On Hutongs and Highrises

The traditional urban form in Beijing is the hutong. These long, mostly very narrow and densely packed streets have existed for hundreds of years, some much longer. Historically, they are lined with siheyuan homes, which have four main sections looking inward into a central courtyard. The siheyuan houses were divided roughly into four, with each of cardinal direction housing a different generation of a family. The rooms looked out into a central courtyard, a place of respite and solitude in the city.

After the Communist takeover of China in the mid-20th century, urban development was deemphasized under the state ideology of narrowing the urban/rural divide with the stated goal of creating a more egalitarian society. Hutong homes where a single wealthy family had lived were occupied by several — sometimes dozens — of families. The central courtyards were divided and subdivided into smaller family units. While many hutongs today have running water and electricity, even internet access in the case of my homestay (pictured above), facilities are still limited. Most do not have private toilets, with residents instead using communal bathrooms. Space — for cooking, for sleeping, for having guests over, for spending time with family members, for living — is extremely limited.

These conditions shed some light on the why in the current government’s push for development and modernization, massive high rise development have been favored over historic housing forms. Beijing’s skyline is filled with cranes, teaming with workers night and day constructing enormous residential developments. The buildings they create are huge, housing hundreds of families in a building. Where the dense urban life once existed are now broad boulevards lined with housing and commercial towers. Entire neighborhoods of hutongs have been cleared to be replaced by new development, their residents relocated elsewhere in the city. While displaced residents are given the option of cash or the equivalent square footage in the new high-rises, the long-term societal impact of this dramatic is urban communities have yet to be realized.

The clearing of the hutongs has been met with criticism both from within China and from abroad. One native Beijing resident who met with our group lamented the loss of the historic architecture of the hutongs and the vitality of the dense streets. He sang the song of the cart peddler he heard as a boy, who’s melodious chants would never be effective in a high-rise communities. The speaker’s passion on the subject was hardly an academic exercise; his own childhood home is slated to be destroyed and replaced by a high-rise.

With his story as setting the context, students set out to evaluate how former hutong residents who now live in high rises felt about this dramatic change in their lives. To their surprise, nearly all of the residents they met preferred their current situation to their lives in the hutongs. Yes, the displacement process was inconvenient and they missed aspects of their former neighborhoods, but their new homes have central heating, private bathrooms, and reliable electrical connections. One resident stated that the government’s efforts to preserve hutongs within Beijing’s first ring road were motivated mostly to appeal to foreign tourists seeking authentic Chinese life in the modern metropolis. This quest for authenticity has also motivated a few wealthy young Chinese couples to buy up the multiple properties where a single siheyuan existed and recreate the aristocratic houses of yesterday.

The powers-that-be pushing for the rapid pace of change in China’s capital have until recently had little patience for historic preservation. Certainly before these areas are destroyed forever, it’s important to question whether abandoning this traditional urban form might have unforeseen negative impacts in the future. Yet it’s also important to ask in whom’s image are these spaces being created? Is the preservation of the hutong coming at the expense of residents who lack access to basic residential services like private toilets? If there is the will to preserve the hutongs, it’s essential to find solutions which assure that modern urban living standards are met without making these areas unaffordable to the very people who make them so vibrant.

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