Architecture is a universal language. Whether it is Baroque classicism by the Seine River or industrial modernism by the Huangpu River, they both tell rich and timeless stories behind the buildings. In June this year, Xue Kan, Secretary of the CPC Yangpu District, led a delegation from Yangpu District to visit France. With the careful organization of the French Architects Association, the delegation went to the wharf and other places to investigate the old city renovation and urban renewal projects, and gained in-depth understanding of the construction and utilization of waterfront public space. They had a discussion with more than 10 architects and entrepreneurs on the subject of urban renewal, and exchanged the relevant practices and experience in the field of Yangpu's urban renewal and introduced in detail the results of the transformation of Yangpu District from a rust belt to a life show belt in terms of space, carrier and culture. During the discussion, Xue Kan extended an invitation to the French architects, inviting the French Architects Association to visit Yangpu, to experience the transformation of the riverside in Yangpu, and to talk with Shanghai architects about urban renewal. On August 26, the French Architects Association visited Yangpu at the District's invitation. Xue Kan met with Ariane, Vice President of the Association, and her entourage, and Xu Jianhua, member of the Standing Committee of the District CPC Committee and Vice Mayor of the District, attended the meeting. The two sides had further in-depth exchanges and discussions on the promotion of urban renewal in Yangpu Riverside, which is full of creativity, competitiveness and youthful vitality, and talked about new visions of cooperation to seek a new future for development.

Xue Kan expressed a warm welcome to the return visit of the French Architects Association. He pointed out that more than a hundred years ago, the East and West civilizations mingled and collided at Yangpu Riverside, giving birth to the cradle of China's modern industrial civilization. Nowadays, Yangpu Riverside has refined the temperament of "industrial style" and "cultural scenery", and accelerated the change to the living shoreline, ecological shoreline and innovative shoreline. Yangpu has always insisted on leaving the best resources to the people and serving the people with the best supply. It is accelerating the exploration of a more sustainable mode of urban renewal, deeply implementing the action of urban renewal, which includes "lighting up the new area, beautiful new residence, quality new scenery, revitalizing the new building, iterating new products, and re-creating the new industry", striving to promote the urban renewal of Yangpu, and making efforts to revitalize the old industrial city's appearance, reshape its functions and give it new value. The French Architects Association enjoys a good reputation in the field of international architectural design. Yangpu sincerely hopes to further expand cooperation with the Association, and warmly welcomes more excellent architects to come to Yangpu, to expand business layout and share development opportunities, to put more new concepts, new designs and new projects into practice in Yangpu, and to build a bridge of friendship between both sides with exchanges of architectural cultures and interactions among architects, from the Seine to the Huangpu River.

In Yangpu Riverside, the Chinese and French architects held a seminar, where architects from the French Architects Association, Tongji University, as well as regional enterprises such as the Municipal Engineering Design Institute, Tongji Science and Technology, Yangpu Riverside Group, Luoman Lighting, etc. held in-depth discussions on the topics of organic urban renewal, protection of historical buildings, and future development of architectural design.

Ariane, Vice President of the French Architects Association, Founder and CEO of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat France Chapter, said, "Yangpu Riverside public space is a successful case of transformation from a rust belt to a life show belt", and she appreciated the transformation and development path of Yangpu Riverside, "This is an excellent sample of industrial heritage preservation and reuse and urban habitat improvement."

Thomas, a famous French architect who has led the Louvre building renovation and other major projects, said: "Historical buildings are alive. In the face of these buildings, demolition or renovation, it is related to the continuation of their lives. Yangpu Riverside Green Space is a typical building with renewed composite functions, and the organic integration of the renewal mode with the greenery makes the old building come back to life, and it is worthwhile to learn from it. "

Alain, a famous French architect who is the chief designer of the Eiffel Tower protection and renovation project, was very interested in the future planning of Yangpu Riverside. After listening to the relevant introduction of the District Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources, he said: "I'm impressed by Yangpu Riverside's pleasant environment for working, living, playing and traveling and hope that the two sides will strengthen the communication and exchange, share the cutting-edge information, and innovate to explore more cooperation models in the field of architecture."

Lou Yongqi, Vice President of Tongji University, introduced the development of the Pan-Tongji Knowledge Economy Zone and the architectural design industry, and said that "Tongji University keeps long-term cooperation with the relevant units in France in the field of architecture, design and architectural heritage preservation, and we hope to further strengthen the exchanges in the professional and academic fields with the French Architects Association." He said, "Tongji University will continue to practice the concept of 'tri-area linkage', promote more architects to participate in the construction of Yangpu, and help regional high-quality development."

On August 27, the French architects continued to hold talks with relevant departments of the district on the construction of the city of design in Shanghai. The architects expressed their interest in Yangpu's construction of the core area of the city of design and hoped to actively participate in it, and shared their successful cases about the renovation of old buildings, such as the Eiffel Tower, the Bank of France, and the House of Gaultier.

Afterwards, the members of the French Architects Association visited Neighborhood 228, Changbai Xincun Subdistrict. As the only existing set of historical houses for "20,000 households" in Shanghai, Neighborhood 228 of Changbai Xincun Subdistrict is not only a witness to Yangpu's century-old industry, but also carries an important practice of Shanghai's urban development, and is the only project in China recommended by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development to participate in the evaluation for the 2023 UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour Award. After visiting this renovation project, Ariane said, "The transformation of old buildings combined with habitat improvement. Neighborhood 228 has inspired me a lot."

"It's very interesting", Thomas put it this way, "Neighborhood 228 insists on repairing the old as the old, and it's a typical case of sustainable urban renewal worth learning from."

Alain nodded his head and said, "Urban renewal combined with the architectural concept of neighborhood sharing is a brand new experience."

In the next step, Yangpu will actively utilize the advantage of "tri-area linkage", rely on the colleges and universities, enterprises, projects in the district, and center around the construction of the core area of the city of design, to promote the exchange and interaction of various types of talents, including Chinese and French architects, to constantly accelerate urban renewal and optimize the business environment, and to vigorously develop the hundred billion industrial clusters of creative design, so as to push forward the high-quality economic and social development of Yangpu, with enough land for good projects, enough space for good industries, enough scenarios for good applications, enough talents for good ideas, and enough resources for good teams.