to the Authorities under the
administration of an unscrupulous official could be put up to auction, sold, and a line
of Chinese hongs or shops be established between the Bund and the river…Moreover,
the Chinese have it in their power to place as much land as they wish in this
condition of forfeiture. While they can in a great degree prevent wastage on the one
side and accumulation on the other, and ought to prevent if they did their duty, they
can with still greater ease cause accumulations on either side or at any point when
the high price of land excites their cupidity. Probably one single instance of gain
from this source would bring into operation a system for a continued income from
sale of river frontages.” 15 According to Cunningham, the only way to prevent
economic loss caused by Shengke was to justify the unqualified rights of the foreign
land renters to extend the low water mark of the river frontage.

Riparian Rights of the Bund Lot-holders

Aside from the Chinese authorities, the Bund lot-holders also vehemently
defended their exclusive rights by insisting on their claim to the entire foreshore
based on their title deeds and on the fact that the provisions of the “Land Regulations”
were binding upon them only so far as the towing-path along the bank of the river
was concerned. According to the aforementioned title deeds, the beach grounds
beyond the thoroughfare up to the low water mark were included in their property.
15
Letter from Edward Cunningham, Chairman Municipal Council to C. A. Winchester, H. B. M.'s Consul, dated
June 23, 1868. Quoted in ibid., 60.

207
 In 1865, H. Fogg & Co., the Bund lot-holder of the land between the
Yangjingbang Creek and the Canton Road, submitted a “New Bund Plan” to the
Municipal Council. The company proposed to donate money and manage the whole
project, including a 100 foot-wide promenade, new quayage and wharfage for steam
boats, and a suitable landing place for the public. As compensation, the company
demanded the exclusive rights over the land excess of the promenade and that all
other Bund lot-holders be granted the same rights to include the excess land into
their premises.16
In the Special Meeting of the Land Renters held at the British Consulate on
March 12, 1866, several Bund lot-holders proposed to amend the “Land Regulations”
to pave the way for Fogg’s plan. 17 Twombly proposed that Article V of the
Regulations, which stipulates that all the “beach ground” should be “surrendered to
public use,” should be rewritten with the words “appropriated to public use,” as the
same amendment had been made in the French Concession, thus allowing the Bund
lot-holders on the French side to build wharves on the foreshore. On the American
side in Hongkou, all the beach grounds were also privately owned. He was afraid
that “the result would eventually be that the great proportion of goods would be
landed or stored on the French and American Settlements, and the Municipal
Councils on those sides would then, and with much fairness, demand a large share,
probably two-third, of the Town Dues. The whole Settlement would share in the
advantage, for of course if a considerably sum were derived from Town Dues,
taxation of property in the back streets would become lighter, while on the English
side nothing of the kind would take place.” Twombly further explained that since the
first bunding below Messrs. Russell and Co. had been piled in by a private party for
their own advantage eighteen years ago and that the public had no right to take any
actions that were detrimental to the Bund lots, the Bund question must be resolved

16
Letter from the H. Fogg & Co. to the Municipal Council, dated Decembe 15, 1865, quoted from Municipal
Council of Shanghai, Municipal Council Report for the Year Ending 31st March, 1866 (Shanghai: Printed by F.
& C. Walsh, 1866).
17
"Extract from Minutes of a Special Meeting of Land Renters held at the British Consulate on Monday, March
12, 1866," (1866), 3. Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-322.

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among the private land owners along the waterfront.
Thus, despite the provisions in the “Land Regulations,” the Bund lot-holders
continued to vehemently defend their exclusive rights to the Bund foreshore. It looked
as though the utilitarian considerations would prevail and that the entire length of the
foreshore would be run by private wharves and warehouses, and not with spacious
promenades and gardens.
The Bund lot-holders’ proposal was eventually suspended because of the joint
intervention of the Chinese and British authorities. Aside from the Daotai’s Certificate,
the British Consul also did not approve of the Bund lot-holders’ proposal.
In the aforementioned Special Meeting, C. A. Winchester, then H.B.M.'s Consul
in Shanghai, stated that: “As the Bund had been constructed by the Municipal Council
with the public funds, I saw no reason why private individuals should claim a right to
erect wharves at its edge…It might or might not be advantageous to erect a line of
wharves from the English Consulate to Messrs. Fogg and Co.'s, but this work or any
part of it should be done by the whole community and not by individuals. This flowed
immediately from the principle that no one has any right to pursue low water mark.”18
Winchester also did not agree with Twombly on the amendment of the “Land
Regulations,” as he was of the opinion that such “surrender” was necessary and
justified, considering that “the Bund was made and added to by the public, aided by
the Daotai, who presented Tls. 20,000 for the purpose as a gift to the Community.
Private rights were therefore altogether merged in the claims of the public.” 19
Furthermore, in reply to Cunningham’s letter that outlined the Bund lot-holders’
tenure up to the low water marks, Winchester wrote that he did not think that the right
of water frontage translated to a title to the occupancy of the extent of the ground
larger than the dimensions actually set forth in the corresponding leases. When the
occasion arose, Winchester suggested that this issue must be settled by the
corresponding national courts established for the administration of justice among the

18
Ibid., 4.
19
Ibid., 7.

209
land renters, although according to British law, such foreshore should absolutely be
reserved for public use.
However, the Chinese and British authorities held completely different opinions
on the distribution of the “beach ground.” On the part of the Chinese, the Daotai
insisted to distribute the land to individual land renters according to the “principles of
egalitarian.” On the part of the British, the H.M.B.’s Consul maintained that the beach
ground, as a whole, should always be reserved as public land, and any work upon it
should be determined by the whole community.

Municipal Control over the Waterfront

The conflicting attitudes of the Chinese and British authorities inevitably

resulted in a dilemma for the Municipal Council. On one hand, the Council held that
it would be a grievous mistake to inaugurate a policy of aggression toward the Bund
lot-holders. The Council completely understood the indefiniteness of the
corresponding provisions of the treaties and the “Land Regulations” which were
open to all kinds of speculation. It also considered the possibility that, if a legal
tribunal decided that the “beach ground” did not belong to the Bund lot-holders, the
tribunal would not consequently decide that they did not belong to the settlement but
that the real proprietor was the lord of the soil, that is, the Chinese emperor. Settling
the question might have involved very unpleasant contingencies for the foreign
community. On the other hand, the Council had a tendency to be a staunch defender
of public interest and oppose any encroachment on “the grounds between high and
low water mark by foreigners and Chinese alike.”20
The “Land Regulations” of 1845 and 1854 did not grant any exclusive rights to
the Council to build any public work on the beach. Individuals renting the lots facing
the water frontage reserved the right to erect jetties, warehouses, and bridges at their
own expense, and yet the Municipal Council’s control over private facilities was still
20
Municipal Council Notification, December 4, 1865; Municipal report 1865, 1875: 40; Ratepayers’ Meeting,
1879, Municipal Report, 1879: 68. Quoted in Kotenev, "Riparian rights," 61.

210
tacitly recognized by the individual Bund lot-holders. In the Council minutes for
1861, we found a record of Messrs. Smith Kennedy & Co.’s proposal to build a
private jetty in front of their lots, but the Council refused to approve their
application.21 At the same time, the Council fully enjoyed its right to build public
jetties, and a number of such were constructed between 1855 and 1862. The records
from the municipal archives do not show that the Council requested for the
permission to do so from the Chinese officials or that such works were subject to any
control on their part.
The promulgation of the new “Land Regulations” in 1869 mandated the
Municipal Council’s control over the beach grounds and their incorporation into the
settlement limits as well as the Council’s right to construct public works. Article IX
of the Regulations under the sub-heading “Roads and Jetties” states:

It being expedient and necessary for the better order and good government of the
Settlement that some provision shall be made for the appointment of an
executive Committee or Council, and for construction of public works, and
keeping the same in repair; and for cleansing, lighting, watering, and draining
the Settlement generally.22

Furthermore, another resolution was proposed, seconded, and carried out at a

General Annual Meeting of Rate-payers in 1872 with the following provisions:

That the Council be authorized and is hereby directed to enter into negotiations
with the Bund Lot Holders for the surrender of the Foreshore and Beach grounds
for the purpose of their conversion at the Municipal cost into a public garden.
Such surrender on the Foreshore is to be made with reservation of and without
prejudice to all existing rights to the frontage and is subject to an engagement on
the part of the Council to maintain a solid stone bunding and a public road outside
the proposed garden along the River Bank.23

In pursuance to the authorization and direction given to the Municipal Council,

21
Council Minute Book, No. I, October 16, 1861, Secretary’s Office. Quoted in ibid., 35.
22
"Land Regulations and Bye-Laws for the Foreign Settlements of Shanghai North of the Yang-King-Pang,"
Art.IX.
23
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1872: 9.

211
they entered into negotiations with the said Bund lot-holders for the purposes
specified in the resolution. Thus, a memorandum of agreement assigned by and
between the Municipal Council and the Bund lot holders was made. Clause VI of the
memorandum stipulated the prohibition of any encroachment hereafter upon the
“beach ground,” indicating that “the said parties that neither the said Council and their
successors nor the said Bund Lot holders their executors, administrators and assigns
shall at any time or times hereafter respectively during the continuance of this
agreement erect and set up upon any portion of the Foreshore and Beach grounds so
surrendered by them as aforesaid or upon any of the land hereafter reclaimed
adjoining the said Foreshore and Beach grounds, any kind of message, buildings,
walls, or erection whatsoever.”24 Among the thirteen Bund lot holders, six approved
the scheme. As for the other seven, they deemed obtaining a sanction from home
necessary. Moreover, the clause stated that “only one lot, that in front of the Chinese
Customhouse, was in doubt; of course they must get the permission of the Daotai,
which has been applied for through the Senior Consul, and no doubt would be
obtained.”25
Hereafter, the Council maintained a more aggressive attitude toward the control
of the foreshore. In 1879, it was recorded that a resolution was passed to stipulate that
“after [next] May 31, no permission shall be given by the Council to any person or
persons to erect sheds or store building or other materials upon the foreshore of the
Bund, and all unexpired permits shall then be withdrawn or cancelled, and all sheds
and materials shall be removed from the said foreshore, provided that nothing in this
resolution shall be construed to prejudice the existing rights, if any, of Bund lot
owners.”26 By May 1, all the old building sheds that had long defaced the Bund were
removed. Instructions were given to have the whole foreshore filled in to the level of
the old Bund and turfed over, which was accomplished at a cost of Tls. 5,000.

24
Ibid., 9-11.
25
Ibid.
26
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1879, 68.

212
Route of the Bund Line

In effect, the construction of a solid embankment along the Bund was the
primary concern of all the three parties, but the route of the embankment was
difficult to settle largely because of the overlapping controls of the waterfront. To the
Chinese authorities, the route must help to improve the water communication of the
entire region; to the Bund lot-holders, the line must create a large piece of valuable
land for trading and building purposes; and to the Municipal Council, it must provide
relatively cheap land for public roads and spaces. By the second half of the
nineteenth century, all three parties managed to influence the determination of the
Bund Line.
The sloping muddy shoreline along the Huangpu River, which had steadily
expanded as silt accrued, was the cause for frequent complaints of the Bund
inhabitants. Visible during low tide, this considerable mud flat exuded offensive
smells, spoiling the sanitation and beauty of the waterfront. Beginning in the 1850s,
the incipient Municipal Council decided to make an embankment lining the low water
marks to guard against further deposits of mudflats. In 1856, the Council decided that
a public promenade with a width of 80 feet should be built in addition to the original
30 feet towing path. Several Bund lot holders objected, and the plan was revised to
allow for a roadway that was only 60 feet in width.27 In 1860, proposals were again
made to turn the Bund into a proper promenade, with an inner portion reserved for
vehicles, and to convert the ugly, muddy foreshore into a promenade with gardens.
However, this plan did not succeed, except for the addition of an assortment of young
trees along the Bund in 1866.28
Between 1864 and 1865, C. B. Clark, then Municipal Surveyor and Engineer,
submitted a New Bund Scheme to the Municipal Council. In the scheme, a new

27
Hibbard, The Bund Shanghai: 37.
28
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1866: 12.

213
embankment line with a crescent-shaped curvature would be created along the
Huangpu River, between the Yang-jing-bang and Suzhou Creeks. This Bund Line
would extend along the low water mark to the south of Jiujiang Road. To the north, it
would run beyond the low mark, thus creating an L-shaped mouth at the junction of
the Huangpu River and the Suzhou Creek against the initial C-shape line (Figure
5.8).

Figure 5.8. Transformation of the Bund lines in the nineteenth century

Above left, the original bund line; above right, Bund line in 1855; below left, Clark’s New Bund Line
and the Bund Line in 1866; below right, Bund Line in 1899.
Source: Drawing by Li Yingchun.

Figure 5.9. The public promenade on the Bund in the 1860s (left), 1880s (middle) and 1890 (right)
Source: Left, Peter Hibbard, The Bund Shanghai: China Faces West (Hong Kong: Odyssey;
Distribution in the U.S.A. by W. W. Norton, 2007), middle, Zonghao Qian 錢宗灝, Bainian
Huiwang: Shanghai Waitan Jianzhu Yu Jingguan De Lishi Bianqian 百年回望: 上海外灘建築與景
觀的歷史變遷 (Architecture and landscape on the Shanghai Bund) (Shanghai: Shanghai kexue jishu
chubanshe, 2005), Figure 2-08; right, ibid., Figure 1-21.

214
 From 1868 to 1870, it has been recorded that the Council exerted great efforts to
determine the position of Chinese authorities and various Bund lot holders with regard
to the construction of the new Bund according to Clark’s plan. This scheme created
during this period was subsequently modified by an engineer named Oliver, and a
scheme for quayage and wharfage was added by the British Consul Winchester. In
1869, an informal meeting of the Bund lot holders was held, but the meeting ended
with a concession that “it would be impossible to fix upon a plan that would be
29
accepted alike by the Bund lot holders and the general body of land renters.”
In 1870, an accurate survey of the Bund foreshore to the low water line was
conducted by the municipal engineers. A formal permission from every Bund lot
holder was obtained, which enabled for the portions of the pontoons to overlap with
their premises. The hollows in the foreshore between the Nanjing and Beijing Roads
were filled up, and the bank was given a gradual slope to the low water mark.30 Thus,
the Council proposed to widen the Bund road from the mouth of the Yangjingbang
Creek to Canton Road. Upon being notified of the proposal, Messrs. H. Fogg &
Company, the Bund lot holder of that section, did not approve of the scheme “unless
the Council are prepared to admit the full rights of the owners to the newly made
ground,” since they were apparently dissatisfied with the Council’s assurance “that the
work about to be undertaken does not in any way compromise [our] beach rights
whatever they may be.”31
After lengthy negotiations, the Council accepted the conditions put forward by
the Messrs. H. Fogg & Company as being the best terms for them as follows:

1. That the owners should lend the ground asked for by the Council to the public,
with the understanding that in doing so, the concession they made to the public
should in no way interfere with the rights of ownership of the land.

29
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1869: 7.
30
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1870: 16.
31
Cases: Adamson, Bell & Co., H. Fogg & Company, 1871, cited from Kotenev, "Riparian rights," 64-66.

215
2. That the ownership of the land should remain as then.
3. That the land lent could be resumed by the owner at will.

The Council ceded a portion of the land along the Bund, which had previously
been surrendered to public use, to Messrs. Fogg & Company, by way of
compensation. Subsequently, this proceeding resulted in a strong protest on the part
of a number of influential ratepayers. By the decision of the Consular Body, this
concession was withdrawn.
In this case, the position taken by the Municipal Council was somewhat
confusing, considering the definite provisions in the “Land Regulations” that
stipulated all beach grounds to “be surrendered for public use.” Nevertheless, this
strategic solution was the only probable way to settle the problem brewing within the
foreign community while the Chinese authorities closely watched the actions of the
foreign community, trying to regain their control of the foreshores.
However, the Chinese authorities still played a part in defining the Bund Line. As
stated in the municipal report, even after the general Bund scheme was passed at the
Ratepayers’ Meeting, it remained suspended up to 1873 because of the non-assent of
the Daotai and some bund lot proprietors.32
On May 22, 1873, an informal meeting was held at H. B. M.'s Consulate at the
request of the British Consul Medhurst to meet with the Chinese officials appointed
by the Viceroy of Liangjiang, with the aim of discussing certain matters connected to
water communication. Subsequently, the proposed embankment line spanning the
Yang-jing-bang along the Bund and on both sides of the Suzhou and the Defense
Creeks was inspected, but no definite course of action was agreed upon.33
Hereafter, the British Consul forwarded the Municipal Council’s plan, along with
a map, to the Daotai for his permission. On September 12, 1873, the Council received
a response from the Daotai on behalf of the Chinese Harbor Master and Tide Surveyor,

32
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1873: 11.
33
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31st March, 1874 (Shanghai: Printed at the
"North-China Herald" Office, 1874), 34.

