Foshan Urban Construction Archives

Foshan Urban Construction Archives

The Foshan Urban Construction Archives serves as a patriotic education base.

Established in August 1986, the Foshan Urban Construction Archives is a fully government-funded public institution under the leadership of the Municipal Planning Bureau. It has been awarded multiple honors, including National Advanced Collective in Urban Construction Archives and Foshan Civilized Service Window.

The archives occupy a total area of 7,131 square meters, including 2,020 square meters at the main site and 5,111 square meters for the Urban Planning and Construction Exhibition Hall (due to historical reasons, the archives operate in two separate locations). Currently, there are 15 staff members. The archives include an office, an exhibition hall management division, a business guidance division, a technical division, and an information management division.

The Urban Construction Archives employs professionals such as archival researchers and computer specialists. It currently manages 1.55 million records of urban construction archives, which are managed informatively and digitally through the "Foshan Urban Construction Archives Management System." In the Urban Planning and Construction Exhibition Hall, technologies such as the "Foshan Urban Planning Landscape Simulation and Laser Integrated Display System" and the "Foshan Planning Information Intelligent Display System" are used to showcase urban and rural planning achievements. The archives house approximately 145,000 volumes of records across 21 major categories, 96 subcategories, and 495 minor categories, along with 89,948 photographs and 907 video reels totaling 54,420 minutes. Among these are over 4,000 urban construction artifacts collected from the Han Dynasty to the present, including Foshan maps, stone carvings, and ancient architectural components. Notably, 103 stone carvings themed on Foshan’s architectural culture are unique to Guangdong Province, covering various aspects of Foshan’s past, including geography, administrative systems, folklore, residences, real estate, taxation, water conservancy, finance, transportation, culture and education, and industry.

The Foshan Urban Planning and Construction Exhibition Hall is divided into five zones: the Model Zone, the Exhibition Zone (Planning Publicity Zone), the Photo Exhibition Zone, the Ancient Town Residential and Folk Custom Zone, and the Foshan Architectural and Cultural Landscape Zone.

The Model Zone features a 1:10,000 scale model of Foshan’s 2+5 urban cluster plan and a 1:2,500 scale model of the Foshan First Ring Expressway. The Exhibition Zone is where the government publicizes major planning and construction information and achievements to the public, and it includes promotional videos in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English titled "Toward Glory – A Tour of Foshan’s Urban and Rural Planning and Construction." The Photo Zone displays a large collection of images and data reflecting Foshan’s urban development history and socio-economic construction. The Ancient Town Residential and Folk Custom Zone uses simulated architecture, ancient town models, and wax figures to highlight Foshan’s unique architectural styles and folk customs such as "selling laziness" and "selling rice field worms." The Architectural and Cultural Landscape Zone mainly exhibits historical architectural components, authentic calligraphy works by famous Qing Dynasty figures from Foshan, and residential items.

Over the years, the Municipal Urban Construction Archives has closely integrated urban development planning, historical and cultural architecture, and the humanistic system. This integration serves as the main thread for comprehensively advancing the construction and development of the Urban Planning Exhibition Hall, making it a platform and window for urban and rural planning education, public participation, and showcasing planning achievements. The archives have successfully handled numerous high-profile receptions, including those for the Governor, Singapore’s Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, and the Chongqing Municipal Party and Government Delegation. It is an important venue for the municipal and district foreign affairs and overseas Chinese affairs departments to receive international friends, compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, as well as foreign businessmen. It also serves as a second classroom and moral education base for primary, middle, and high schools in the city, a social research contact point for cadres’ training at the Municipal Party School, and a selected tourist attraction for travel agencies in Foshan, Guangzhou, and Zhuhai. Since 2003, the archives have publicized 62 planning and design projects, received 11,294 feedback comments, accommodated 53,078 visitors for record consultations, and retrieved 141,665 volumes of records. Additionally, they have hosted 2,615 visiting groups, welcoming a total of 311,526 visitors.