/PRZWT/Shanghai's urban renewal initiative is now reaching a crucial juncture.
The "Shanghai Urban Renewal Action Plan (2023-2025)" issued in 2023 proposed six major actions, covering areas such as overall renewal of comprehensive regions, improvement of living environment quality, and optimization of public space facilities.
Now, this three-year action plan is about to complete its phased tasks. The "Planning and Natural Resources Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Transformation of Development Mode and Concentrating on Promoting High-Quality Urban Renewal Development in Shanghai (2025 Edition)" issued by the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources in July this year further pointed out that it is necessary to "connect the entire process of urban renewal" and build a full-cycle urban renewal model from overall planning to operation and management.
From "point renewal" to "overall renewal", Shanghai's urban renewal concept is undergoing profound changes.
Urban renewal has entered the "ladder replacement period"
Among the numerous renewal tasks, the elevator renewal work in old residential areas, which is closely related to the daily life of citizens, stands out particularly.
At present, Shanghai is confronted with an increasingly severe challenge of the "aging" of residential elevators. According to the "2024 Shanghai Elevator Safety Status Report" released by the Shanghai Municipal Market Supervision and Administration Bureau, by the end of 2024, the number of elevators in Shanghai that had been in use for 15 years reached 86,638, accounting for 24.78%, and the number is still increasing year by year. Due to long-term wear and tear, aging of components and discontinuation of accessories, the operation failure rate of these "old" elevators remains high. According to statistics from the Shanghai Municipal Market Supervision Administration, the probability of old elevators trapping people is almost twice that of new ones. This makes it particularly urgent to promote the renovation and upgrading of old elevators.
Lu De Jia Yuan, an old residential area in Yanghang Town, Baoshan District, is one of the beneficiaries of the old elevator renovation project. The overall renewal of 40 old elevators has benefited 876 households in the community.
"I live on a higher floor. The previous elevator often had some minor problems after a long time. Whenever there was an emergency, I would leave early," said a resident of Ludejiayuan. "After the elevator was replaced, I no longer have to wait when going up and down the stairs, and I feel much more at ease."
In Shanghai, there are still many old residential areas like Ludejiayuan. These residential areas generally face problems such as the expiration of elevator service life, frequent malfunctions and potential safety hazards.
However, replacing elevators in old residential areas is no easy task. The renewal of old elevators may seem like a simple equipment replacement, but in fact, it tests the capacity of grassroots governance and involves multiple links such as resident coordination, fund allocation, technical solution selection, and construction organization.
In the case of Lu De Jia Yuan, the "three forces" of the residents' district Party branch, the owners' committee and the property service center worked in uncoordinated efforts, forming an efficient working mechanism. It only took one month for the project to complete the first batch of elevator updates from the policy response.
Workers in a certain community in Shanghai are making preparations before installing an elevator
Elevator enterprises transform into "community partners"
As the equipment supplier and service provider for the elevator renewal project of Ludi Jiayuan this time, Toshiba Elevator has also explored a set of experience in the elevator renewal of old residential areas.
The most common concerns of residents are mainly concentrated in two aspects: one is the inconvenience of travel during the construction period, especially the impact on the elderly and special families; The second issue is the trust in the safety and stability of the new elevators. Yu Zhaokai, the general manager of Toshiba Elevator (China) Co., LTD., told the interviewers about the difficulties encountered at the start of the project.
In response to these concerns, Toshiba Elevator has come up with a dual solution. At the communication level, they have adopted a "three-pronged" collaborative mechanism to proactively identify families with special needs in each building and dynamically adjust the construction schedule. From a technical perspective, the new elevator this time adopts a light curtain door protection system, replacing the traditional mechanical touch panel, which can achieve contactless sensing and avoid the risk of people being pinched. It is especially friendly to the elderly who move slowly. Meanwhile, the design of the dual-brake system and dual-CPU control cabinet has also enhanced operational safety at the hardware level, allowing residents to feel that "the elevator is not just a new one, but an upgrade."
The biggest difficulty in the renovation of elevators in old residential areas lies in the limited space of the shafts and the diverse structural conditions. Yu Zhaokai gave an example, saying, "In Lu De Jia Yuan, the width of the shafts in several buildings is very small. According to the on-site conditions, we specially adjusted the layout structure of the elevator steel wire ropes and the position of the door machine frames, etc. We can achieve a larger car space than the original elevator without damaging the civil construction." In addition, in order to reduce the cost of elevator replacement for residents, Toshiba Elevator adopted an update plan that reserved the retaining walls and small door frames. By making use of some of the original structures, it not only reduced the damage to the building but also significantly shortened the construction period.
Elevator renewal is by no means a one-off deal; subsequent maintenance is even more crucial. Toshiba Elevator will conduct follow-up visits to the buildings that have completed the elevator replacement. It is understood that residents of Ludejiayuan generally feedback that the updated elevators "operate smoothly and have short waiting times" and "no longer need to worry about sudden malfunctions". Especially the details such as the electric bike prevention device and the handrails of the car have received unanimous praise from the elderly residents.
Yu Zhaokai believes that in urban renewal, elevator suppliers must become proactive "community partners". It is not only about providing technical solutions, but also about actively participating in communication, explaining the technical advantages to residents in a simple and understandable way, and resolving their doubts. The combination of this "hard technical power" and "soft communication power" is the key for the project to be advanced efficiently and gain wide recognition from residents.
Urban renewal presents new opportunities for elevator enterprises
With the acceleration of urban renewal in Shanghai, the "new blue ocean" of old elevator renewal is quietly emerging, and enterprises are also playing an important role in urban renewal.
Shanghai has elevated urban renewal to a strategic level, which is highly consistent with Toshiba Elevator's in-depth layout and development philosophy in China, especially in the Yangtze River Delta region. Yu Zhaokai told the interviewers, "Our positioning is very clear, which is to become a 'strategic-level partner for high-standard urban renewal' and inject impetus into the high-quality development of urban renewal in Shanghai with the strength of the enterprise."
Elevators are not merely a means of transportation; they are an essential part of building a safe, comfortable, green and intelligent urban living space. Toshiba Elevator aims not only to provide a high-quality elevator, but also to offer a one-stop solution covering preliminary investigation, personalized design, efficient installation and full life cycle maintenance. Yu Zhaokai added.
Yu Zhaokai believes that the opportunities brought by urban renewal are a "new blue ocean with huge potential". It not only means an expansion of sales scale, but also an opportunity for us to establish long-term trust relationships with the community and the government. Through the urban renewal project, our products directly serve thousands of families, which brings continuous growth momentum to our subsequent service business.
It has been revealed that Toshiba Elevator, with its two major production bases in Shanghai and Shenyang as the fulcrums, radiates throughout the country. By 2025 alone, the cumulative number of elevator renovation orders it has placed in various cities across the country has reached several thousand. Among them, the Yangtze River Delta region represented by Shanghai is one of the most core markets for Toshiba elevators. The order volume for elevator renewal and transformation in Shanghai alone has exceeded 500 units.
Looking out from Lu De Jia Yuan towards the entire Shanghai, a series of "elevator revolutions" are quietly taking place in various old residential areas. This transformation not only changed the way residents travel but also reshaped the quality of urban life.
For the beneficiaries, after bidding farewell to the "elevator anxiety", what awaits is a brand-new experience of safety. This public welfare practice, driven by multi-party collaboration and supported by elevator enterprises such as Toshiba, also provides a reference sample for the renovation of more old residential areas in cities.