216
requiring certain modifications of the proposed Bund Line, particularly the L-shaped
mouth at the junction of the Huangpu River and the Suzhou Creek.34 Chinese experts
believed that the Bund Line on the west side projected too far into the Huangpu River,
narrowing down the mouth of the Suzhou Creek substantially, which would then
“cause the water to eddy, and greatly interfere with the free ingress and egress of
boats.” Therefore, the corner on the west side should be rounded, and the east side
should be drawn in a little to maintain the C-shaped mouth of the creek. Thus, the
Daotai marked where the bund line should be in red lines and denoted the proposed
Municipal lines by strips of paper as well as where the line should be. He further
requested the British Consul to ask the Council to act accordingly, to draw the
corrected plan, and to send this along with the old plan for him to examine.35
However, the foreign experts seemed to hold different ideas on the plan for the
river mouth. To the municipal engineers, “if the points of each side of the Creek were
rounded off, as desired by the Daotai, an eddy would be caused, and in course of time
the mud-flat now existing would extend in front.” Thus, a scour at the mouth of the
Soochow Creek could only be obtained by the line the Council had drawn
previously. 36 The Council insisted that their plan allowed for 200 feet at the
embouchure, which was broad enough for boat traffic.
Eventually, the Council had to agree to the proposition of the Chinese authorities,
provided that in the event of the anticipated mud deposit formation at a future date,
the Council should be allowed to extend the Bund to the line originally proposed by
the Works Committee.37
Similar negotiations were recorded in the municipal reports from 1893 to 1894, as
new arrangements were made by Charles Mayne to make a Bund Line along the entire
length of the Huangpu River across the British and American Settlements, and on the
34
Letter from Daotai to H.B.M.'s Consul, dated September 12, 1873, quoted in ibid., 45-46.
35
Ibid.
36
Letter from Edward B. Souper, Assistant Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Council, to the Senior Consul,
Consular Body, Shanghai, dated October 3, 1873. Quoted in Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report,
1874: 45.
37
Ibid.

217
southern side of the Suzhou Creek.38 On May 25, 1894, Chairman of the Municipal
Council James L. Scot forwarded the Daotai plans, showing the proposed Bund Line
of the Huangpu River in front of the British Settlement, the Bund lines on both sides
of the Suzhou and Hongkou Creeks, and the western bank of the Yangshupu Creek,
requesting him to approve the Bund Lines by officially affixing his seal to the plans.39
In response, the Daotai agreed to appoint a day when he, the Shanghai District
Magistrate, along with another mandarin, the Senior Consul, and the Municipal
Council, should inspect the places specified and thereafter arrive at a decision on the
demand.40 On January 23, 1896, a meeting was held at the Mixed Court for the
purpose of approving the Bund Lines. That day, the Daotai was recorded to have
inspected both banks of the Suzhou Creek and agreed to ratify the Bund Lines subject
to certain small modifications. On the following day, the Daotai inspected the
Hongkou and Yangshupu Creeks and again asked for a slight modifications of the line,
which was agreed upon. Subsequently, the Daotai visited the Public Garden. After
several discussions, he examined the Bund Line of the Huangpu River and agreed to
the same without any modifications.41
The political difficulties in determining the route of the Bund Line caused the
crescent-shaped Bund Line proposed by Clark in the 1860s to remain on paper until
the end of the nineteenth century. During this period, the Municipal Council still
managed to convert the waterfront area into an agreeable public promenade (Figure
5.9). Meanwhile, the southern Bunds that were administered by the French and
Chinese were also paved, following a large fire in 1894 that destroyed many desolate
waterfront buildings. Nevertheless, as a commentator noted in 1896, “passing the
Shanghai Club, the Bund crosses a bridge to the French Settlement, where it ceases to

38
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1893: 206.
39
Letter from James L. Scot, Chairman of the Municipal Council, to Joaquim M. T. Valdez, Consul-General for
Portugal and Senior Consul, dated May 25, 1894, cited from Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year
Ended 31st December 1894: 144-46.
40
Letter from Daotai Wang to the Senior Consul, dated June 13, 1894, quoted in ibid.
41
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year Ended 31st December 1895 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly
& Walsh, Limited, 1895), 155.

218
be interesting to the traveler, and loses itself in regions where English feet seldom
tread.”42

5.2 Remodeling the Waterfront

The Huangpu Conservancy Board

The fragmented control over the waterfront was finally resolved when the Board
of Conservancy for the Huangpu River of Shanghai was established in 1905.
Thereafter, all conservancy works were placed into the hands of the Board, which
was composed of representatives from various parties such as the Chinese
government, the Consular Body, the General Chamber of Commerce, various
shipping concerns, and representatives of the municipality of the International
Settlement and the French Concession. For the first time in history, the Board formed
a new procedure on the improvement of waterways and waterfronts, and provided
reliable financial resources for large-scale projects.
The main responsibilities of the Board were to manage the improvement of the
course along the Huangpu and the amelioration of the bar, both at this and the other
side of Wusong. Maintaining such works was also the Board’s duty. The Daotai and
the Commissioner of Customs in Shanghai took charge of the project, as their
sanction should be required for the construction of wharves and jetties and for the
establishment of all pontoons or floating houses along the river. They should also
have the right to acquire all lands situated outside the foreign settlements necessary
for the execution of the work that would improve and conserve the Huangpu and for
the disposal of the said land.43
The jurisdiction of the Board should extend from a line drawn along the lower
limit of the Jiangnan Arsenal toward the mouth of the Arsenal Creek to the red buoy

42
Hibbard, The Bund Shanghai: 40.
43
Arts. I, V and VIII of the Huangpu Conservancy Convention, quoted in Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report
for the Year Ended 31st December 1905 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly & Walsh, Limited, 1906), 309-11.

219
in the Yangtze and on all water courses, including the Suzhou Creek, passing through
the International Settlement and the French Concession in Shanghai and the foreign
quarters in Wusong, as well as all other creeks emptying into the river for a distance
of 2 miles above their mouths. The duties of the Board were to cooperate with the
riparian owners with regard to dredging operations to secure improved wharfage
facilities and to provide for the procedure of Shengke the accretions of the Huangpu,
settling the exasperating question of the rights of riparian owners under Chinese law,
as stated in this memorandum.44
Both Chinese and foreign riparian landowners should have the right of Shengke
the accretions of land in front of their properties by the deposits effected from
improving the river channel. The price at which such lands could be acquired should
be fixed by a commission constituted similarly to that described in the preceding
paragraph, or, depending on the case, by the Customs authorities.
The Chinese government assumed the entire expense of the river improvement,
without levying any tax or contribution either upon the riparian property or upon
trade or navigation. The improvement was estimated to cost an annual amount of Tls.
460,000, and the appropriation was continued until the work was completed.45
Quarterly accounts of receipts and expenditures were sent to the Consular Body in
Shanghai.
J. de Rijke, a distinguished Dutch engineer who had vast experience in similar
projects in Holland and Japan and who conducted a considerable study of the
Huangpu River, was appointed the Engineer-in-chief. Jui Cheng, the Shanghai
Daotai, and H. E. Hobson, the Shanghai Commissioner of Customs, organized the
entire work, and the secretarial staff was supplied by the Customs Service.
After the 1911 Revolution, the Board was reorganize, resulting in the creation of
a new Huangpu Conservancy Board in 1912. Swedish engineer H. M. von
Heidenstam was appointed to take the place of J. de Rijke. The new Board continued

44
Kotenev, "Riparian rights," 59-60.
45
Pott, A Short History of Shanghai: 156-60.

220
to comprise representatives from various parties, including the Chinese
Commissioner of Trade and Foreign Affairs for Jiangsu, the Shanghai Commissioner
of Customs (H. F. Merril), the Shanghai Harbor-Master (Captain W. A. Carlson), and
three Chinese government officials. To secure sufficient revenue for the works, it
was agreed that instead of drawing a grant from the Chinese government, the Board
should obtain its funds from wharfage dues at the rate of one and a half per mile on
the value of the imported or exported goods. Later on, it was further agreed that the
Board should use the proceeds of the sale of Shengke land, that is, the land formed
by “tidal accretion or reclamation, which by the law of China is crown land.”46

Conservancy Normal Line

The establishment of the Huangpu Conservancy Board considerably influenced

the planning of the Bund. The Conservancy Normal Line, which primarily aimed to
improve navigation in Huangpu, was first laid down by J. de Rijke in 1906 and was
modified by H. M. von Heidenstam in 1919. This line ran beyond the initial low
water marks and created a large area of reclaimed land on certain sections of the
foreshore (Figure 5.10). Since 1912, these lands were sold at market price to
generate revenue for the Board. However, in 1916, an agreement was reached
between the Municipal Council and the Board that if the reclaimed land is used for
public roads and other public spaces the charges would be waived.47
To Mayne, the Conservancy Normal Line provided a good opportunity to lay out
a broad thoroughfare along the entire course of the Huangpu River.48 As he stated in
his report in 1907:

46
Ibid.
47
Correspondence between W. E. Leveson, Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Council, and H. Von
Heidenstam, Engineer-in-Chief of Huangpu Conservancy Board, dated July and August in 1916, quoted in
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Report for the Year 1916 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly & Walsh, LD., 1917),
26B-27B.
48
Shanghai Municipal Council, Municipal Report, 1907: 130.

221
 The widening of the Bund will have to be taken in hand at an early date. An
inspection of the trend of the River banks from the tower of the new German
Club clearly indicates that there is every probability of the Conservancy
Authorities laying down a Bund Line which will allows of the a considerable
addition to the foreshore, especially beyond the Custom House. The scheme
might prove costly, but it would be a magnificent improvement.49

In the 1907 report, Mayne proposed to construct a road along the entire
waterfront of the Huangpu River, a length of about 6.2 miles, upon the land between
the current building line and the proposed Conservancy Normal Line. He further
suggested extending the proposed road from the Yangshupu Creek to the settlement
boundary beyond the Point and to extend it all the way to Wusong. The large tract of
land that would to be reclaimed beyond the Point should, according to Mayne’s
standpoint, be acquired by the Council for recreational purposes.50
In1908, the Council was “in contemplation a road to follow the foreshore line
from the Yangshupu Creek to the Point, and is suggested that this road be of a width
of 75 feet to be measured from the Conservancy Normal Line.”51 The sketch plan
illustrating the proposal was sent to W. Carlson, the Harbor Master, and De Rijke, the
Engineer-in-chief of the Huangpu Conservancy Board, for their feedback and opinion
(Figure 5.11). However, in response, Carlson strongly rejected the idea of a broad
road along Huangpu. He stated:

Shanghai depends almost entirely upon shipping trade for its prosperity, the
requirements of shipping in this respect should receive the Council's very careful
and first consideration. Thus, best interests of the Port would not be served by the
construction of the suggested road, seeing that the river frontage between the
Yangtszepoo Creek and the Point may be required for wharfage in the near future,
and that there is already a road running parallel to, and at a distance of only about
1100 feet from the river.52

49
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1906: 243.
50
Shanghai Municipal Council, Municipal Report, 1907: 130.
51
Letter from Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Council to W. Carlsen, Harbourmaster, dated December 12,
1908. “Proposed Road between the Yangtszepoo Creek and the Point,” Shanghai Municipal Archive,
U1-14-5769.
52
Letter from Wm, Carlson, Harbour Master to W. E. Leveson, Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Council,
dated December 14, 1908. Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-5769.

222
Figure 5.10. The Huangpu Embankment in 1906 (above) and 1941(below), respectively
Source: "Shanghai Chengshi Guihuazhi” bianzhuan weiyuan hui 上海城市規劃志編撰委員會,
Shanghai Chengshi Guihuazhi 上海城市規劃志 (History of city planning in Shanghai) (Shanghai:
Shanghai shehui kexueyuan chubanshe, 1999), 61.

Figure 5.11. The proposed waterfront road between the Yangshupu Creek and the Point following
the Huangpu Conservancy Normal Line
Source: Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-5769.
223
 In his letter to Calson dated early 1909, Mayne expressed an entirely different
view. In his opinion, “the section of the river between the Standard Oil Company's
Wharf and the Tung Kou Creek, on the right bank and concave side of the river, a
stretch of 1.6 miles" should be enough for the construction of the wharves with
go-down accommodation for vessels to lay alongside. Based on this viewpoint, it
would appear that the principal wharfage accommodation would be on the Pudong
side of the river, whereas from a “town-planning point of view, there is no doubt that
wide public roads should be laid down along the bank of every river and sea front,
and this is being done in all new cities.”53 To Mayne, this road would not only be a
great convenience for the public but would also “add greatly to the appearance of a
city when buildings are set back from the river banks and the scheme of bunding or
quay walling is carried out by one authority.” 54 Finally, he cited the Praya
Reclamation in Hong Kong as an excellent example and reasserted that “although the
shipping trade is very important, the broad public point of view should not be lost
sight of…and those interested in the welfare of the port should have an opportunity of
looking into it.”55 Furthermore, it was also recorded that De Rijke was reluctant to
offer any official opinion concerning this matter, although according to Mayne, he did
not have any objections to the road from a purely conservancy point of view.
No record was found on the resolution of the New Road. However, in 1921, the
Municipal Council made the decision to purchase a piece of beach ground measuring
148.6 mows along the Huangpu River immediately beyond the eastern boundary of
the settlement for a riverside park. Furthermore, it was agreed upon that the park
would be enlarged up to 1,000 mows after the land between the Temporary Limit of
Building and the Conservancy Normal Line was reclaimed by the Conservancy
Board. 56 However, the Board informed the Council that this area, after being

53
Letter from Engineer & Survey to the Secretary, dated January 5, 1909. Shanghai Municipal Archive,
U1-14-5769.
54
Ibid.
55
Ibid.
56
Sun, Shanghai Jindai Chengshi Gonggong Guanli Zhidu Yu Kongjian Jianshe: 199-200.

224
reclaimed for the Normal Line, would be reserved for harbor facilities and supporting
infrastructure, such as wharves, warehouses, and rail lines, and would not be
appropriate for recreational purposes. In the end, the Council was forced to give up
the ambitious park scheme and came up with a more practical plan of purchasing a 50
mows land in the hinterland for the park.

5.3 Refinement of the Bund Promenade

The frustrated efforts to create a broad thoroughfare along the entire Huangpu
River and to open a large riverside park at the Point for public recreation left the Bund
as the only public promenade along the riverside. However, in subsequent decades,
even this small portion of open space was threatened frequently because of the
competing uses of trade, traffic, and amenities.

The Waterfront Clearance Scheme, 1909

In 1908, Charles Mayne began to engage in the design of the new Bund
promenade. By the end of 1908, a special survey was prepared, and preliminary plans
for the whole area’s layout were in place. Moreover, a new Bund Line for the public
garden was laid down by the harbor authorities.57 On May 25, 1909, after consulting
with the Chinese Harbor Master, the Engineer-in-Chief of the Huangpu Conservancy
Board, and several other experts, Mayne submitted two alternative plans for the Bund
reclamation, marked as Schemes A and B, for the modification and approval of the
Council. Mayne’s initial idea was to reclaim the land between the current
embankment line and the new Conservancy Normal Line, create additional space for
the public promenade and the public garden, and re-organize the jagged pontoons
projecting into the river (Figure 5.12).
Scheme A suggested that a Bund wall measuring 50 feet inside and parallel to the

57
Shanghai Municipal Council, Municipal Report, 1908: 126.

225
Conservancy Normal Line and all the present pontoons would be reserved and
brought forward to this line. A new carriageway 35 feet in width would be constructed
on the eastern side of the present eastern footway, which would obviate the need to
remove the existing trees. This footway, should it be found necessary later on, could
be dispensed with altogether, and the space thrown into the carriageway. There would
be a 20 feet-wide footway along the new bunding, which was proposed to be made of
reinforced concrete. The total area to be added to the Bund foreshore would be about
30 mows and about 8 mows for the public garden. The new grass plots would be large,
and all the jetty approaches would be considerably widened.58
Scheme B suggested a perpendicular quay extended to the Conservancy Normal
Line and random steps for landing accommodation (Figure 5.13). This scheme had
utilitarian and aesthetic advantages, as stated as follows:

I. The area to be reclaimed would be increased by about 25 mows compared with

Scheme A.
II. The whole frontage of the Bund would be available at any time for landing of
cargo and for passengers. The frontage is approximately 3,000 feet (excluding
Public Garden) whereas the aggregate length of pontoons is only 1,120 feet.
III. With this increased frontage it would be possible for the river craft to lie end
to end along the quay instead of side to side beyond the line of pontoons, if
these latter were retained, it would appear from this alone, advisable from
conservancy and navigating points of view advantageous to bund out to the
Normal Line.
IV. The existing pontoons and bridges measure 60 feet and 70 feet from the front
of the pontoon to the pier abutment of the connecting bridge. If therefore a
wall in constructed 50 feet inside the Normal Line and the pontoons are
retained, the bridges would need to be inset to the extent of 10 feet and 20 feet,
thus destroying the continuity of the wall and making it appear a "makeshift"

58
Bund Reclamation Scheme A, proposed by Charles Mayne on May 25, 1909. Shanghai Municipal Archive,
U1-14-5002.

226
 or teemporary ex
xpedient.
V. Thee present po
ontoons are nnotoriously
y insufficien
nt, and owinng to the inccrease in
receent years off the size off steam laun
nches and steel lighterss many of the older
ponntoons are to
oo light in cconstruction
n as well as too small inn area.

