Small businesses seen to benefit from city’s master plan

Wu Xingxiang has, since the early 1990s, worked as a cobbler in an alley in front of his home in downtown Shanghai. For decades, his shop was nothing more than the ground beneath his feet and an open umbrella that was pasted with A4 sheets that read “shoe repair”.

Today, Wu runs a cozy shop space and no longer has to worry about the weather, because urban renewal efforts have spruced up several old buildings in the alley along Yuyuan Road in the city’s Changning district.

“My father used to fix shoes under the trees in the alley for six decades before I took over. After relocating into the complex, we now have a ceiling to shelter our business from the wind and rain for the first time ever,” he says.

Called Yuyuan Public Market, the complex was put into operation in early 2019 and comprises shoe repair, tailoring and locksmith services that stand alongside hip cafes and eateries, art galleries and dance studios.

Officials of the Shanghai Commission of Commerce say both top commercial zones and professional workers such as cobblers and locksmiths are essential to the city’s urban renewal.

In Shanghai’s master plan (201735), the city will be taking the lead in the country in proposing the creation of “15-minute community life circles”. Shanghai has since the release of the plan been building such “circles” to ensure residents have access to amenities for daily life, work, entertainment, education and leisure within a 15-minute walk, says Wang Weiren, deputy secretary-general of the municipal government.

The Shanghai Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources will release an action plan in September to further strengthen the design of such “15-minute circles” and expand their coverage in the city.

One of the pilot projects in Shanghai to introduce such areas, the Yuyuan Public Market has helped small businesses thrive there. One of the beneficiaries is tailor Zhao Yunbiao, who had between the 1980s and 2019 run his business at home.

According to Zhao, his business boomed after he relocated to the market two years ago as his clientele was no longer limited to the residents of the area. Today, his clientele is made up mostly of visitors from other parts of the city who like to spend time in the hip and trendy location.

“I have had young customers with requests for tailor-made wedding gowns. I’ve also had college students majoring in fashion design asking me for help in turning their sketches into real dresses,” says Zhao, 54.

Wu also has similar experiences, he says, noting that some of his young customers have requested personalized badges and other ornaments that they can attach to their sneakers.

GAO ERQIANG / CHINA DAILY Yuyuan Public Market, in the Yuyuan Road community in Shanghai’s Changning district, offers daily services such as shoe repairs and tailoring.