Guarding the Fireworks in Urban Renewal with Technology
2025-09-11
The Central Urban Work Conference proposed that "the goal is to build a modern people's city that is innovative, livable, beautiful, resilient, civilized, and intelligent, the theme is to promote high-quality urban development, the main line is to adhere to the development of urban connotation, and the important lever is to promote urban renewal. We will vigorously promote the optimization of urban structure, the transformation of kinetic energy, the improvement of quality, green transformation, the continuity of cultural heritage, and the enhancement of governance efficiency, firmly hold the bottom line of urban safety, and embark on a new path of modernization with Chinese characteristics. This strategic plan has pointed out the direction for urban renewal in the new era, which requires both technological innovation and cultural heritage. In today's global digital wave, technology is no longer a cold tool, but an important force that reshapes the cultural texture of cities, accumulates urban vitality, and elevates the world's fireworks. Technology safeguards the cultural atmosphere of the city, allowing the urban context to experience the digital rhythm. Urban context is not an optional embellishment, but the foundation of urban identity and the carrier of collective memory. In the process of urban renewal, the historical traces of physical space are easily erased, and regional cultural characteristics are also easily swallowed up, leading to the city falling into the amnesia dilemma of "one size fits all". Technology shoulders the historical mission of breaking the binary opposition between "protection and development" - it is not only the guardian of cultural relics, but also the activator of cultural genes. Through digital technology, it transforms frozen history into a perceptible, interactive, and inheritable dynamic existence. For example, Hangzhou uses AR technology to "restore" the Southern Song Dynasty street market, allowing tourists to experience ancient street fireworks on the bluestone road; Guangzhou uses 3D laser scanning to complete the digital archiving of old city walls, providing a "digital archive" for subsequent repairs. This not only preserves the roots of urban memory, but also greatly enhances the cultural soft power of the city, allowing citizens to touch the thickness of history in digital light and shadow, enhancing cultural identity and confidence. The essential value of technology in safeguarding cultural heritage lies in not only preserving the historical information carried by material space, but also providing infinite possibilities for cultural dissemination and innovative utilization. Technology safeguards the popularity of cities and revitalizes urban spaces with contemporary value. The core proposition of urban renewal is to activate spatial value and prevent hollowing out transformation that emphasizes form over soul. Old industrial areas and historic districts often lose their appeal due to outdated functions and lack of supporting facilities. Technology plays a key role as the "space activation engine" here - optimizing operating costs, improving service quality, and building an innovative ecosystem through intelligent transformation, turning old spaces into valuable highlands that attract talent and stimulate creativity. Guangzhou Yongqing Fang implements the "smart cultural and tourism integration", while retaining the Xiguan arcade, deploying a smart system throughout the area: tourists can obtain personalized routes through mini programs, and AR guided tours recreate the magnificent scenery of thirteen merchant ships traveling back and forth; Merchants use a unified smart platform to manage orders, inventory, and customer flow. More importantly, the government has established a "Intangible Cultural Heritage Digital Workshop", where inheritors of Guangcai and Yue embroidery attract young people to participate through live teaching, and traditional skills are revitalized through digital empowerment. Technology has opened up a channel for the transformation of cultural and economic values, making historic districts a strong magnetic field for attracting innovative talents. The popularity of technology protection is reflected in the fact that when old spaces are implanted with intelligent infrastructure and digital innovation platforms, they can accurately respond to the core demands of modern people for efficiency, green, and connectivity, making cities truly a dynamic container for attracting, retaining, and achieving talents. Technology safeguards the urban atmosphere, making urban scenes more people-oriented. The ultimate charm of a city lies in the family's strengths and weaknesses in the streets and alleys, bargaining in the market, and mutual assistance among neighbors - this is the fireworks that nourish the soul. Big data, AI and other technologies accurately solve life pain points, ensure service fairness, and maintain community bonds, making the most ordinary daily life shine with lasting vitality. The smart platform has restructured neighborhood relationships: the mobile "time bank" encourages young and elderly people to serve the elderly, and the "one click help neighbor" function makes repairing water pipes and changing light bulbs a breeze. Technology is transformed into the adhesive of community self-organization here, giving new life to the tradition of "distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors". In addition, intelligent traceability scales have been applied in many vegetable markets across the country after renovation, which can automatically identify dishes and settle payments in real-time; Real time monitoring of business oil fume emissions and garbage disposal through IoT devices; Smart light poles automatically adjust brightness based on pedestrian density; The intelligent garbage classification system prompts residents to dispose through image recognition... When vegetable vendors no longer have disputes over weight shortages, elderly people no longer live on isolated islands due to climbing, and neighbors regain trust through mutual aid platforms - these small accumulations of technology guarding the city's fireworks are the most vivid manifestation of technology guarding the city's temperature. In the future, on the canvas of cities, AI、 Modern technologies such as the Internet of Things and big data will continue to deepen and promote, but only by measuring technology at the human scale and driving innovation with humanistic care can cities maintain their cultural depth, popularity, and warmth, and find sustainable development momentum under the protection of technology. (New Press) (Author: Qu Qunping, Researcher at the Zhejiang Provincial Party School of the Communist Party of China, Zhejiang Provincial "88 Strategy" Innovation and Development Research Institute, and Researcher at the "Party's Innovation Theory Teaching Reform and Interpretation Communication Intelligent Laboratory")
Edit:Luo yu Responsible editor:Jia jia
Source:GMW.cn
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