Figure 5.12. The

T pontoons and connectinng bridges alo ong the Bund in
i 1910
Source: Virtuual Shanghai, http://www.
h viirtualshanghai.net.

T Perpendiccular Quay prooposal with stteps for cargo and pedestriaan, 1909
Figure 5.13. The
Source: Bundd Reclamation
n Scheme, 19008-1909, Shannghai Municip pal Archive, U
U1-14-5002.

Despitee the appro

oximately ssame cost and duratio
on of both proposals, Mayne
preferred thhe Perpendiicular Quayy Proposal (Scheme B). Under thhis scheme, a larger
area could be reclaim
med, with a comparatively slight increase inn the total cost, to
provide am
mple space for
f both veehicles and pedestrians. Moreoverr, the perpendicular
quay with steps in su
uitable possitions coulld improve the appearrance of th
he Bund
227
promenade, whose beauty was reduced by the “makeshift” pontoons and connecting
bridges. After Mayne’s retirement in late 1909, C. Godfrey, the successive Engineer
and Surveyor, reaffirmed this favor in the revised “Bund Reclamation Schemes A & B”
on November 17, 1909 by reiterating the five points included in Mayne’s report.59
However, other experts disagreed with Mayne’s proposal. According to Carlson:
“When the Council extends the Bund front, it will still provide landing
accommodation, and, on account of the rise and fall of tides, it would not be
convenient for mail-tenders and cargo-boats to embark or land passengers, or to work
cargo, alongside a perpendicular quay, I therefore suppose that the Council will
project bridges and pontoons as at present. The bunding in such case should be
constructed fifty feet inside the Conservancy Normal Line, the outer edge of the
pontoons to extend to that line.” 60 J. de Rijke, despite frankly admitting the
perpendicular quay wall looked impressive similar to those throughout Europe on
planes where the tide would rise, still contended that: “Without pontoons and the
vertical wall extended to the Normal Line, as you suggest, would however not be so
very inconvenient, at least not for passengers, if with steps in front here and there,
about like sketch.”61 Moreover, he emphasized that the cost of such quay walls would
be great.
The councilors of the Municipal Council seemed to prefer the pontoon system
than the Perpendicular Quay Proposal. For these businessmen, the fundamental
function of the Bund should be for the unloading and loading of cargo, not for
aesthetics.62 Prior to the commencement of the actual work or its submission to the
ratepayers, a special committee of shipping agents and others interested should
convene to express their opinion.
59
"Bund Reclamation Scheme A & B", from Godfrey, Acting Engineer & Surveyor, to W. E. Leveson, Secretary
of the Shanghai Municipal Council, dated November 17, 1909. Ibid.
60
Letter from Wm Carlson, Habour Master's Office, to J. de Rijke, Engineer-in-Chief of the Huangpu
Conservancy Board, dated September 25, 1908. Ibid.
61
Letter from Johs. De Rijke, Engineer-in-Chief of the Huangpu Conservancy Board, to C. Mayne, Engineer &
Surveyor of the Shanghai Municipal Council, dated September 25, 1908. Ibid.
62
Letter from Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Council, to Godfrey, Acting Engineer & Surveyor, dated July
15, 1909. Ibid.

228
 A report with alternative schemes was submitted by engineers, along with a
recommendation for Scheme B, and it was forwarded for discussion by the Special
Committee of Shippers and Agents. According to the members, “the removal of the
pontoons would be unwise and that the proposed additional carriage way along the
Bund would be almost useless.”63 Thus, the entire project was abandoned.

Bund Reclamation and Widening, 1919–1921

In effect, the Municipal Council was not wrong by emphasizing “the first and
most important use to which the Bund should be devoted is for the landing and
loading of cargo.” Although the International Settlement acquired 6.2 miles of water
frontage in the extension of 1899, the Bund foreshore continued to be the most
important landing location until the twentieth century. Next to it, the best public
landing facilities on the Huangpu River were at the Wayside Public Wharf in the
Eastern District. It was mostly used for landing building materials than imported
merchandise because of its unsatisfactory connection with the city center and inferior
depth of water during low tide.64
Thus, the Bund foreshore became the most important landing port for imported
merchandise and passengers from large ocean-going steamers in Wusong or in the
lower stretches of the river. Ten years later, as the Special Committee of Shippers and
Agents asserted that, “the proposed additional carriageway along the Bund would be
almost useless.” Statistics presented otherwise that: “Steam and motor launches
increase year by year, and it seems scarcely practicable to curtail the use of the
foreshore unless some other satisfactory arrangement can be substituted.” 65 The
increasing number and size of the pontoons expedited the movements of lighters and
junks, but as cargoes must be manhandled from the pontoons to the river bank for

63
“Bund Reclamation Scheme, 1908-1909,” Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-5002.
64
Shanghai Municipal Council, Report for the Year 1919 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly & Walsh, Limited, 1920),
3B-4B.
65
Ibid.

229
loading, congestion was transferred from the water to the shore. The growing number
of overseas visitors going to the Bund added to the congestion and demanded for
public facilities, such as seating accommodation, lavatories, enquiry office, and motor
car ranks.
The urgent need for additional public open space in the Bund foreshore impelled
Godfrey to propose a New Bund Foreshore Scheme in 1919. The project consisted of
an average 40 feet extension of the existing Bund Line to the river by shifting the
stone bunding and loading it with mud, thus marking a 120 feet width between
Beijing Road and Avenue Edward VII (formerly Yang-jing-bang Creek). The Bund
promenade would then be suitable for vehicles crowding the east of Sichuan Road and
would accommodate approximately 247 motorcars (Figure 5.14).66
This scheme considers the following:

1. The utilization of the present eastern footway, reduced from 20 feet to 18 feet in
width, as ranking spaces for motor and other vehicles.
2. The construction of a through carriageway 30 feet in width east of the ranking
space.
3. The construction of a 15 feet footway for pedestrians east of the above
carriageway.
4. The extension eastward of the stone slope toward the Conservancy Normal Line
so as to retain the lawns in practically the same form as they now exist.

The scheme also proposed that the toe of the new stone slope should
approximately follow the low water line; a walk along the Bund foreshore during the
low water of spring tides would indicate the possibility of a considerably inexpensive
reclamation. The “Parkes” and “Hart” Memorials would require moving a few feet,
but their positions relative to the river front would remain unchanged.

66
C. Harpur, "Bund Foreshore and Motor Car Ranks," (1919), 2. Shanghai Municipal Archive, U-14-562.
230
Figure 5.14. Bund
B Reclamaation and Widdening, 1919-1 1920, proposeed by Chas. H
H. Godfrey
Source: Shannghai Municipal Council, Reeport for the Year
Y 1919 (Sh
hanghai: Printe
ted by Kelly & Walsh,
Limited, 19200).

Figure 5.15. The Bund prromenade afteer renovation,, looking nortthward from A
Avenue Adw ward VII,
1921
Source: Shanghai Municipal Council, Annnual Report of the Shangh
hai Municipal Council, 1921
1.

231
 The proposal, after being endorsed by the Captain Superintendent of Police, was
approved in March 1919. Godfrey was confident his design “would meet with the
approval of all sections of the general public interested in the improvement of traffic
conditions of the Settlement.” Compared with Mayne’s New Bund Scheme tentatively
submitted in 1909, which was estimated to cost several lakhs of taels and involved
expensive underwater works, a heavy retaining wall, and radical alterations to the
pontoons, Godfrey’s scheme was more economic. The scheme cost approximately Tls.
60,000. If it were done in two sections, it would cost Tls. 31,000 from Beijing Road to
Hankou Road and Tls. 29,000 from Hankou Road to Avenue Edward VII. He stressed
that the cost was extremely low considering the Beijing Road widening between
Yuan-ming-yuan Road and the Bund cost more than Tls. 62,000 for land alone and the
widening of Nanjing Road to Jiangxi Road corner cost more than Tls. 114,000.67
Moreover, doing more than the necessary changes to the existing pontoons, six of
which were south of the Customs House that would require to be projected from the
top of the new slope, was not proposed. Thus, a better depth of water for cargo boats
would be an advantage and would also eliminate dredging, which should be done
biennially to prevent the pontoons from grounding at low water.
The only minor drawback to the scheme was the need to clear out 60 feet from
the Public Garden and the destruction of historic trees. In its defense, the Council
emphasized that the garden was planned to be extended at the junction of the Suzhou
Creek as part of the reclamation scheme, and rows of magnolia trees would be planted
after the project’s completion. The Council claimed that “the resulting benefit to
traffic would be more than out-weighted by the loss to the general public of the
amenities which the Bund foreshore at present provides.”68
However, the scheme roused conflict and debate within the foreign community,
thus leading to the project’s suspension for weeks in late June 1921. The opposing
party to the New Bund Scheme established a Shanghai Civic League on October 26,

67
Ibid., 3.
68
The Council in reply of July 4, 1918, to Mr. C. R. Burkill, quoted in ibid., 2.

232
1920, asserting to represent the entire body of the foreign residents and expressing
vehement protests to the Council’s unwise decision to sacrifice the beautiful trees
and gardens for traffic purposes.69 The league collected more than 200 names of
those against the road widening at the expense of the garden. Two of the city's
leading architects, R. A. Curry and Arthur Dallas, were on the list. Another petition
was received in favor of the scheme, with the list including such names as M. H.
Logan of Palmer and Turner and G. H. Stitt, manager of the Hongkong and Shanghai
Bank. 70 Despite the protest, the scheme was approved during the Ratepayers’
Meeting on July 6, 1921 although only 100 out of the 1,800 eligible to vote were in
attendance.
On November 15, 1921, the new Bund promenade was opened to traffic (Figure
5.15). The newly added carriageway along the Waterfront was exclusive for slow and
heavy freight vehicles, and the main Bund road was used for fast passenger traffic.
Since November 15, the latter was prohibited to be used as the thoroughfare of motor
trucks, handcarts, wheelbarrows, and other freight-carrying vehicles or of coolies
carrying loads, except for crossing purposes. 71 However, even Godfrey himself
admitted that “the Bund had become ugly since widening as the removal of the old
trees in the garden had brought into very great prominence all the poles carrying
overhead cables.” The newly planted magnolia trees all died by 1923.

Reconsideration of the Bund Lawn, 1930–1932

The 1921 Bund Scheme stabilized the negotiations on the competing usage of the
public promenade and resulted in the unprecedented combination of a landing place,
public parks, trunk road, and car parks. However, in the early 1930s, the function and
form of the Bund were again questioned. Throughout history, the majority of the

69
Pott, A Short History of Shanghai: 262-63.
70
Hibbard, The Bund Shanghai: 44.
71
Municipal Notification No. 2769 The Bund Road, Shanghai Municipal Archive, U1-14-5002.

233
Chinese people had been banned from the Public Garden and the Bund lawns despite
protests from the Chinese community. Finally in June 1928, the Garden, the lawns,
and the entire path along the riverside were ordered to be open to the Chinese
following the agreement between the Chinese Government and the Municipal Council
to conclude the May Thirty Accident that occurred in 1925 (Figure 5.16).

Figure 5.16. The Bund lawns in 1930

Source: Memory Shanghai, http://memoire.digilib.sh.cn/SHNH/.

In the next two years, the lawns on the Bund foreshore became the focus of
adverse press comments. It was recorded:

Owing to lack of effective boundary walls or fences, the whole area during the
summer months becomes a seething mass of humanity. From information
received, it would appear that during the hot weather experienced last year, the
lawns were nightly crowded with natives who used them as sleeping quarters. To
residents of the Central District the above represents a great hardship, insomuch
as they are unable to enjoy early morning and evening strolls in healthy
surroundings accompanied by their domestic pets. Further, to visitors and tourists
prevailing conditions are bound to create a mistaken impression of the amenities

234
 of the Settlement.72

To improve the conditions, C. Harpur instructed the Superintendent of Parks to

come up with schemes to reshape the lawns. On February 20, 1930, the
superintendent submitted two detailed sketches, suggesting the conversion of lawns
into flower beds with paved walks with effective hedges or fences to prevent access to
the area except through the gates provided. As the construction of a boundary wall
was rejected because of financial considerations, alternative solutions for hedges were
suggested as follows (Figure 5.17):
Scheme A: A line of 5 feet-high Euonymus would be planted 1 foot 6 inches
within the actual boundary as well as a second line of similar shrubs 3 feet inside the
actual boundary. Between the two rows of shrubs, Foochow poles, 4 feet above the
ground, could be set up at intervals of 10 feet to which eight strands of barbed wire
would be attached.
Scheme B: A wire netting fence, as shown in the attached photographs and
correspondence, would be built on the actual boundary, on which a single line of 5
feet-high Euonymus 1 foot 6 inches apart would be planted on the stretch.
Formality and expenditure were the two essential features of the schemes. The
Superintendent was personally in favor of Scheme A, which would minimally affect
the beauty of the Bund lawn and would reduce the cost (Figure 5.18).

72
Letter from the Superintendent of Parks to C. Harpur, Commissioner of Public Works, dated February 20,
1930, Shanghai Municipal Archive, U-14-562.

235
 Figure 5.17. Proposed development of the Bund lawns, Scheme A & B, 1930
Source: Suggested Development of the Bund Foreshore, Shanghai Municipal Archive,
U-14-562.

Figure 5.18. Section of the Scheme A

Source: Suggested Development of the Bund Foreshore, Shanghai Municipal Archive,
U-14-562.

When the municipal engineers were planning the shrub hedges for the lawns,
different opinions were raised in the Council. On March 13, 1930, the Commissioner
of Police wrote to C. Harpur, suggesting that “the grass plots between the P. & O.
Jetty (Beijing Road) and Jiujiang Road be converted into parking spaces for motor
vehicles.”73 In the Works Committee Meeting on April 29, Harpur delivered his
definite opposition to the proposed parking space because he believed the Bund

73
Letter from Commissioner of Police to Commissioner of Public Works, dated March 13, 1930, Shanghai
Municipal Archive, U-14-562.

236
foreshore should be reserved for the use of the general public rather than for certain
people owning cars. Although he anticipated the conversion of this area to a parking
space would be advocated by others, he insisted that “such facility (car parks) should
not be provided from public funds and that in any cases the use of this area as a
parking space would only provide a temporary solution of the parking problem.
Furthermore the characteristics of this section of the Bund frontage should be
maintained.”74 After a discussion, the members emphasized that an improved layout
on the lines was highly desirable, and they recommended it for the Council's approval.
Harpur was then instructed to submit a detailed report on the cost the scheme would
incur. On December 5, 1930, the Municipal Gazette reported that the development of
grass plots into flower beds, which was initially approved by the Council earlier that
year, had been postponed.
Reshaping the Bund lawns was again questioned in 1932 after the Bund was
bombed in the Sino-Japanese conflict, during which the paths and lawns were
severely damaged. This time, the issue extended from the Municipal Council and
roused heated public debate. On April 22, 1932, P. Grant Jones, a journalist who lived
in the Cathay Hotel along the Bund, addressed the Council to repeat his plea to
convert the lawns into an annex of the Public Garden with paths and shrubs.75 Jones’s
idea seemingly represented the majority of the public opinion at that time. On May
1932, The China Digest launched a debate that concluded with a petition addressed to
W. J. Kerr, who had done splendid work at Jessfield Park, to “making gardens out of
the lawns on the Bund so that they could be kept properly and would afford a suitable
and fitting frontage to the city.”76 The conversion of the lawns into parking space was
again suggested in the Traffic Committee Meeting during a discussion of the existing
traffic congestion in the Central District, demanding that “an appropriate charge be

74
Minute of Works Committee Meeting, held on April 29, 1930. Ibid.
75
Letter from P. Grant Jones to the Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Council, dated April 22, 1932. Ibid.
76
Letter from Carroll Lunt, Editor of The China Digest, to Mr. W. J. Kerr, Public Works Department, dated May
28, 1932. Ibid.

