The Shanghai government held a meeting about cultural relics preservation yesterday to urge related departments at all levels to carry out and improve protection efforts.

Speaking at the meeting, Vice Mayor Yang Xiaodu said a great number of preserved historical and revolutionary relics display the city's rich culture.

He reemphasized the importance of the protection work, which has been included in the economic and social development plan, urban construction plan and the financial budget at all levels according to state requirements.

"The inclusion will surely improve the economy of the city and promote cultural relics protection work," Yang said.

As for the economic and social development plan, all departments should focus on maintenance work of national- and city-level relics and finish building 100 museums on different subjects in Shanghai by 2005.

As for the urban construction plan, Yang pointed out that efforts should be made to resolve the contradiction between cultural relics protection and infrastructure construction.

Li Yuan, the vice director of Baoshan District where a number of revolutionary relics exist, said that the district is always working on the protection of cultural items.

In the past several years, several memorial halls had been built to memorialize war heroes and several historic sites had been well protected while urban construction work was underway nearby, Li said.

Also yesterday, about 40 international architecture conservation experts attended the Shanghai International Symposium on Conservation of Historical Architecture.

Richard Engelhardt, a UNESCO regional adviser for Culture in Asia and the Pacific, suggested the municipal government not only protect the structure of old homes but restore their functions.

"The purpose of conserving historic buildings does not refer to keeping their 'skeletons.' Instead, it is the provision of housing to serve people, rich and poor," Engelhardt said.

He suggested the government improve the living conditions in the city's old houses -- including ventilation, wiring and Internet access.

He also suggested the government preserve entire historic communities instead of just isolated houses.

Zheng Shiling, a renowned expert of architecture at Tongji University, said: "The government needs to put a strict control on the number of high-rises built in the city."

"The most urgent thing for the government is to establish a reasonable social system of conserving the beautiful old houses," he added.

(Shanghai Daily October 27, 2004)