Shanghai, known for its glittering skyline, has just wrapped up a small but life-changing chapter: flushing out chamber pots from its oldest neighborhoods. 🚽✨
By the end of September 2025, the city bid farewell to the last 14,082 households still relying on “hand-carried toilets.” This milestone is part of a decades-long push to bring private bathrooms, elevators, and modern community hubs to historic pockets like Pengpu New Village in Jing’an District.
Built in the 1950s, Pengpu was a maze of tight lanes and shikumen (stone-gate) houses where families shared public toilets tucked around corners. Residents like Zhang Cuiying remember queuing at dawn—hands numb in winter, stifling heat in summer. Today, she enjoys a modern bath and a vibrant community center complete with a canteen, nursing home, pool, and gyms.
Behind the scenes, local leaders measured every centimeter to squeeze in toilets and showers. “It’s like performing surgery in a shoebox,” says Zhou Xing’an, the “renovation specialist” who turned a tiny storage room into a shared bathroom for an 84-year-old resident, ending her half-century of bucket runs.
Shanghai’s team merged 282 home layouts into 92 standardized designs, upgrading facilities without shrinking living space. Early adopters proudly opened their doors, inviting neighbors in for tours—and even the biggest skeptics quickly signed up.
This drive mirrors efforts across Asia’s mega-cities—from Delhi’s chawls to Jakarta’s kampungs—where space is tight and creativity wins. Under China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025), over 240,000 old communities were revamped, benefiting 110 million people with new elevators, parking, and care facilities.
Looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030), Shanghai and other cities in the Chinese mainland are doubling down on people-centered urban renewal—building modern, livable neighborhoods that put comfort, health, and community spirit first. 🌿🏙️
Reference(s):
Shanghai flushes out chamber pots as urban renewal gathers pace
cgtn.com