237
made for the parking of cars thereon.”77
Harpur, consistent with his opinion of two years ago, argued that the Bund lawns
should not be converted into a motor park but changed his idea about the extension of
the Public Garden. In 1930, he had the same opinion with Grant Jones and The China
Digest that the best treatment of the Bund Lawn was to extend the flower gardens of
the Public Garden. However, this time, he considered retaining the lawns would be
best. The war in 1932 influenced him into considering that “the lawns as such have so
much value in times of emergency that no great change should be effected until the
local situation is very much clearer than it is now.”78 Instead, he suggested the
cooperation of the police to maintain the condition of the lawns. In the end, the Bund
lawns were returned as directed by Harpur. The parking space scheme, proposed and
postponed several times, was eventually implemented in 1941 after the Japanese took
over the Municipal Council.

Summary

Despite the disputes on legal jurisdiction, function, and form of the “beach
ground,” the Municipal Council created a broad, picturesque public promenade
along the Huangpu River. In the 1860s, the Bund was planted with assorted young
trees from the surrounding country.79 On May 1886, grass lawns extending from the
Public Garden to Hankou Road were opened to the public, and on July 1888, the
lawns were extended to the southern boundary of the International Settlement with
the French Concession.80 The completion works on the public promenade continued
until 1896, making it a wide road of 80 feet, with the inner part of 60 feet reserved

77
Letter from J. R. Jones, Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Council, to G. H. Wright, dated March 10, 1933.
Ibid.
78
Letters from C. Harpur to J. R. Jones, dated May 9, 1932, and to the Secretary, dated June 2, 1932. Ibid.
79
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1866: 12.
80
Hibbard, The Bund Shanghai: 38.

238
for vehicles and the outer part for pedestrians. Several permanent monuments were
also established to memorize important figures and events for the western
community. These monuments include the statue of Sir Harry Smith Parkes, who
was the British Consul in Shanghai from 1864 to 1865; the statue of Illtis, a German
warship that sank in 1898; the statue of Sir Robert Hart, the Chief of Chinese
Custom House for half a century; and the Monument of Victory with the Statue of
Peace, which was built in 1924 on the border of the International Settlement and the
French Concession to commemorate the end of the First World War.
The Bund promenade has conventionally been interpreted as the foremost
embodiment of Western city planning in Shanghai. This chapter, by studying the
design and the construction process, reveals the complexities in opening and keeping
such a spacious public open space in the city center. Initially, the overlapping
controls of the foreshore under the Treaty System were vital. Later on, the various
ideologies of professionals influenced the function and form of the public promenade
more significantly. The disputes among the municipal engineers, harbor planners,
urban administrators, and garden designers represent diverse values toward
“publicity,” “utility,” and “beauty,” which are the main issues in modern town
planning. The ultimate environment of the Bund was a fusion of such ideologies.
Nevertheless, although the Chinese officials and urban gentries had actively
struggled for the Chinese people’s right to use the public place on the Bund, they are
apparently either excluded from, or indifferent to, the design process. In the end, the
Bund had failed to represent a revolutionary breakthrough in the planning history of
China, as it only constructed a modern, accessible urban image, but the entire
Chinese community was an outsider in making it.

239
 CHAPTER 6
ROAD PLANNING FOR THE SUBURBS

The rapid industrial and commercial development in the International Settlement

until the early twentieth century resulted in a two-sided influence to its built
environment. On one hand, the development drew both population and wealth
toward the Settlement, transforming it into one of the most developed districts in
Shanghai. On the other hand, the Settlement became more congested, expensive, and
uninhabitable than ever. In this context, the foreign upper middle-class residents
tended to leave the settlement for more spacious, comfortable residences on the
outskirt of the city.
The construction of extra-settlement roads and residential areas reached an
unprecedented scale in the first two decades of the twentieth century. But such
expansion was often interpreted as “infringement of China’s sovereignty,” and faced
rejection from the Chinese community. Under the Qing regime, local Chinese
officials adopted destructive yet disrupted methods to prevent the establishment of
foreign suburbs, including stopping Chinese people from working on the roads,
instigating local people to damage the roads, or encouraging people not to sell their
land to the Municipal Council. After the establishment of the Nationalist government
in 1927, Chinese authorities appeared to undertake a more determined and radical
view toward the extra-settlement road schemes. As a result, Zhongshan Road was
constructed around the settlement boundary, superimposing a new street pattern upon
the suburban roads planned by the Municipal Council.
The “extra-settlement roads” and Zhongshan Road have recently attracted some
degree of scholarly attention, but most studies dealt with them separately, and tended
to focus mainly on their socio-political meanings instead of their physical form and

240
design philosophies.1 This chapter intends to provide a parallel reading of the two
road schemes to reflect on the features and problems of modern city planning which
was generated by the Chinese urbanists' ambition to create a "Chinese modern city"
at the height of colonial expansion. The struggles of Chinese city planners in solving
the urban problems caused by colonial city planning and the ambiguous attitudes of
these planners towards the past and the West are particularly worth re-examining.

6.1 Road Schemes for the Garden Suburb

The cultural origins of the garden suburb can be traced back to eighteenth century
London, where the first modern garden suburb took shape in Manchester in the
mid-nineteenth century. As mentioned in Chapter Three, the early middle-class
suburbs in Shanghai were developed along military roads constructed during the
Taiping Rebellion. However, roads were deliberately laid out for picturesque garden
suburbs during the twentieth century.

Emergence of the Middle-class Residential Suburbs

Literally, the word “suburb” means “beyond the city,” and can refer to any kind of
settlement at the periphery of a large city. However, in pre-industrial cities in both
Europe and China, the wealthiest members of the city usually tended to live and work
closest to the historic urban core, whereas the poorest people were pushed to the
periphery. Thus, the word “suburb” referred almost exclusively to peripheral slums
that surrounded large towns.
In this sense, garden suburb is an archetypal invention in the modern world,

1
The following two studies provide the most comprehensive historic archives. Mengqing Shen 沈孟晴, "Yuejie
Zhulu Yu Jindai Shanghai Chengshi Bianqian 越界築路與近代上海城市變遷, 1862-1925 (The
Extra-settlement roads and urban transformation, Shanghai, 1862-1925)" (Master's thesis, Shanghai Acadamy of
Social Sociences, 2009); Shu Wei 魏樞, "Da Shanghai Jihua" Qishilu: Jindai Shanghai Shizhongxin Quyu De
Guihua Bianqian Yu Kongjian Yanjin "大上海計劃"啟示錄: 近代上海市中心區域的規劃變遷與空間演進
("The Greater Shanghai Plan": urban planning and urban transformation of the modern city center) (Nanjing:
Dongnan daxue chubanshe, 2010).

241
enabling high middle-class people to escape from the crowded, polluted urban
environment that resulted from industrial activities. Such garden suburbs usually
included merely upper middle class residences, while excluding all industry and most
commerce except for enterprises that specifically serve a residential area, and all
lower-class residents (except for servants).2 As pointed out by Fishman, the earliest
garden suburbs took shape in the outskirts of London in the second half of the
eighteenth century, where “wealthy London bankers and merchants experimented
with a variety of the traditional housing forms available to them to create an original
synthesis that reflected their values.”3
Garden suburb is perhaps the most radical rethinking of the relation between
residence and the city in the history of domestic architecture, which has
fundamentally changed the urban structure since the nineteenth century. These social
and economic characteristics are all expressed in design through a suburban tradition
of both residential and landscape architecture. Derived from the English concept of
picturesque, this tradition distinguishes the suburb both from the city and the
countryside, and creates the aesthetic “marriage of town and country” that is the mark
of the true suburb: the suburb must be both sufficiently large and homogeneous to
form a distinctive low density environment defined by the primacy of the single
family house set in the greenery of an open, park-like setting.4
The situation in the International Settlement in the early twentieth century is quite
similar to that of eighteen century London and nineteenth century Manchester: the
Industrial Revolution initiated after the assignment of the Treaty of Shimonoseki in
1895 drew labor and resources irresistibly toward it; the automobiles prevailing at the
turn of the twentieth century increased traffic flows both within and without it; and
the frequent civil wars in China transformed the settlement into a harbor of safety for
all kinds of refugees from all over the country. Factories, motor vehicles, as well as

2
Fishman, Bourgeois Utopias: 6.
3
Ibid., 13.
4
Ibid., 6.

242
immigrants turned the settlement into a “whirlpool city” that attracted wealth and
opportunities toward it, while pushing the wealthy members of the foreign community
out of the Settlement for better living space.
Originally, the Municipal Council attempted to transform both the southwest part
of Shanghai County and Banshan County into garden suburbs. In 1895, the Municipal
Council, after long and protracted negotiations with the Chinese authorities and local
gentries, made arrangements for the purchase of the land for a New Rifle Range in
Baoshan.5 Developments such as the construction of a new road from the Settlement,
opening of a new public park in the adjacent area, and a residential area being
developed accordingly were anticipated. 6 However, after the construction of a
railway that connected Shanghai with Wusong by the Chinese government in 1898,
Baoshan was considered to be of crucial political and military importance from the
viewpoint of the Chinese government. In 1901, the Municipal Council managed to
acquire a large tract of land adjoining the New Rifle Range, measuring some 184
mows in extent, to layout a Recreation Ground. 7 Several roads, including the
extension of the North Sichuan Road, Dixwell Road, and Jiangwan Road were
hereafter constructed. But in general, the road schemes in this direction ended in
abeyance largely due to the strong protests from the Chinese authorities against
foreign road extension. The development of the northeast suburb became even more
difficult after the Zhabei Municipality was established in 1906, as the municipality
had an administrative territory that overlapped with the entire area between the
settlement northern boundary and the New Rifle Range.

5
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1895: 166.
6
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1897: 144.
7
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1901: 225.
243
Figure 6.1. Bubbling Well Road and western suburb in the late nineteenth century
Source: Memory Shanghai, http://memoire.digilib.sh.cn/SHNH/.

Figure 6.2. Transformation of the urban blocks along the Bubbling Well Road in the first half of
the twentieth century
Source: Qian Sun 孫倩, Shanghai Jindai Chengshi Gonggong Guanli Zhidu Yu Kongjian Jianshe
上海近代城市公共管理制度與空間建設 (Urban administration and public space in modern
Shanghai) (Nanjing: Dongnan daxue chubanshe, 2009), Figure 3.14.

244
 By contrast, the southwest suburb, situated between the Race Course and Jing’an
Temple, was relatively well-developed. Substantial single-family houses were erected
along the tree shade Bubbling Well Road, turning this area into the culmination of the
Anglo-American suburban life style (Figure 6.1). Nevertheless, after the Settlement
western boundary was extended westward to Jing’an Temple in 1899, the western
suburb rapidly transformed into a congested urban area. A rigid, intense gridiron
street network was superimposed in this area, and a large amount of single-family
houses and spacious gardens were demolished, making space for highly dense
Chinese residential blocks and high-rise apartment buildings (Figure 6.2).

Extra-Settlement Road Schemes

The wealthy foreign merchants were forced to seek their ideal life at the even
further urban periphery. In 1899, the Municipal Councils of the International
Settlement and the French Concession jointly proposed a road, 18 miles in length and
30 feet in width, from the Siccawei Cathedral to the Hills in Qingpu County. The cost
of the land was estimated at about Tls. 14,000, to be proportionately divided between
the two Councils. From the standpoint of the foreign communities, this road could
serve the recreation purposes of either the present or a future generation, and could at
any time be utilized as an additional lung to the settlement.8 However, from the
Chinese standpoint, this road scheme was considered as an infringement of “China’s
Sovereign Rights,” as it would not only go beyond the Settlement boundary, but also
penetrate about 10 miles into the Qingpu County, which was not a treaty port at the
time.

8
Municipal Council of Shanghai, Municipal Report, 1899: 182-85.

245
Figure 6.3. Exxtra-settlemennt road schemee, 1901
Brenan Road,, Robicon Roaad, and Hongqqiao Road, 13 miles long in n total, encloseed a vast piecee of
land to the weest of the Interrnational Settllement, prepaared for the futture developm
ment of the garrden
suburb.
Source: Draw wing by Li Yin ngchun based on “Memoran nda of Outsidee Roads” preppared by W. E. E Sauer,
Land Surveyoor, on August 12, 1926 in "E Extra-settlement Roads, 1853-1930," (Sppecial Collection of
the Main Librrary at the Un niversity of Hoong Kong ULB B 346.511320 043 E96, 19311).

The sccheme had to

t remain inn abeyance until Marcch 1901 whhen Hongqiaao Road
was surveyyed and laid
d out runninng a distancce of 6.13 miles
m from the Siccaw
wei Road
opposite “T
The Hermitaage” westerrly to the Sh
hanghai-Qin
ngpu Bordeer, and was the first
section of the
t proposeed road to tthe Hills in
n 1899. Mo
oreover, at a distance of
o 4 1/3
miles alongg this road and at the point where it crosseed the Sing Ching Kon
ng (also
known as the
t Rubicon
n Creek), R w 40-foot wide, was laid out
Rubicon Roaad, which was
running northerly to th
he Suzhou Creek; then
nce Brenan Road, 40-ffoot wide, was
w laid
out runningg easterly part
p of thee way along
g the bank of the Suuzhou Creek
k to the
Jessfield Road near itss intersectioon with Gorrdon Road (Figure
( 6.3)).9 The totaal length
of the threee roads waas approxim
mately 13 miles. Com
mpared withh the road scheme
proposed inn 1899, whiich intendedd to create a connectio
on between the city center and
countrysidee, the road scheme
s carrried out in 1901 was explicitly
e int
ntended to enclose a
large piece of land for the future ddevelopmen
nt of the resiidential subburb.
Betweeen 1911 and
d 1912, thee regime of the old Ch
hinese authoorities at Sh
hanghai
collapsed, whereas th
he new Reepublic had yet to establish
e anny adminisstrative
institution to control the city. T
The Municcipal Counccil took thhis opportun
nity to
9
Municipal Coouncil of Shang
ghai, Municipall Report, 1901: 258.

246
construct a new system
m of cross rroads betweeen the settllement westtern boundaary line
and Edinbuurgh Road, and
a named them, from
m north to so
outh, Penangg Road, Sin
ngapore
Road, Connnaught Roaad, Yuyuan R
Road, and Great
G Westeern Road. A
All these roaads run
in an east-w
west directtion, conneccting the neewly openeed area up the existing
g main
roads in thhe settlemen
nt. The roadds were deliberately designed
d intto a curved
d route,
intersectingg with each
h other in a trident manner
m and dividing thhe land into
o large,
triangular building
b ots.10 Theirr pattern ap
plo ppeared to be
b entirely ddifferent from the
orthogonal street grid within
w the ssettlement (F
Figure 6.4)..

Figure 6.4. Exxtra-settlemen

nt road schemee, 1911–1912 2
Almost all exxtra-settlementt roads construucted during this
t period weere situated beetween the western
boundary of the
t settlement and Edinburggh Road, runn ning in an east-west directioon in curved rooute,
intersecting with
w each otheer in a trident m manner, and dividing
d the laand into large, triangular building
plots.
Source: Draw wing by Li Yinngchun based on “Memoran nda of Outsidee Roads” preppared by W. E. E Sauer,
Land Surveyoor, on August 12, 1926 in "E Extra-settlement Roads, 1853-1930," (Sppecial Collection of
the Main Librrary at the Unniversity of Hoong Kong ULB B 346.511320 043 E96, 19311).

