Renewal injects new energy into community

Several children play happily on a ship-shaped structure built of steel and wood around an old tree. They take hold of the ship's wheel on the bow, scramble into the mock cabin, and shout through play voice tubes.

It's one of the achievements of a community renewal project at the Huahang Building in Jianghan district, Wuhan, Hubei province. Originally built in 1988, the building is home to more than 190 households, many of whom are retired shipping workers.

The play ship reflects the city's deep-rooted shipping history and wharf culture. As a pivotal hub in the Yangtze River shipping network, Wuhan once sustained generations of sailors, dockworkers and their families.

After more than 30 years of use, the Huahang Building was in urgent need of renovation. The hallways were choked with electric scooters, the vast common area was poorly lit by feeble bulbs, and the space was both cramped and dim.

Kuo Ta-chi, 43, a designer from Taiwan, who has lived in Wuhan for 17 years, collaborated closely with local residents to carry out the transformation.

Thanks to their joint efforts, the community has seen a dramatic change. Residents now park their vehicles in an orderly fashion and voluntarily take good care of the public spaces. They can also visit a new gallery about the history of shipping that has been created in the building, allowing them to reminisce about the old days.

After the internal and external renovations were complete, the waste sorting and recycling areas are planned to be upgraded within this year.

"Now, residents gather in the public corridors to chat and relax every evening. The neighborhood is clean, well-kept and filled with a harmonious atmosphere. This is the most rewarding outcome of community renewal," Kuo says.

It was in 2009 that Kuo married his wife, whom he met earlier in Wuhan, and decided to settle in the city. He often works with social work organizations, focusing on diverse projects including community placemaking and curation.

In 2024, he took on the renovation of the Huahang Building, but his first step was not to take measurements or draw blueprints — it was to knock on doors and talk to people.

The residents were wary and guarded at the beginning, but Kuo and his team carefully explained that they wanted to record the stories of veteran shipping workers and listen to their ideas and requests for community renewal.

The first person to open up was an elderly woman surnamed Zhou, who passed away last year. She introduced them to other older residents, whom she encouraged to share their stories.

"Individual stories gradually grew into collective storytelling sessions, and we gathered abundant life stories from retired shipping workers and their families within about four months," Kuo says.