September 25, 2021

Promotional Video of SUSAS 2021

At the afternoon of 25 September, the opening ceremony of Shanghai Urban Space Art Season 2021 (SUSAS 2021) was successfully held at the venue of its thematic exhibition, Columbia Circle! The event was attended by Zhuang Shaoqin, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources; Zhang Wei, Deputy Mayor of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government; Wang Weiren, Deputy Secretary General of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government; Xu Yisong, Director of Shanghai Urban Planning and Natural Resources Bureau; Han Zhiqiang, Secretary and Deputy Director of Shanghai Urban Planning and Natural Resources Bureau; Jin Lei, Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism; Wang Lan, Secretary of Party Committee of Changning District; Zhang Wei, Mayor of Changning District; Xiao Wengao, Deputy Secretary of Party Committee of Putuo District.

Other attendees include: Zheng Shiling, Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and President of SUSAS Academic Committee, as well as curators and art directors of the Thematic Exhibition and the exemplar exhibitions at Xinhua Community and Caoyang Community.

Resident agencies of the sister cities of Shanghai were invited to the event: Hamburg Liaison Office China, Representative Office of Catalonia Trade & Investment at Shanghai, London & Partners, and Representatives of São Paulo Investment Promotion Agency at Shanghai. Planning and natural resources agencies of Shanghai and more than 50 cities in China – municipalities, provincial capitals, cities with independent planning status and cities at Yangtze Delta – sub-districts of Shanghai and exhibitors of SUSAS 2021 were also invited to the streaming session of the opening ceremony.

As Zhang Wei, Deputy Mayor of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government stated in his address to the opening ceremony, he sincerely hoped that SUSAS 2021 would be an opportunity to promote the concepts, significances and methods of “15-minute Community Life Circle” and create a positive atmosphere in which everyone attends to, supports and participates in the action. He also expressed the expectation that other cities would implement the important philosophy of “People’s City” in a profound way with Shanghai, carry out community governance actions featuring “Joint creation, Joint Consultancy, Joint Discussion, Joint Building, Joint Appraisal and Sharing”, construct wonderful communities which are suitable for living, working, outing, studying and elderly care, provide more examples for community planning, construction and governance in the new era, and contribute more Chinese wisdom.

Zhuang Shaoqin, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources said that the planning and effective implementation of “15-minute Community Life Circle” in Shanghai and other Chinese cities has established a new “people-centered” model to run and renew cities – the “micro-regenerations” reflect the wisdom derived from traditional Chinese medicine and the notion of society-wide co-building and sharing, demonstrating the institutional advantages of urban governance in China, would necessarily affect the life styles, developmental approaches and governance reformations of future cities in positively far-reaching manners. He also hoped that Shanghai would continue to play the role of “vanguard and pioneer” in urban space management and the construction of “people’s city”, and exhibit more Chinese wisdom and Shanghai projects.

After the address of Deputy Minister Zhuang, the leaders of Ministry of Natural Resources, Shanghai and the four hosts of SUSAS 2021 announced the opening of SUSAS 2021 together.

After the opening ceremony, Xu Yisong, Director of Shanghai Urban Planning and Natural Resources Bureau, introduced SUSAS 2021 at the main forum: SUSAS 2021 “15-minute Community Life Circle – People’s City”, as a collaborative project of Ministry of Natural Resources and Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, is hosted by Shanghai Urban Planning and Natural Resources Bureau, Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism, People’s Government of Changning District and People’s Government of Putuo District. With the sub-districts of Xinhua Road and Caoyang New Village as examples, SUSAS 2021 offers a vivid interpretation of the meanings of the vision of “Five Suitables” and the actions of “Six Joints”. SUSAS 2021 is expected to fuse art and life, empower communities with culture and art, enhance community qualities, activate continual urban regeneration through the media of art, extends the creation and governance of “15-minute Community Life Circle” in terms of both connotation and coverage, and comprehensive improve the city of Shanghai.

SUSAS 2021 insists on the approach to create a set of exemplar projects which in turn promote emulation all over the city, and energize community development through the media of large-scale cultural activities. SUSAS 2021 includes the thematic exhibition at Columbia Circle, 2 key exemplar communities (Xinhua and Caoyang) and other 18 experiential community projects around Shanghai. Besides actual experiences with community facilities and services as well as community artworks, SUSAS 2021 offers a range of academic seminars and community-creation activities throughout the season, and expects to realize the methods, processes and accomplishments of “15-minute Community Life Circle – People’s City” with these activities during SUSAS 2021.

At the morning of 25 September, Deputy Minister Zhuang Shaoqin visited the exemplar community of Caoyang New Village where he inspected urban renewal projects such as Centennial Park, Guixiang Market, Lanxi Youth Park and First Caoyang Village.

The grand opening ceremony of Exemplar Community of Caoyang was held at the evening. The SUSAS short tour “Live in Caoyang for One Day” was announced. Educational programs were signed with several colleges or universities. And a hand-painted picture book, “Life and Community of Caoyang”, was debuted. After the opening ceremony, a colorful performance by the community amateur troupes demonstrated the spirits of Caoyang citizens.

After the opening ceremony, the Centennial Park was opened and flooded by the local residents who had been longing for it. A visitor compared the experience of the park to that of Nanjing Road, and another marveled at its beauty. With their phones, many residents captured the elegance of the High-line Bridge at Centennial Park against the night.