Startedd in 1916, th
he Municipaal budget co
ontained a regular item
m of sums alllocated
and spent on
o building
g of roads ooutside the settlement. These sum
ms increaseed with
every year in proportion to the ggrowth of Municipal
M liaability.11 Thhis action was
w the
direct resullt of the faailure of thee settlemen
nt extension
n negotiationns of 1915–1916,
which clearrly indicateed that everyy hope of a formal exttension of tthe settlemeent had
to be abanddoned once and foreverr, and the ex
xtra-settlem
ment roads ccould in effeect be a

10
Shanghai Municipal
M Counccil, Municipal R
Report, 1911: 14
49.
11
Kotenev, Municipality
Mu and the Chinese: 5 8.

247
way of informal extension. In his report to the Council for the year 1921, Harpur
called attention to the condition of affairs on the western border of the settlement as
follows:

An unfortunate situation has arisen in the district between Kiaochow Road and
the Junction Railway Line, where there have been extensive building operations
without any regard to future road requirements. In the absence of compulsory
powers of acquisition in this neighborhood, it seems impossible to benefit by the
experience of the port, and there is little hope that this district will be developed
on sound lines, so far as road planning is concerned.12

Despite the financial promise and the urging of the city planner, few road
schemes were ever been carried out until 1924 when the Jiangsu-Zhejiang war broke
out, and the local Chinese authorities were once again paralyzed.13 The political
chaos provided good opportunities for the Municipal Council to implement deliberate
extra-settlement road schemes.
In October 1924, Harpur advanced a network of new connecting roads 6 miles in
length primarily to the west of Edinburgh Road, which “would enable the opening
up of large areas of land and would tend to check the rapidly increasing prices of
land on Municipal roads suitable for residential property.” 14 These roads were
named Monument Road, Pearce Road, Lincoln Avenue, Keswick Road, Tunsin Road,
Fahua Road, Columbia Road, Jordan Avenue, Qibao Road, South Warren Road, and
Stephen or Weifang Road.15 After consulting with the local committeemen and
gentries who promised to secure “chopped” deeds and plans, the following six roads
were selected as the first stage of the project, all roads were to be from 60- to 70-foot
wide.

12
Letter from C. Harpur, Commissioner of Public Works, to the Secretary & Commissioner General, dated March
26, 1923. Shanghai Municipal Council, U1-14-4673.
13
In the latter part of 1924, and the beginning of 1925, Marshal Sun Chuan-fang, who controlled Zhejiang and a
part of Jiangsu provinces at the time, determined to make himself independent despite an earlier agreement with
the Beijing Government. On October 17, 1925, he declared war on Marshal Chang Tso-lin.
14
Letter from C. Harpur, Commissioner of Public Works to Acting Secretary, S. M. C., October 23, 1924; P. W.
D. File: New Roads West of Western District, General. Quoted in "Extra-settlement Roads, 1853-1930," 76.
15
Minutes of the Works Committee held on February 3, 1925. Quoted in ibid.

248
1. An extension of Avenue Joffre to the Railway crossing at Hongqiao Road.
2. A road between Hongqiao and Brenan Roads, parallel to the East side of the
Railway.
3. A road on the south side of and approximately parallel toFahua Village
connecting roads 1 and 2.
4. A road from the second bend on Great Western Road Extension and East of the
New Columbia Country Club to the Hongqiao Road Cemetery site.
5. A road from the first ben on Great Western Road Extension to a point on road 2
approximately midway between the Railway crossing at Great Western Road
Extension and Brenan Road.
6. A road from the first bend on Great Western Road Extension West of the Railway
to a point on Warren Road about half a mile South of the Suzhou Creek, with the
intention of extending this to a point on Rubicon Road South of the Long
Village.16

The estimated cost of the road was approximately Tls. 60,000. The further hope
was expressed that it would be possible to obtain a 60-foot road from the end of
Hongqiao Road to near the Suzhou Creek bank and of connecting such roads to the
junction of the Rubicon and Brenan Roads.
The scheme, however, developed much further than it was first contemplated.
On November 18, 1924, Harpur reported that nine roads aggregating 9.9 miles in
length (and covering approximately 450 mows of land) had been marked out east of
Rubicon Road. Although “the marking out of the roads had been looked upon by the
country people with undisguised approval” had been recorded, a few malcontents
were anticipated to appear, and the acquisition of entire roads without some
opposition might be impossible. Thus, a proposal to initially level the ground and
form mud roads and defer culverting, bridging, and tree planting until the situation

16
Ibid., 76-78.

249
had been more definitely accepted by the village headmen and payment accepted
was presented.17
The total number of native holdings affected on all the roads (exclusive of
Hongqiao Road) was roughly 2,300. 18 Dealing individually with every native
landowner was impossible. Thus, the Council resorted to enlisting the formal
assistance of the local district Dibaos, by engaging the services of the representative
of Pusong Village, called Wang Sung Sze, and the representative of Fahua Village,
called Yang Siao Ngai, who undertook to secure the requisite surrender deeds from
the landowners. 19 The forming and grading of the roads were hereafter in an
advanced state: cross creeks were culverted when a possibility emerged, temporary
bridges were erected over other creeks, and substantial wooden bridges were erected
throughout. Although very little trouble was encountered in Pusong Village, the work
in Fahua Village presented great difficulty after one of the agents engaged by the
Council died and his son who replaced him did not enjoy his father’s influence. Thus,
to prevent a complete breakdown of the work, the Council itself was obliged to
negotiate with different owners, purchase large holdings, and remove graves, among
others. In this process, the Chinese who assisted in the work were harassed by native
police officers, and attempts were made to arrest them. The City Magistrate posted a
proclamation that prohibited farmers from moving their graves from road land and a
Police Officer from the Chinese Village at Warren Road endeavored to stir up in this
connection.20
Despite all the conflicts, new roads had been formed and graded for a total length
of 14.618 miles by the end of 1925.21 On account of the objection of one particular
Chinese land owner from Fahua Village, the extension of the Great Western Road

17
Ibid.
18
Ibid., 82.
19
Letter from C. Harpur to Messrs Wang Sung Sze and Yang Siao Ngai, dated October 20 and 21, 1924. Quoted
in ibid.
20
Ibid., 82-85.
21
Shanghai Municipal Council, Annual Report of the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1925, 228.

250
could not be
b carried out
o from itss junction with
w Edinbu
urgh Road, and was so
omewhat
amended, starting
s from umbia Roadds.22 The orriginally
m a place bbetween Haiig and Colu
scheduled route
r of Faahua Road w
was also ab
bandoned an
nd replacedd by a straig
ght road
outside the village (Fig
gure 6.5).
The 19224–1925 ex
xtra-Settlem owed a patttern similar to that
ment road scchemes follo
of the 19111 road scheme. These roads weree more carefully designned for resiidential
purposes; except
e for the Great W
Western Roaad and Fahu
ua Road, allmost all the other
roads follow
wed a triden
nt pattern, aand the curv
ve was predominant in the layout of
o such
roads. Larrge, irregullar buildingg blocks were
w formeed for the developm
ment of
The loose, freestyle street patterrn was explicitly
single-famiily garden houses. T
inspired byy the parkw
way designn adopted in the garden suburb projects in
n Great
Britain andd the Uniteed States iin the early twentieth
h century, creating an
n easy,
romantic attmosphere against
a the rrigid, dense urban environment.

Figure 6.5. Exxtra-settlemen

nt road schemee, 1924–1925
Almost all exxtra-settlementt roads construucted during this
t period weere situated beetween Edinbuurgh
Road and the Shanghai-Qin ngpu border (M Monument Ro oad), enclosin
ng a suburban area almost as
a large
ment itself.
as the settlem
Source: Draw wing by Li Yinngchun based on “Memoran nda of Outsidee Roads” preppared by W. E.
E Sauer,
Land Surveyoor, on August 12, 1926 in "E Extra-settlement Roads, 1853-1930," (Sppecial Collection of
the Main Librrary at the Unniversity of Hoong Kong ULB B 346.511320 043 E96, 19311).

The subburban road

ds were disttinct from the
t urban ro
oads not onnly in the physical
pattern, butt also in th
he legal asp ect. As a general
g rule, the Municcipal Counccil was
unable to obtain
o formaal title deedds to acquiree land for ex
xtra-settlem
ment roads. Rather,
R
22
"Extra-settleement Roads, 1853-1930," 73--74.

251
the Municipal Council had to arrange the matters with the Dibaos and gentries, in
accordance with local customs, and could only obtain chopped deeds and plans
signed and stamped by these local representatives. The procedure can be
summarized as follows:

1. Negotiations were opened with the Dibao of the districts concerned.

2. Plans were prepared showing the land required for the road.
3. Plans were chopped by the Dibao and Chairman of the Local Committee.
4. Chinese surrender deeds were chopped by the Dibao and Chairman of the Local
Committee
5. Plans and Chinese surrender deeds were then sent to the Senior Consul for
recording and forwarding to the Chinese Authorities in order that the land in
question might be excluded from any Consular deeds for adjoining properties.
6. In many cases proclamations were issued by the Council and posted at the
various temples in the vicinity informing owners where and when to obtain the
money for land surrender.
7. The purchase price agreed upon by the Commissioner of Public Works and the
middlemen concerned in respect to the roads was fully paid over to the said
middlemen.23

In addition to the unsecured legal status and unsafe living conditions, the
suburban roads also caused severe financial problems for the Municipal Council.
Being entirely dependent on the municipal supply of power, all these
extra-settlement areas were also bound to the settlement as the main distributing
center of their fabrics. These areas required good communications, telephones, and
fresh water, among others. The burden of construction and maintenance of all these
facilities was borne solely by the ratepayers inside the Settlement. Up to 1912, a
considerable number of wealthy residents, both foreign and Chinese, lived in

23
Ibid., 87-90.

252
districts beyond the settlement boundary, who did not pay land tax, but enjoyed
equal public facilities with residents within the settlement; the latter paid 0.5% on
land values and 12% on rentals per annum. 24 The necessity of raising funds
compelled the Council to resort to the flotation of municipal loans and increase
regular municipal revenue. By 1919, direct taxation had reached the rate of 14% on
the assessed rental of ratable foreign and Chinese houses in the settlement. Any
further increase on this line could have easily resulted in either undesirable friction
with the Chinese population or in a less desirable decrease in the population and fall
of price of land in the settlement.25
The rejection of the suburban road schemes not only by the Chinese people, but
also by the foreign community is therefore not surprising. Many foreign ratepayers
expressed the view that the money required undertaking the suburban roads could be
better spent on road works within and in the immediate vicinity of the settlement.
However, the great engine that had driven forward the expansion of suburban roads
was a partial paradise, a refuge from threatening elements in the city. In Shanghai in
the early twentieth century, laissez-faire economies had turned the settlement into a
tangle of competing use. Only the extra-settlement area was sufficiently undefined to
permit pursuit of the dream. The garden suburbs so created were ultimately decisive
in defining the entire structure of Shanghai.

Destiny of the Garden Suburb

Although Chinese revolutions and civil wars had provided opportunities for the
Municipal Council to implement their extra-settlement road schemes, the Republican
authorities hereafter established appeared to hold a more intolerant and hostile
attitude toward the foreign municipality. This case was especially true after the May
Fourth Movement of 1919, confirming a stronger anti-foreign sentiment and a more

24
Kotenev, Municipality and the Chinese: 57.
25
Ibid., 58.

253
radical Chinese nationalism among the public. The Chinese urban gentries, who used
to have a good relationship with the foreign municipality, joined the protests of
extra-settlement roads. The May Thirtieth Accident occurred in 1925 furhter stopped
the foreign suburbanization forever. Immediately after the event, the Shanghai City
Magistrate issued special instructions to the native police to stop the coolies working
on the roads. He also issued orders to direct local gentry and committee-men to warn
country people about refraining in future from secretly selling land to foreigners.26
On August 27, 1925, the Acting Commissioner of the Municipal Council reported
that the position had worsened, and the negotiations for the acquisition of the road
land were practically at a standstill. On September 2, 1925, he further recommended
the closure of two roads and possibly, other communicating roads, at his discretion
by erecting barriers across them. Jordan Avenue and Columbia Road were closed
accordingly, and the negotiations for the surrender of land were discontinued.27
Aside from these difficulties, the Council’s activity with regard to the execution
of the suburban road projects was also subject to the most violent and biased
criticism on the part of the Native press. Telegrams were sent to the Foreign Ministry
in Beijing, the Civil Governors, and the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, urging
the stoppage of further encroachment on the part of the Council of Chinese territory,
and “interference with Chinese Sovereignty.” 28 Among the notorious demands
presented by the Chinese Government at Beijing to the Foreign Powers to conclude
the May Thirtieth Accident, Article X included the demand that: “The Shanghai
Municipal Council shall not construct roads beyond the Settlement boundaries. The
roads already constructed shall be turned over unconditionally to the Chinese
Government.”29
The Chinese government’s standpoint toward foreign suburbanization was

26
Shanghai Magistrate’s Proclamation dated June 12, 1925. Cited from "Extra-settlement Roads, 1853-1930,"
82-85.
27
Ibid.
28
Shun Pao 申報, October 26, 1924; Sin Wan Pao 新聞報, October 28, 1924. Quoted in ibid., 85.
29
Kotenev, Municipality and the Chinese: 70.

254
reasserted by Marshal Sun Chuan-fang, who was installed as Director-General of the
Port of Shanghai and Wusong on May 4, 1926. Sun gave an address to the Consular
Body, the Municipal Council, and the foreign community at a meeting at the Bureau
of Foreign Affairs the following day, stating that:

In recent years the population within the Settlement has been constantly
increasing. The foreigners have therefore demanded the extension of the
Settlement. From their point of view this seems to be a reasonable demand, but
during the last 20 years the national consciousness of the Chinese has been
rapidly growing, so they have never obtained the consent of the Chinese for the
purposed extensions. I may say frankly that they will never obtain such consent
in the future… Now we do not agree to extend the boundaries of the Settlement,
and we do not allow you to make extra-concessional roads.30

6.2 Road Scheme for “Chinese Modern Shanghai”

Genesis of the New Political Power

After Sun Yat-sen, the first Provisional President of the Republic of China and
the founder leader of the Nationalist Party passed away in 1925, a Northern
Expedition was launched under the command of Chiang Kai-shek. Considerable
anti-foreign spirit connected with the Northern Expedition emerged, which was
directed especially against Britain, the United States, and Japan, the three great
imperialistic and capitalistic powers at the time.
Hostility toward Great Britain led to rioting in the Hankou British Concession,
and finally resulted in the return of the British Concessions at Hankou and Jiujiang
in 1927. This event was regarded as a great triumph for the Northern Expedition. The
fate of the Hankou and Jiujiang British Concessions aroused great fear within the
foreign community at Shanghai. In January 1927, British, American, Japanese,
French, Italian, Dutch, and Spanish troops were hurried to Shanghai. Britain alone
sent a defense force of 20,000 men, the largest expeditionary force ever sent as far as

30
Ibid.

255
China.31 By the advance of the Northern Expedition troops on Shanghai began on
February 19, 1927, the foreign Settlements had taken on the appearance of an armed
camp. Barbed wire barriers were constructed around both the International
Settlement and the French Concession, and foreign troops were placed at the barriers
to hinder the entrance of armed troops. In the International Settlement, the British
forces occupied outposts some distance away from the boundaries in the Western
District.
This approach prevented disturbances of a serious nature, and the foreign
settlements were safely preserved. However, this event ended free communication
between the Chinese territory and the Foreign Settlements, which had been achieved
since the end of the Taiping Rebellion in the late 1860s. Acting on the advice of the
G. O. C., North China Command, British Forces, the Municipal Council replaced the
temporary defenses on the northern boundary of the International Settlement with
permanent steel barrier gates designed to independently close the carriageways and
footways. Bullet-proof police posts fitted with water supply and electric light were
erected at the boundary of the settlement at the east and west ends of the Boundary
Road, Kaifeng Road, and Tibet Road junction, and at the north end of the Tibet Road
Bridge.32
The Northern Expedition troops asserted their authority upon the Chinese
territory of Shanghai. On July 7, 1927, the Greater Shanghai Special Municipality
was established. Huang Fu, after refusing the job twice, was appointed as the first
mayor and was instructed to organize the municipal service. He selected Shen Yi, his
brother-in-law, as director of the Gongwuju (Public Works Bureau) (Figure 6.6).
Shen was a hydraulic engineer trained in Shanghai and Dresden. When he studied in
Germany, he developed strong interests in architecture, town planning, and urban
administration, and managed to sit-in on several courses in these disciplines.33 He

31
Pott, A Short History of Shanghai: 299.
32
Shanghai Municipal Council, Report for the Year 1928 (Shanghai: Printed by Kelly & Walsh, LTD., 1929),
250.
33
Yi Shen 沈怡, Shen Yi Zishu 沈怡自述 (Shen Yi's memoir) (Taibei: Zhuanji wenxue chubanshe, 1985), 99.

