A Hongkew Redevelopment Plan  

By Claus Hirsch

A talk was given by Ian Leventhal and Tom Rado at the Rickshaw Reunion in Toronto on October 9th on their plan to preserve parts of the former Jewish Ghetto in Hongkew, Shanghai.  Leventhal and Rado are, respectively, President and Chairman of Living Bridge Corporation of Toronto.  

Leventhal said they are “close to making it happen,” having now formed a plan to revive the old Jewish district of Shanghai.  Their plan was submitted to the municipal government for approval.  The original proposal was submitted in October, 2002 and a final master plan was submitted in July, 2004.  They now have been given exclusive rights to develop the area and hope to start restoration next summer. 

As presently envisioned, the Hongkew plan will involve the restoration of seven city blocks,  covering Tongshan Road on the north, Kungping Road on the west, Yangtzepu Road on the south and Lingtang Lu on the east.  The entire project will involve the expenditure of about $1 billion;  Rado implied that financing has been lined up although he was reluctant to provide specific details at this time.  Meanwhile, the developers stated they are receiving strong support from the Hongkew (now Hongkou) administration.   

The renewal project will branch out from the site of the still-standing Ohel Moishe Synagogue.  About fifty buildings in the area have been designated as “untouchable,” according to the developers.  None of these were named, nor was any artist’s rendering shown to interested Rickshaw Reunion attendees. 

In a question and answer period following the presentation, one questioner asked if the Kadoorie school was part of the plan.  Leventhal indicated he was not familiar with the place.  Rado referred to a refugee community of 40,000 and, when challenged by members of the audience, stated that perhaps that was the sum total of all three elements of the 1940s Shanghai Jewish population.  

In related remarks, it was noted that the old Ward Road Jail is still in use.  However, it will be closed down and probably converted into a museum and/or residential building.  Some 200 gravestones from former Jewish cemeteries in Shanghai have been rescued by Dvir Bar-Gal, an Israeli photojournalist and documentary film maker who lives in Shanghai and conducts tours there; presumably these tombstones will figure in the Hongkew renewal project.