Page 1 - 20190924【上海日报】9月刊

Jing’an
keyw rds September KeywordS

Editor’s note:
Tuesday Jing’an sits at the heart of Night spots
Shanghai. It represents the
24 September essence of the history and Conflicts between
culture of the city, home to
century-old buildings, big-name
2019 attractions, glitzy retail malls and businesses and
charming art galleries. Annual residents are
music and art events give the harmony
district a distinctive ambience. a problem that
C highlights of Jing’an. must be solved.
In this series, we showcase the

Ke Jiayun Wang Jieming
Director of Nanjing Road W.
hanghai has been called Subdistrict Office
a “sleepless city” because
of its vibrant night life,
Sbut what some residents
consider fun is nothing but a
headache for others. deputy head of the subdistrict’s
The streets that have become sanitation office. “Sometimes
hotspots for nighttime dining the number of calls reached al-
and drinking often are char- most 100.”
acterized by large crowds that When authorities launched
spill out onto the pavement and a crackdown in 2017, reducing
even streets, noisy conversa- business hours and prohibiting
tions, loud music, littering and tables out on the pavement, “the
sometimes rowdy behavior. For environment did improve, at the
people living in adjacent resi- cost of customers,” Zhang said.
dential areas, the night scene is “The income in the first month
a nightmare, and they complain dropped by 40 percent, and we
constantly to authorities. realized that our street was
What to do? Night spots create dying.”
a vibrant after-hours economy On behalf of other business
and serve a certain lifestyle owners on Dagu Road, Zhang
population. Where is the balance wrote to Wang Jieming, director
between party goers and local of the subdistrict office.
residents? The two sides agreed on that
Among the nightlife areas that sidewalk tables and seats would
came out on the wrong side of be permitted but they had to be
the equation were the Pengpu removed before 11pm, and the
night market in Jing’an, “cray- outdoor music speakers had to
fish street” on Shouning Road be removed. Committee mem-
in Huangpu District and “pub bers visited the homes of nearby
street” on Yongkang Road in residents to gauge acceptable
Xuhui. All have closed. noise levels.
One possible solution to this The subdistrict dispatched
enduring dilemma seems to be staff to Dagu Road to assist
working on Dagu Road in Jing’an the committee in dealing with
District. The road is a magnet problems. The staff developed
for people who want a late din- HKRI Taikoo Hui mall an application process for the
ner with family or drinks with committee to manage problems,
friends. rate businesses and report black-
When darkness falls, the 500- by shortening business hours There is now a committee of listed names.
meter road, located between and banning outside tables. It Dagu Road businesses that self- It’s not only bars and eateries
Chengdu and Shimen No. 1 roads, worked to improve the evening polices the street. When a French that stoke resident ire. In May, a
starts to buzz with activity as environment but resulted in bar ignored the rules and kept Dagu Road spa shop called Slim
people crowd into restaurants fewer customers. drawing neighborhood com- Spa was the target of resident
and bars. There are more than In July 2017, the bars on Dagu plaints, it was quietly forced to complaints about the emission
20 eateries and 10-plus pubs on Road wrote to the subdistrict close without any intervention of odiferous steam. Complain-
Dagu among the 74 businesses expressing their willingness to by authorities. ants said they had to keep their
on the road. work with authorities to balance It’s all quite a contrast with windows closed for fear the
JING’AN
It all started when a French their business interests with two years ago. Zhang Jian, chief emissions would harm their
restaurant and an Indian eatery neighborhood sensitivities. of the committee, recalled the health.
opened there. Other businesses Subdistrict officials met with loud music, noise levels and Local environmental protec-
followed. Soon the area became bar owners, who agreed to stan- other problems on the road. tion officials checked the site
the in-place to go at night. As dardize operations and address “The street is adjacent to a and found that the steam was
its popularity grew, so too com- noise levels and sanitation. The residential complex, and every harmless. Residents still balked
plaints from local residents. number of complaints from area day we received tens of calls at the smell.
The Nanjing Road W. Subdis- dropped to single digits from complaining about nighttime Zhang visited the spa late in
trict addressed the problem more than 40 a month. problems on Dagu,” said Shen Yu, May and noticed that one of the
machines in use was a newer
model that didn’t emit steam.
After discussions, the spa agreed
to replace older machines with
the emission-free new models.
“In Jing’an, there are many
similar nightlife streets, like
Nanyang, Tongren and Maom-
ing roads,” said Wang.
Rising nighttime hot spots,
including Julu, Fumin, Changle
Scan on WeChat to have and Shaanxi roads, are impor-
real-time update of what’s tant to the nighttime economy
happening in the district. and to the lifestyle preferences
(Chinese only) of many residents, he added.
“Conflicts between business-
es and residents are a problem
that must be solved and Dagu
Road serves as a successful
Jing’an Kerry Centre Fengshengli commercial complex model,” he said.