256
obtained a PhD degree and returned to China in 1925, working in the Public Works
Bureau in Hankou for a year. When he was appointed as the director of Public Works
Bureau in Shanghai, he was only twenty-six years old. Despite the frequent change
of the mayors, Shen Yi presided over the Public Works Bureau between 1927 and
1937, and took charge of all the major public projects during the Nationalist
government’s ten-year existence in Shanghai.
Shen divided the Public Works Bureau into four departments, and appointed his
former classmates in Dresden and colleagues in Hankou as heads: two of them
graduated from the United States, one from Germany, and one from Belgium.34 All
were young men, fresh from school, and full of passion to transform Shanghai into a
metropolis that is both “modern” and “Chinese.”

Figure 6.6. Mayor Huang Fu (middle) and Shen Yi (left), together with the public service team
of the Greater Shanghai Special Municipality, July 1927.
Source: Yi Shen 沈怡, Shen Yi Zishu 沈怡自述 (Shen Yi's memoir) (Taibei: Zhuanji wenxue
chubanshe, 1985).

Although Shen Yi and his colleagues were foreign-trained professionals, they

held a hostile and suspicious attitude toward the foreign professionals serving in the
foreign settlements at Shanghai. Shen Yi wrote in his memoirs about his first meeting
with Harpur, and the mutual hostility and suspicions between the two city planners

34
Ibid., 101.

257
were already apparent. According to Shen’s account, Harpur told him that he had dealt
with a handful of Chinese officials during his long-term service at Shanghai, and did
not think that Shen and his colleagues would be able to achieve anything of real
significance.35 On the other side, Shen tended to devalue the works achieved by
Harpur and his colleagues, and considered Shanghai as a testing ground for entirely
new city planning theories and practices. He borrowed the institutional structure in the
Guangzhou and Hankou Public Works Bureau, installed staff in the formal Nanshi and
Zhabei Public Works Boards, and frequently referred to the latest publication on town
planning and urban administration in Europe and the United States.
Thus, the steel barrier gates and bullet-proof police posts erected after the 1927
Northern Expenditure were merely the physical segregation between the foreign and
Chinese territories. Underlying the physical barrier was the more fundamental
segregation between the two societies. The courteous yet hostile meeting of Shen and
Harpur was largely a turning point in the planning history in Shanghai as well as in
China, indicating a shift from the “modernization led by the Westerners” to the more
radical, ambitious “modernization led by the Chinese.” The International Settlement
thereafter was no longer admired by the Chinese elite as the “modern model.” Rather,
it was regarded as an obsolete relic that hindered progress.

The Nationalists’ Plan

The Nationalists’ plan for a “Chinese modern Shanghai” was deeply rooted in
two Nationalist utopias: the “Great Eastern Port” proposed by Sun Yat-sen in 1919,
and the “Greater Shanghai Project” advocated by Huang Fu in 1927.
Sun’s “Great Eastern Port” scheme was part of the “International Development
of China” project, which was an article first published in English in 1919. After Sun
passed away in 1925, this book was translated into Chinese, and was published in the
book entitled Jianguo Fanglue (Strategy of National construction). This book later

35
Ibid., 109.

258
became part of the “legacy of the Father of the Nation,” and was the great charter of
the Nationalist Government after 1927.
The “Great Easter Port” scheme was a harbor plan that intended to change the
waterways of Shanghai to improve it into a first-class “World Harbor” for future
commerce in this part of China. The project consists of three parts: first, to change the
shape of the Huangpu River by cutting a new 45-kilometer long canal from the
junction of Gaoqiao Creek right into Pudong, enlarging the curve along the right side
of the Huangpu River, and joining it again, at the second turn above Longhua Railway
Junction, to make the river from that point to a point opposite Yangshupu Point almost
in a straight line and thence a gentle curve to Wusong; second, to dispose of the
Suzhou Creek by leading it alongside the right bank of the future defunct river and
straight on to join the new canal of Huangpu; and finally, to build a wet dock below
Yangshupu Point, which would be laid between the left bank of the old Huangpu from
Yangshupu Point to the turn above Gough Island and the left bank of the New River.36
In this plan, Sun projected a New Civic Center encircled by the present
Huangpu River, the New Huangpu River, and the extension part of the Suzhou Creek
(Figure 6.7). The present crooked Huangpu River would be filled up to form a wide
boulevard; the land between the old and new Huangpu would be laid out into
business lots of great value; and the Waterfront of the new Huangpu would be
transformed into a new, Chinese Bund.37

36
Yat-sen Sun, The International Development of China (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1922), 35-39.
37
Ibid., 38-39.

259
 Figure 6.7. “Great Easterrn Port” Schem
me by Sun Yaat-sen
Source: Yaat-sen Sun, TThe Internatioonal Developmment of Chinna (New York
k: G. P.
Putnam's Sons, 1922), MMap IV.

In Julyy 1927, Huang Fu dellivered the idea of thee “Greater SShanghai Project”
P
during his brief
b unicipality. The projectt called for a Ring
tenuree as the heaad of the mu
Road encircling the tw
wo foreign ssettlements at Shanghaai, and a new
ew Civic Ceenter to
its north, beeing near th Port.38 Acccording to Huang,
he Wusong P H Wusoong was rellatively
undevelopeed at the tiime, providding sufficient space for
f future ddevelopmen
nt. The
developmennt would bee served byy a railway and a deep-water harbbor, thus wo
ould be
the ideal veenue as the new
n center of economiic activities in the city.
Compaared with Sun’s “Greeat Eastern
n Port” sch
heme, Huanng Fu’s “G
Greater
Shanghai Project”
P adv
vocated an entirely diifferent urb
ban structurre. Howeveer, both

38
Shen, Shen Yi Zishu: 108-0
09.

260
schemes intended to shift the focal point of Shanghai away from the foreign
settlements, and form the nucleus of a reclaimed Chinese metropolis.

Re-demarcation of the City Boundary

To construct a much larger Chinese modern Shanghai, Huang Fu advanced to the

Central Government in Nanjing the separation of Shanghai from the jurisdiction of
Jiangsu province, and the re-demarcation of the administration boundaries. Shen Yi
was appointed as the principal delegate of the Shanghai Municipality to enter into
negotiations with the Jiangsu officials, and was instructed that the territory should be
defined as large as possible for the future development of the city.39
The boundary issues became the subject of a long dispute between the Shanghai
and Jiangsu governments, and this conflict was eventually resolved through the
intervention of the Central Government in 1928. As a result, Shanghai and Baoshan
counties were combined into one administrative entity, and part of Qingpu County
was also merged into the new metropolis (Figure 6.8). The territory of the
municipality thus covered a total area of 695,783 mows (464 km2).40
The new administrative entity was divided into seventeen districts. The
International Settlement and the French Concession were merged into one district and
renamed as the “Special Zone of the Greater Shanghai.” The area occupied by the
two foreign settlements was reduced from 20% to 7% of the entire Shanghai.

39
Ibid., 110.
40
Henriot, Shanghai, 1927-1937: 28-29.

261
Figure 6.8. Trransformation n of the city booundary
Above, Shangghai County in n the Qing Dyynasty; middlee, the Wusongg-Shanghai poort between 19911 and
1927; below, territory of thhe Greater Shaanghai, 1928.
Source: Abovve, Linda Cook ke Johnson, S Shanghai: From
m Market Tow wn to Treaty PPort, 1074-185
58
(Stanford, Caalif.: Stanford University Prress, 1995), Map
M 4; middle, Qian Sun 孫倩 倩, Shanghai Jindai
Chengshi Gonnggong Guanlli Zhidu Yu K Kongjian Jianshhe 上海近代城市公共管理 理制度與空間 間建設
(Urban adminnistration and public space iin modern Shanghai) (Nanjing: Dongnann daxue chubaanshe,
2009), Figuree 1-3; Shanghaai Tebieshi Goongwuju Yewu u Baogao Min nguo Shiqiniann 上海特別市 市工務
局業務報告民 民國十七年 (Report ( of thee Bureau of Pu T Shanghai Special Municipality,
ublic Works, The
1928). Minguuo shiqi Shang ghai shiliao weenxian congbian 民國時期 期上海文獻史料 料叢編. Vol. 10,
Beijing: Quannguo tushuguaan wenxian suuowei fuzhi zh hongxin, 20099.

262
Construction of the Zhongshan Road

Huang Fu left office a month and a half after his inaugural address. His
successor, Zhang Dingfan, expressed little interest in the New Civic Center plan and
showed more enthusiasm for the construction of “a ring road encircling the foreign
settlements.” Shen Yi and his colleagues were also eager to carry out several public
projects in the city center. At the time, the Chinese urban area was divided into two
major parts: Nanshi (south of city) and Zhabei (north of the Gate). They were
separated from each other by the International Settlement and the French Concession,
whereas the extra-settlement roads, most of which run in an east-west direction, did
not provide any direct connection between the two parts.
The first problem that Shen had to deal with was the exact route of the ring road.
Two ideas prevailed at the time: one was to construct a road upon the existing
boundary lines of the two foreign settlements, and the other was to layout the road
near the Shanghai-Qingpu border. Shen did not appear to agree with either scheme.
For him, the ring road should be constructed not merely to deliver a political
message. Rather, it should be adequately efficient to relieve the traffic flow in the
urban center, and be sufficiently bold to mark the starting point of a “Chinese
modern Shanghai.” To this end, a road upon the irregular settlement boundary lines
could not serve as an efficient artery, whereas a road following the Shanghai-Qingpu
border could help little to solve the traffic problem in the city center.
Shen decided to layout the new road immediately to the west of the
Shanghai-Hangzhou rail line. This area was relatively undeveloped, providing cheap
land for road purposes and sufficient space for future urban development. The
projected route was a gentle curve running 13 kilometers in the north-south direction,
starting at the junction of Jiaotong Road in Zhabei, crossing Suzhou Creek, passing by
Guanghua University and several Chinese villages, and reaching the Longhua
Buddhist Temple in the south. The road also cut through four important
263
extra-Settlement roads, namely, Brenan Road, Lincoln Avenue, the Great Western
Road, and Hongqiao Road, and elaborately created an uncomfortably tiny, triangular
block with Lincoln Avenue and the Great Western Road. In effect, the new road would
provide a direct connection between the Chinese commercial area at Zhabei and
Nanshi (Figure 6.9).41

Figure 6.9. Route of the Zhongshan Road

Source: Shanghai Tebieshi Gongwuju Yewu Baogao Minguo Shiqinian 上海特別市工務局業務報告
民國十七年 (Report of the Bureau of Public Works, The Shanghai Special Municipality, 1928).
Minguo shiqi Shanghai shiliao wenxian congbian 民國時期上海文獻史料叢編. Vol. 10, Beijing:
Quanguo tushuguan wenxian suowei fuzhi zhongxin, 2009, Figure 18.

Shen also designed the section of the road and made the new road more spacious,
efficient, and beautiful than the roads that the foreign municipalities had ever
constructed. The scheduled width for the road was 27 meters (approximately 80 feet),
only second in width to the Avenue Edward VII (110 feet in width). A 7.5-meter

41
Shanghai Tebieshi Gongwuju Yewu Baogao Minguo Shiqinian 上海特別市工務局業務報告民國十七年
(Report of the Bureau of Public Works, The Shanghai Special Municipality, 1928), Minguo shiqi Shanghai
shiliao wenxian congbian 民國時期上海文獻史料叢編 (Beijing: Quanguo tushuguan wenxian suowei fuzhi
zhongxin, 2009), 47.

264
tramway was proposed in the center, with a normal vehicular strip of 6.75 meters on
either side. Three-meter sidewalks were also laid out on both sides, with a row of
trees being planted between the tramway, roadways, and sidewalks. Regularity was
another important feature in the scheme, as according to Shen’s initial design, a
five-meter wide strip land would be reserved for flower beds to create a pleasant scene
and prepare for the further widening of the road (Figure 6.10).42
The new road was named Zhongshan Road to memorialize Sun Yat-sen, the
founding leader of the Nationalist Party and the first Provisional President of the
Republic. The design work was completed in February 1928, and negotiations with
adjacent landowners for the necessary land to enable the completion of the road
through its length were concluded in less than one month.43 However, no record in
the Report of the Public Works Bureau is available as to how many landowners were
affected, and how much compensation they acquired for the appropriated land and
graves.
On March 26, 1928, a commencement ceremony of Zhongshan Road was held
in Longhua Buddhist Temple. The Major, the General Secretary, the Directors of
various Bureaus, and thousands of public servants and soldiers attended the event.
Mayor Zhang and General Qian presided over and gave speeches during the
ceremony. 44 The project was divided into two phases: the first phase included
leveling the ground, forming a cinder road, and deferring bridges and tree planting,
and the second phase involved laying down pavements, drainage, and sewage system,
water pipes as well as electricity and telegraph lines. The estimated cost of the entire
project was about two million dollars. However, the municipal government was then
coming to grips with severe financial difficulties, and was in no position to employ
professional workers and carry out the project on a full scale. Following General
Xiong Tianyi’s proposal, the soldiers became responsible for the majority of the

42
Ibid.
43
Ibid., 46.
44
Ibid., 50.

265
work.

Figuree 6.10. Sectional design of Zhongshan Road

R
Sourcce: Yi Shen 沈怡,
沈 Shizhengg Gongcheng Gailun
G 市政工 工程概論 (Ann introduction
n to
municcipal engineerring) (Shanghaai: Shangwu yinshuguan,
y 1947), Figure 330.

Figuree 6.11. Zhong

gshan Road in 1932
Most of the section
nal design andd the undergrou
und infrastruccture were nott implemented
d.
Sourcce: Memory Sh hanghai, http:://memoire.dig
gilib.sh.cn/SH
HNH/.

The coonstruction work

w startedd in April 1928.
1 By the end of thee year, the northern
n
section bettween Jiaotong and thhe Great Western
W Roads was com
mpleted. A total of
2,800 trees were purch he spring off 1929.45 Thhe southern
hased and pplanted in th n section
between thhe Great Weestern Roadd and the Longhua
L Teemple was pput forward
d by the
middle of 1929. As to
t the juncction with the
t four extra-settlemeent roads, Shen
S Yi
instructed the
t work to
o be postponned until th
he entire roaad line wass almost com
mpleted,

45
Ibid.

266
and all the four crossroads were connected overnight.46 Shen had anticipated a strong
protest from the Municipal Council, but nothing really happened.
The first phase was completed by the end of 1929. Nevertheless, due to the
shortage of financial sources, lack of professional workers, and uncertain working
schedule of the soldiers, the project was conducted in quite an unsatisfactory quality.
The second phase, which was vital to improving the road for both traffic and
residential purposes, would not to be carried out at all (Figure 6.11).
Despite its relatively poor construction quality, Zhongshan Road earned a
favorable reputation for Shen Yi and his colleagues in the Nationalist Party. 47
Conversely, it instigated great anxiety within the foreign community regarding the
condition of the extra-settlement roads and the growing garden suburb.
On December 10, 1928, when the Zhongshan Road construction work nearly
reached the Great West Road, E. S. Cunningham, U.S. Consul-General and Senior
Consul, held a confidential meeting with Wunze King, Commissioner for Foreign
Affairs, and General Zhang Dingfan, then-Mayor of Shanghai, which disclosed the
standpoints on the matter of both parties.48 No solution was worked out in the
meeting, as the Chinese authority requested all the extra-settlement roads be turned
over to the Government of the Special Municipality of Shanghai without conditions;
meanwhile, the Municipal Council intended to lead the conversation to several
details, such as the policing of roads, building permits, water mains, and the fact that
each road had been constructed at immense cost to the Council.49 Both parties were
not optimistic that a solution to the problem could be reached, as they anticipated
that it could precipitate acute conflict or even bloodshed so as to see it definitely
settled. On August 1, 1929, the Greater Shanghai Municipality trespassed on a
section of the Hongqiao Road up to the Golf Club. Furthermore, on September 30,

46
Shen, Shen Yi Zishu: 110.
47
Henriot, Shanghai, 1927-1937: 44.
48
"Extra-settlement Roads, 1853-1930," 96.
49
Ibid., 96-99.

267
1929, the Land Bureau published a proclamation that stated that “no landowner is
allowed to sell his land to the Shanghai Municipal Council for purposes of road
construction in territory under Chinese jurisdiction. Any person who violates this
will be liable to have his land confiscated. All lands available for disposal will be
purchased by this Bureau at prevailing prices.”50
H. E. Arnold, Chairman of the Municipal Council, forwarded a memorandum to
the Consular Body in 1929, officially giving up the vast suburban area west of the
railway to avoid any violent actions.51

6.3 Divided Suburbs

In effect, both the extra-settlement roads and Zhongshan Road were situated in
the former Fahua Village. This area featured vast farmlands, scattered villages, and a
sophisticated system of waterways for agriculture and transportation purposes.
Different from the early planning practice in which new roads were usually laid out
upon or along waterways, and avoided existing cemeteries and temples, neither the
suburban parkways constructed by the foreign municipality nor the ring road
constructed by the Chinese municipality had ever shown an interest in the existing
history and landscape of Fahua Village. Instead, both municipalities tended to treat it
as an “undeveloped” or “backward” rural area, and transformed it into their own
interpretation of “Modern Shanghai” (Figure 6.12).

50
Ibid., 111.
51
Ibid., 110.

268
Figuree 6.12. Map off Fahua Distriict, 1930
The modern
m roads aare in yellow, the waterway
ys are in blue.
Sourcee: Shanghai tuushuguan 上海 海圖書館, ed.. Lao Shanghaai Ditu 老上海 海地圖
(The album
a of Shannghai during thhe past 150 yeears) (Shanghhai: Shanghai huabao
h
chubannshe, 2001), 773.

Figuree 6.13. The “W me published by the Public Works

Western District” road schem
Bureau u in 1930
Sourcee: "Shanghai C Chengshi Guiihuazhi” bianzzhuan weiyuanan hui 上海城 城市規劃
志編撰 撰委員會, Shaanghai Cheng gshi Guihuazhii 上海城市規 規劃志 (Historry of
city pllanning in Shaanghai) (Shan
nghai: Shanghaai shehui kexuueyuan chuban
nshe,
1999),, Figure 1-12.

269
 According to the Anglo-American planning tradition, a modern city should
always consist of two equally important parts: the efficient and intensive urban area
for business purposes, and the relaxed, picturesque suburban area for pure residential
purposes. In Shanghai in practice, the International Settlement was set aside for
business purposes characterized by solid rows of city streets; meanwhile, the
extra-settlement area was reserved for residential purposes, and characterized by
curved parkways and irregular blocks. Most of the suburban roads ran in an east-west
direction without a large number of intersections that efficiently connect the
Settlement up to the Golf Club in Hongqiao and the lakes and hills in Qingpu.
Working class agglomerations never appeared in the plan. The lower class people
were either forced to stay dispersed in the over-crowded central business districts, or
pushed ever farther into the periphery.
Chinese social reformers, such as Sun Yat-sen and Huang Fu, expect the new
Shanghai to be a combination of Western technology and Chinese value. Its physical
structure would be highly centralized, with a bold political district at the geometric
center of the city, encircled by multiple ring roads or green belts. This diagram has no
“suburb,” only a “periphery.” In this context, Zhongshan Road was merely the first
effort to mark the city boundary, followed by two more ring roads scheduled for
construction in 1930 (Figure 6.13). Every physical and social element would be
placed in an orderly and deliberate manner in this concentric-circle microcosm, with
the wealthy at the core and the poor at the periphery. The distinctive planning
ideologies held by the foreign and Chinese city planners were not only embodied in
the road schemes, but also in the land use pattern.

Columbia Circle: “Model Village” for the Foreign Bourgeoisie

In the 1920s, numerous discussions within the foreign community focused on

ways to secure more housing accommodation at moderate rentals, among which
were the erection of high-rise flats within the settlement and the development of a

270
garden suburb in the extra-settlement areas. 52 The former plan proved more
practicable, and brought in more apartment houses or flats to Shanghai. Conversely,
the ever-increasing conflicts between the foreign and Chinese communities since
1925 had largely prevented the development of the garden suburbs. The political
condition improved in 1929, and a villa community was developed between the
settlement western boundary and the railway. Columbia Circle is among the largest
and most successful real estate projects, and is celebrated as the “model village” of
elegant lifestyle.
The project was jointly developed by Asia Realty Co. and Columbia Club. Frank
Raven, president of the Asia Realty, was a civil engineer in the Municipal Council in
the early 1910s, and was one of two American members in the Council. In 1925, he
purchased a vast piece of land in the adjacent area of Fahua and Columbia Roads
when the two roads were still under construction, and initiated the housing project
three years later when the market improved. Although the map of Fahua District
shows that majority of this area was still occupied by local Chinese people until
1931, the perspective drawing on the promotional brochure tended to depict the
Columbia Circle as situated within an exclusive picturesque garden suburb, dotted
with Western-style, middle-class residences (Figure 6.14). The true landscape, such
as the Chinese villages, farmlands, and waterways, was entirely ignored.
The land was subdivided into approximately seventy building plots, each with a
roughly rectangular shape and a standardized size of one mow (Figure 6.15). Each
plot is allocated to a two-story, single-family house. The standardized unit of such
house includes a living room, dining room, kitchen, pantry, garage, and servant room
on the ground floor, and three bedrooms on the first floor (Figure 6.16).

52
Pott, A Short History of Shanghai: 237-38.

271
 Figure 6.14. Bird-eye rendering of the Columbia Circle in 1930
Source: Li Feng, "Columbia Circle: Transformation of the Social Fabric of a Garden Residence
in Shanghai" (Master's thesis, The University of Hong Kong, 2011), Figure 3-5.

Despite the unified land subdivision and house plan, diversity is a primary goal
of the Columbia Circle. As the promotional brochure for the project claims, “The
modern builder not only aims at internal comfort, but at beauty as well. The Asia
Realty Company is not content at stopping here. Their architect realizes the full
value of diversity. Variety is just continued novelty.”53 László Ede Hudec, one of the
most active and creative architects in Shanghai at the time, was appointed
architect-in-chief. He embarked on a grand travel to the United States in early 1929,
investigating recent residential projects, from New York to San Francisco, and
paying special attention to the architectural styles that prevailed in the high-end
estate development. Upon his return to Shanghai, he drafted thrirteen different styles
of houses in Columbia Circle, namely, one “English” style, four variations of the
“English Cottage,” and styles that were Spanish, Italian, California, San Clemente,

53
Li Feng, "Columbia Circle: Transformation of the Social Fabric of a Garden Residence in Shanghai" (Master's
thesis, The University of Hong Kong, 2011), 12.

272
San Diego,, Colonial, Florida,
F od.54 The laast six stylees were app
andd Hollywoo parently
American vernacular
v styles inherrited from the South European
E vvernacular houses,
h
especially from
f Spain.. These thirrteen styles represented
d the latest ttrend in Am
merican
housing at the
t time.

Figure 6.15. Subdivision

S Plan of Columbbia Circle, 19229
Source: Li Feeng, "Columbiia Circle: Trannsformation of the Social Fabric of a Garrden Residencce in
Master's thesis,, The Universiity of Hong Kong,
Shanghai" (M K 2011), Figure
F 2-1.

Figure 6.16. Plan

P for a stanndardized singgle-family houuse in the Coluumbia Circle, László Ede Hudec
H
Source: Li Feeng, "Columbiia Circle: Trannsformation of the Social Fabric of a Garrden Residencce in
Master's thesis,, The Universiity of Hong Kong,
Shanghai" (M K 2011), Figure
F 3-3.

The ideea of diverssity is repressented not only

o in building style vvariations, but
b also
in the indiividualized interior layyout. Poten
ntial purchaasers were allowed to
o select

54
Ibid.

273
furnishing, add or drop elements such as bathroom and lavatory to the house, and
even alter the size of the various rooms. More importantly, they were invited to join
the design at the very early stage, by giving their specific ideas or even providing a
set of drawings and sketches. The architects would convert the ideas and sketches
into construction drawings. This process is explicitly stated in the promotional
brochure: “For a residence of the usual modern type, ranging in price from Tls.
10,000 to Tls. 25,000 for the complete unit, the Asia Realty Company is prepared to
tender against plans which may be provided by the purchaser, with his own
specifications or using specifications provided by this Company. Such an
arrangement would be special and individual in each case.”55
Although no record is available on the number of houses completed, the map of
1945 shows that fifty-six single-family houses were located in this area, most of
which were occupied by foreigner businessmen and professionals, such as
ambassadors, dental surgeons, agents, attorneys, financial advisers, engineers, and
journalists.56

Ping-min-cun: “Civilian Village” for the Chinese Working Class

With plans by the foreign community to turn the undeveloped area between the
settlement boundary and the railway into a garden suburb, the shortage of housing for
the poor people became more serious, especially after the Sino-Japanese conflicts in
1932, when many houses in Zhabei and other Chinese controlled districts were
demolished, turning many refugees and workers homeless. In 1935, Wu Tiecheng,
then mayor of the Shanghai Special Municipality, instructed to establish the
Commission of Civilian Welfare, consisting of twenty-nine Chinese and foreign
members, to raise funds and oversee the construction of “civilians’ villages” to solve
the housing problem.57 Within a year, the commission raised a million yuan and

55
Ibid., 12-13.
56
Records in the China Hong List, cited from ibid., 15.
57
Zhiyong Liang, "Public Housing in Republican Shanghai, 1927-1937," (2010), 8.
274
purchased over 100,000 square meters of land in four areas. Four civilians’ villages
were planned by the Public Works Bureau, and implemented in late 1935.

Figure 6.17. Plan of Zhongshan Road Citizen Village 1935

Source: Drawing by Zhiyong Liang.

Among the four projects carried out in 1935, the Zhongshan Road Civilian
Village was the most well-designed, high-standardized one. The village was situated
at the junction of Zhongshan and Xiangyin Roads. Rows of houses were laid out
along a north-south central axis, with a main gate at both ends of the axis. The
distance between every two rows was seven-meter wide, including a three-meter wide
alleyway and a four-meter wide lawn, providing sufficient fresh air and sunlight to the
residents. A public square was located along the east-west axis, providing not only a
spacious outdoor playground for the children, but also public facilities such as a

275
gathering hall, primary school, fire station, and water tower, as well as several small
shops (Figure 6.17).58
All the houses in the Zhongshan Road Civilians’ Village were single-story,
timber-brick structures with tile pitched roofs (Figure 6.18). The plan of each
residential unit was also unified, adopting the Type A House proposed by the
Commission of Civilian Residence Construction in 1928, which was the best quality
among three types.59 Each unit was approximately nineteen square meters, divided
into a living room, a bedroom, and a kitchen. However, the original semi-detached
arrangement in Type A was changed to row arrangement, and a loft was added to each
unit to provide more living space (Figure 6.19).
Numerous ideas in planning the Zhongshan Road Civilians’ Village were
obviously derived from the latest developments in modern town planning. Open space
was the most important element in the project, with its size and shape carefully
calculated to fulfill the modern standards of sanitation and ventilation. Furthermore,
public facilities were considered an integral part of the residential area and placed at
the center of the neighborhood. Lastly, each unit was subdivided into several parts
according to their functions, providing space for specific activities, such as working,
cooking, and sleeping. All these ideas departed from the traditional Chinese house and
embraced the Western concept of house development and lifestyle.

58
Ibid., 8-9.
59
In 1928, the Commission of Civilian Residence Construction proposed three house types for civilian residence
(ping-min-zhu-suo), Type A, B, and C. The general princile of all the three types was “simple, economical,
durable, and of a proper sanitation standard.” Type A was of the best quality among the three, which was later
amended and adopted in the Zhongshan Road Civilian Village. Type B was row house, each row being composed
of nine residential units and one public kitchen. Type C was back-to-back arrayed residential units opened
directly to public roads, and there was no sub-division within each unit and no individual kitchen. This type was
designed especially to accommodate shack residents. The size of each type is 19 square meters, 10 square meters,
and 8 square meters, respectviely. See ibid., 6.

276
 Figure 6.18. Main Gate and the central axis of the Zhongshan Road Civilians’ Village
Source: Memory Shanghai, http://memoire.digilib.sh.cn/SHNH/.

Figure 6.19. Housing Type A for Civilian Residence, 1928

Source: Zhiyong Liang. “Public Housing in Republican Shanghai, 1927–1937.” 2010.

Both the Columbia Circle and Zhongshan Road Civilians’ Village were situated
in the adjacent area along Zhongshan Road, influenced by the latest trends in town
planning in Europe and the United States. However, the Columbia Circle was a
277
developed private estate that was picturesque and personalized, whereas the Civilians’
Village was a public housing project that appeared symmetric and unified. The two
projects represented the two different models of urbanization adopted by the foreign
and Chinese municipalities. Columbia Circle was a classic embodiment of the
Anglo-American tradition of putting the rich people in the outskirts and the poor
people in the congested urban core, whereas the Civilians’ Village initiated the
“Chinese modern city,” which tended to place the higher class in the center and the
lower class on the periphery.

Summary

The period from 1927 to 1937 is a crucial turning point in the planning history of
Shanghai, as it witnessed the entry of the city into a new phase of development. On
one side, the increasingly wealthier and self-conscious Anglo-American community
started pursuing its ideal lifestyle in the city, primarily through the extra-settlement
road schemes deliberately separating the upper-class foreign residents from the
congested settlement, while maintaining easy accessibility to it through a set of
east-west parkways. The substantial “foreign-style” garden houses set in open,
tree-shaded lots depicted the blending of property, union with nature, and family life,
which defined the distinct cultural identity of the Shanghailanders as both “Shanghai”
and “Western.” On the other side, the newly established Nationalist government, led
by the new generation of Chinese politicians and professionals, intended to assert its
power in the city by creating an entirely new Shanghai that was both “modern” and
“Chinese.”
Zhongshan Road reflected the Chinese leaders’ twofold ambition: first was to
deliver a strong political message to the Western community; second was to reshape
the city to solve the very real urban problems, especially in the Chinese-administered
zones. Considering that in the 1920s, the average road width in the International
Settlement was approximately 40 feet to 50 feet, the 80-foot wide Zhongshan Road

278
was indisputably a striking new element. Additionally, the Civilian Village along it
was the first public housing project to provide affordable residence to the
working-class majority. Such projects indicated that compared with the traditional
Chinese bureaucrats and foreign city planners, the new Chinese city planners were
more aware of the problems of the ordinary urban inhabitants and were more in
touch with the people they served.
However, Zhongshan Road also entirely destroyed the picturesque garden
suburbs created by the foreign municipality. The somewhat conflicting street patterns
and the overlapping controls reflected the increasing social segregation between the
foreign and Chinese communities in Shanghai. Moreover, the Zhongshan Road
project anticipated the significant contingence in the history of modern city planning
in Shanghai: city planning was previously led by an elective foreign municipality, and
was relatively pragmatic, laissez-faire, and fragmented; aftermath, city planning was
led by a centralized Chinese government, and turned out to be more symbolic,
authoritarian, and monolithic.

279
 CONCLUSION
The First Wave of Modern Urban Development and Its Legacy

The Sino-Japanese War in 1937 ended the ten-year contested road planning and
construction by the Western and Chinese municipalities. The Nationalist government
resisted the Japanese in Shanghai for around three months until it retreated into
southwest China in November 1937.
The war also eliminated the Western presence in Shanghai. Although the
International Settlement and French Concession enjoyed peace during the “solitary
island” period between 1937 and 1941, they faced unprecedented trouble in urban
administration. Similar to the condition when the “Small Swords” and the Taiping
Rebellion seized Shanghai, a great number of Chinese refugees streamed down from
the Chinese territory into the two foreign settlements.1 Every available building lot
was soon occupied, cheap accommodations were rapidly constructed, and the two
foreign settlements were turned into a huge playing field for a rapacious band of real
estate speculation.
By contrast, public works were significantly hindered during this period. In the
International Settlement, essential materials for road construction, such as stones and
sand, became unobtainable after the Japanese forces took over the Municipal Pingqiao
Quarry. The Municipal Council was forced to use reconditioned materials salvaged
from worn-out roads to repair the most important trunk roads in the settlement. In
1941, the supply of asphalt materials for road construction was reduced to 10% of the
supply in 1936. 2 In the same year, the Japanese forces took control of the
International Settlement. The Municipal Council continued to handle the urban
1
Henriot, Shanghai, 1927-1937: 230.
2
Shanghai Municipal Council, Report for the Year 1941, 70.

280
administrative affairs, but all the Western members were led by a Japanese president.
In the following two years, conflicts frequently arose between the Japanese president
and British engineers regarding the remodeling of the Bund promenade, the Public
Garden, and several important trunk roads in the settlement. In August 1943, a
Japanese puppet government was established in Shanghai, took over the two foreign
settlements, and ended the history of Shanghai as a treaty port.
Nevertheless, the city planning and construction of the International Settlement
between 1843 and 1937 fundamentally changed the urban structure and social life of
Shanghai. Modern roads provided the basis and the primary engine for the urban
transformation. The new road system constructed in the International Settlement
added a new urban quarter to Shanghai. The road pattern defined the settlement as a
dual-core urban artifact composed of an efficient business center and a picturesque
middle-class residential area. The most prominent achievements at the time, such as
the Bund promenade, Nanjing Road, and the beautifully curved, tree-lined parkways
in the residential areas, created the classic image of modern Shanghai and continue to
be the most attractive spots in the city.
The seemingly coherent road system, however, was not the result of an overall
plan. Rather, it took into shape in an unexpected and contingent way. At the beginning,
neither the high-rank Chinese and foreign officials nor the early Western settlers have
ever expected Shanghai to become such a large city within such a short time.
Successive socio-political and economic upheavals, such as the influx of Chinese
refugees during the Taiping Rebellion, the rapid growth of modern industry after the
Treaty of Shimonoseki, and the sudden popularity of automobiles, increased wealth
and opportunity in the settlement. However, modern forms of manufacture,
transportation, and real estate speculation could not automatically generate a good
urban environment. Instead, such modern elements often aggravated sanitary,
financial, and administrative problems that could place the city under chaos.
Modern road was considered the favored instrument to solve these urban
problems. According to the nineteenth-century scientific urbanist ideology, modern
road was not merely used for transportation as the traditional street did. Rather,
281
given its functions for public service and infrastructure, modern road was widely
considered the fundamental precondition for commercial, industrial, social, and
cultural development. Wide and paved roads promote economic development by
enabling the transportation of people and goods under any weather condition. They
protect people from illnesses by supplying fresh water and proper drainage. They
facilitate modern domestic life and industrial activities by providing electricity,
telephone, and telegraph. They generate great private wealth by transforming cheap
agricultural land into highly profitable building plots. Thus, modern road
construction was an ideal instrument to achieve a sanitary, orderly, and profitable
settlement. The economic-driven ideology provided the great engine that drove the
expansion of new roads inside and outside the International Settlement.
Each road scheme had its clear aim and form. In the second half of the
nineteenth century, the only acceptable road pattern was a dense orthogonal grid that
naturally divided land into rectangular plots ready for construction. In the early
twentieth century, the curved trident-intersected “extra-settlement roads” reflected
the desire of the Anglo-American upper-middle class to flee the congested urban
core and retreat to the picturesque countryside.
Similar to other modern material and intellectual innovations in China, this
modern road system was a product of foreign intelligence and engineering with
which people may proclaim it to be a fundamentally break with the city’s existing
physical landscapes, social organizations, and power relations. However, under the
“Treaty System” the urban artifact of Shanghai inevitably included the economic,
political, and cultural concerns of various groups—Chinese and foreigners, locals
and outsiders, and professionals and the business elite. Because of the vague
conditions set in the Fundamental Treaties regarding the administrative institution of
the settlement, the Chinese successfully retained sovereignty over the entire city,
including the foreign-administrated areas, and foreign mercantile community
obtained a certain degree of autonomy.
Thus, the Municipal city planners, the foreign mercantile community, the
foreign Consular Body, and the Chinese officials all played a part in the planning,
282
construction and administration of the International Settlement. Each party had its
own goals, ambitions, and visions to the city. Among them, the municipal
engineers-in-chief were the primary city planners. The most influential among them
were C. Clark, who arrived in Shanghai in the early 1860s and was the first
municipal engineer; Charles Mayne, who headed the Public Works Department from
1889 to 1909; Chas. H. Godfrey, who took the position in 1910; and C. Harpur, who
started a career in Shanghai in the late nineteenth century and took charge of the
office in 1921. We cannot find sufficient document on these engineers’ educational
backgrounds and work experience and on the origins and inspirations of their works.
However, municipal reports, correspondences, and regularly scheduled study leaves
indicate that these engineers all came from Britain and were well exposed to
development of the modern city planning in Britain, America, and the British
colonies.3 Although the International Settlement was only a part of Shanghai, the
municipal planners tended to envision a greater cosmopolitan Shanghai connected by
a road system that covered Shanghai, Baoshan, and Qingpu counties, and bounded
the Anglo-American, French, and Chinese urban enclaves. This idealistic technicism
was explicitly expressed in the 120-foot-wide Bund promenade scheme between
1919 and 1921 and the 80-foot-wide Nanjing Road scheme between 1925 and 1926.
Both road schemes demanded thorough reconstruction of the dense urban center to
create spacious, multi-functional public open space to accommodate the
transportation, business, and entertainment activities for the entire city. Their
planning ideology was further expressed in several road schemes that were proposed
but unimplemented in the early twentieth century. The most ambitious of these
schemes were Mayne’s ring road proposal and Godfrey’s trunk road system
connecting the Point, Jessfield Park, the Chinese North Gate, and the Chinese
Railway Station.
The technicist vision of the municipal engineers was supported by an

3
The Annual Reports to the Municipal Council indicate that the municipal engineers recorded their study leaves
for Yokohama, Singapore, and Hong Kong. In the twentieth century, North America became the new destination
for overseas studies.

283
increasingly sophisticated municipality established according to the Western concept
of urban administration: Councilors were elected from qualified ratepayers, taxes
were collected to support public works and services, and public works were
proposed for approval during the regular assemblies of the ratepayers.
The “qualified ratepayers,” or more accurately, a group of foreign business elite
entitled to elect and be elected to the Municipal Council, were the ultimate decision
makers on general public works. These individuals comprised the Municipal Body of
the settlement and proudly called themselves the “Shanghailanders.” Most of them
were European or American, and a few were Japanese, but all of them owned
businesses in Shanghai. Most of them moved their families to Shanghai and regarded
the city as their “second hometown.” However, only few of them were genuinely
interested in the history and culture of the city. In fact, the Shanghailanders were
businessmen rather than social reformers and outsiders rather than locals. In contrast
to the municipal engineers, the Shanghailanders never treated Shanghai as a physical
and social entity. They merely aspired to a sumptuous bubble that resembled their
hometowns in Europe and the United States and that could be cut off from all
socio-political uncertainties in China. This ideal was explicitly reflected in the
development of the garden suburb: the elaborately designed suburban parkways all
ran east-west to connect the business core with the residential area, ignoring the
communication between the Chinese urban areas in the southern and northern part of
the city, enhancing land prices in adjacent areas, and luring the urban poor into the
Chinese territory.
However, the Municipal Council did not obtain full dominance as its
counterparts in European cities nor absolute authority as in typical colonial cities.
The Treaties and Land Regulations allowed the Chinese and foreigners to live
intermingled in the International Settlement and retained the sovereignty of the
Chinese in the foreign-administered areas. Chinese involvement made the course of
road planning and construction contentious. In order to counterbalance the
conflicting visions and interests of various parties, several joint committees were
established. The most influential committees were the Settlement Boundary
284
Commissions, the Huangpu Conservancy Board, and the Foreign and Chinese Land
Commissions.
The joint-committee system introduced an influential component in the modern
city planning, that is, the public consensus and the institution to generate it. More
importantly, it exposed Chinese directly in the Western-led city planning process. In
the process, the Chinese political elite shaped and reshaped their interpretation of
modernity, colonialism, and nationalism in their strategic cooperation and
competition with the foreign municipality. And these concepts continue to affect
people’s ways of understanding and transforming the city in the postcolonial period.
During the Qing regime Chinese officials interpreted the Western-led city
construction as damage to the existing physical and social landscape. They tried hard
to make Shanghai look “intact” despite foreign presence. These officials prevented the
extension of the settlement beyond the Shanghai–Baoshan border, maintained the
“rent-in-perpetuity” and Shengke systems in the foreign-administered areas, addressed
protests when new roads affected farmlands and canals, and used graves, temples, and
other local relics and customs to hinder foreign road schemes.
The involvement of Qing officials in the road planning and construction of the
settlement had a twofold effect on the urban landscape. On the one hand, such
involvement hampered, distorted, and even permanently discontinued many new road
schemes proposed by the municipal engineers. On the other hand, the involvement
also permitted the direct involvement of the Chinese officials in Western urban
development and administration. By the end of the nineteenth century, state officials,
gentry, businessmen, and common people had accepted the concept of “relying on
foreign technology to realize Chinese subjectivities.” Chinese political and business
elites were no longer preoccupied with the “intact” traditional urban landscape, but
instead jointly launched a series of new public work schemes to bring the
Chinese-administered areas up to modern standards.
The foreign settlements were the most admired models of the creation of the
Chinese modern city. For example, a new road running along the Huangpu River to
the south of the French Concession was proposed by the City Magistrate in 1894 to
285
imitate the Bund promenade in the International Settlement. 4 In Wusong, a
Harbor-Building General Board was set up in 1898 to build a deep-water harbor near
the Yangtze River; this harbor was reminiscent of the harbors erected in the
International Settlement and French Concession.5 In Zhabei, a General Works Board
was established on the basis of the model of the Municipal Council of the
International Settlement to “manage all matters connected with roads, lighting, and
police in the city and its suburbs.”6 In 1906, the creation of the Pudong Dikes
Maintenance Board enabled the regular maintenance of the dikes across the Huangpu,
the construction and maintenance of roads, the establishment of schools, and the
distribution of free medicine and vaccination to the poor.7
These turn-of-the-century projects manifested the ambition of late Qing officials
and businessmen to build a “Chinese modern Shanghai,” which fundamentally
differed from the traditional city and could compete with the “Foreign modern
Shanghai.” In contrast to the original vision, these road schemes failed to stimulate
economic development in Chinese-controlled areas because of unfavorable location,
shortage of financial support, poor maintenance, and, most importantly, lack of
knowledge on modern city planning. Therefore, the small-scale and scattered roads
merely added several urban fragments around the two foreign settlements.
Zhongshan Road marks the beginning of a new era. Not only did this road
destroy the foreign garden suburbs and provide the first direct connection between
the isolated Chinese urban areas in Nanshi and Zhabei, it also initiated a public
housing project to provide affordable residences for the working class. Zhongshan
Road was the first public work for the traffic, housing, and social benefits of the
urban poor. Although its scale was moderate and its quality was unsatisfactory,
Zhongshan Road represents the ambition and capability of young Chinese city

4
Henriot, Shanghai, 1927-1937: 9-10.
5
Ibid., 11.
6
Ibid., 11-12.
7
Ibid., 12.

286
planners to modernize the city. This project also indicates that, compared with the
foreign businessmen and traditional Chinese bureaucrats, the new Chinese city
planners were more aware of the problems of ordinary urban residents and were
more in touch with the people they served.
However, the efforts of these young planners were soon interrupted by
Nationalist political leaders, who were dissatisfied with the minor improvements in
the existing urban framework but were enthusiastic about creating an entirely new
Shanghai that would surpass the achievements of the foreign settlements. The plan
was called the “Great Shanghai Project,” whose centerpiece was a new civic center
built outside the urban area. The winning scheme was proposed by two Chinese
architects Zhao Shen and Sun Ximing. This scheme called for a cruciform road
system in which a pair of 200-feet-wide axial boulevards intersected in a broad square
anchored in the center by a pagoda. To the north was the main administrative complex,
with the City Hall at its center. From there, a pair of boulevards radiated northward on
either side of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and the Auditorium. Each mall was
capped by a semi-circular road, beyond which the city was laid out in a rectilinear
grid of blocks. Residences for affluent businessmen and officials were located on
either side of the central axis and were surrounded by neighborhoods for workers.8
All available resources were utilized to build the new civic center. Between 1931 and
1937, several key boulevards and structures were completed. The most elaborate of
these structures was the City Hall, which had a glazed-tile gable roof and an interior
decorated with polychromatic columns, coffers, and beams.9
The ten-year existence of the Nationalist regime also cut off communications
between foreign and Chinese authorities. The joint committees gave way to radical
or even bloody social confrontation, which turned the city into a battlefield for space
and resources. Chinese political leaders and professionals continued to look to the
West, but their models were no longer the foreign settlements at Shanghai but the

8
Thomas J. Campanella, The Concrete Dragon: China's Urban Revolution and What it Means for the World
(New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2008), 65-69.
9
Ibid.

287
large capital cities in Europe and the United States. These leaders refused to talk
with local Western city planners, but appealed to experts from Europe and America.
Under this circumstance, the urban space reflected not only the political struggle
between the Chinese authorities and the foreign municipality but also the interaction
between different urban design philosophies, especially the garden suburb ideal
implemented in the International Settlement and the City Beautiful Movement ideal
adopted in the construction of Zhongshan Road and the new civic center.
In conclusion, Shanghai never became a formal colony. The city was never
directly controlled by any colonial power, nor was the Chinese authorities and
population prohibited from the foreign-administrated areas. Therefore, the Chinese
and the foreigners were juxtaposed along with their goals, ambitions, and visions in
the modern urbanization process. The Western-led modern city planning brought a
direct and considerable physical, social and intellectual influence to the local society.
The foreign-designed and -constructed modern road system not only established an
image of a modern city that all Chinese people easily accessed, but also prompted a
thorough revaluation of the utility and significance of road planning and construction.
Compared with Western-style buildings which were usually interpreted as signs of
colonial invasions and imperialism, modern road constructed with Western
engineering and technologies were more easily appreciated by the Chinese society.
Observing the foreign road extensions inside and outside the settlement, the Chinese
gradually realized that good road was not merely a sign of political control as
indicated in Kaogongji and other Chinese classics. Rather, it was the first stage in a
series of urban reforms because new roads required a modern police force to patrol
them, lights to illuminate them, sanitation workers to clean them, and a joint
civic-government-controlled public works board to administer them.10 Thus, modern
roads together with the commercial growth and institutional improvement associated
with them can create a “civilized place” in China.
However, Shanghai bore certain features of a colonial city. The urban artifacts of
10
Shen Bao.March 15, 1896. Quoted in Peter J. Carroll, Between Heaven and Modernity: Reconstructing Suzhou,
1895-1937 (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2006), 42.

288
the city were designed by foreigners, whereas its urban residents were primarily
Chinese. The broad, smooth modern roads precluded the differentiation of urban
residents who held different desires and visions of their city. Both the foreign and
Chinese communities regarded modern roads as a mechanism for promoting
economic and social progress. However, the foreign community pursued a “bourgeois
utopia” that excluded the Chinese poor, whereas the Chinese community pursued a
“nationalist utopia” to hasten the release of China from foreign domination. Under
this circumstance, no real public consensus on city planning and construction was
reached, and all comprehensive road schemes for the entire cosmopolitan Shanghai
were not supported. With the emergence of Chinese nationalism in the early twentieth
century, the Western-led city planning was decried by the new generation of Chinese
politicians and social reformers, and its ideals and practices, successes and failures
were gradually forgotten.
In the continuous struggle for economic privilege and political dominance, both
the foreign municipality and the Chinese authorities were preoccupied with the
erection of physical symbols to embody their visions of modern Shanghai. They both
overlooked the basic needs of the poorest citizens. The modern road schemes, carried
out either by the Municipal Council or by the Qing officials and Nationalist
government, eliminated the property rights of original landowners, destroyed
agricultural activities in nearby villages, demolished the graves of Chinese ancestors,
and pushed immigrant laborers to the outskirts of the city. Although the economic and
industrial development brought by the modern roads generated wealth and prosperity,
it only made life more uncertain for the urban poor.
Rather than describing the social confrontation between the various parties, the
dissertation re-construct the historical narrative of Chinese city planning by
considering the Western-led city planning as the first wave of modern city planning
in China. This preliminary step toward a modern city which was led by Western city
planners had an ambivalent yet profound influence on the following decades of city
planning led by the Chinese elite: on the one hand, it successfully defined a
progressive image of “Modern City” that all Chinese could easily access; on the
289
other hand, although excluded Chinese from the decision-making process, it also
enriched Chinese urban life by creating new amenity and the concept of public
spaces which eventually engender a series of social reforms.
The study not only highlights the complicated, fragmented and pragmatic nature
of municipality in making planning decisions under the process of political, social
and spatial struggle, it also reveals the origins and contested meanings of “modern,”
“public,” and “beauty” in Chinese context, which remain fluid and disputable. The
issues addressed in the study not only clarify the various forces that have shaped
Shanghai’s modern built environment but also offer historical insights into the
challenges and problems in urban development today.

290
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