Dialogue 对话 Stephanie Lo 罗宝瑜

“First and foremost, XINTIANDI is a meeting place. It's about people.

新天地首先是一个相聚的地方，它关于人的实现。”

Stephanie Lo is an Executive Director of Shui On Land and the Vice Chairman of China Xintiandi. She is responsible for the development of the company's commercial strategy and project positioning.

罗宝瑜是瑞安房地产的执行董事及中国新天地副主席。她负责公司的发展策略及项目定位工作。

What is XINTIANDI in your eyes?

First and foremost, XINTIANDI is a meeting place. Twenty years ago there wasn't one single destination in Shanghai where you felt like you could enjoy going out. XINTIANDI truly discerned the future of urban development and our approach of the place-making practices in China has become exemplary ever since. So, fast forward to today, with many major changes in consumer habits and online and offline retail landscape, we see a strong growing demand on social and leisure destinations, especially ones that feel authentic and have cultural relevance. In any district, any city, it's the people that really make it come to life. That's really important for us. By fostering places that are able to encourage people to meet grow and engage where you can find unique cultural content and social experiences that are enriching, XINTIANDI has pushed itself further as a social destination. It's about people connection and more importantly celebrating social narrative and building a community.

Why XINTIANDI's new brand statement 'Social Renaissance' is so important?

You truly know people by looking them in the eyes, it is essential to building trust and relationships that way. 'Social Renaissance' is about encouraging people to make genuine connections and engagements. With many of the needs cannot be fulfilled online, people are looking to spend quality times experiencing different ideas and concepts and building memories together with friends and family. By initiating 'SocialRenaissance' XINTIANDI hope to be able to provide more unique content to our consumer base both online and offline.

Is that where the concept of XINTIANDI's eclectic new space Social House comes in?

Nowadays in terms of choosing what to do with your spare time, there are almost too many options. The most traditional method of hanging out is to have a meal or grab a coffee, but what if you wanted to share a different experience together? That's why we created Social House. The space is divided up into different small zones by travel, design, cooking, music and so on. There's a bookstore flowing throughout entire space and each zone has experience labs where you can go for different programs. It's a great space in which people can socialize or meet in a different context.

How does XINTIANDI differentiate from others?

I think by nature XINTIANDI has always been a social destination, bringing people together in a community, it has never fallen into a traditional retail format. We very much respect and celebrate the local culture and architectural heritage of each city. This informs much of the cultural narrative of each XINTIANDI, exploring what's authentic and unique. We have been an active player in creating vibrant cultural districts by developing not just the hardware, but also the content that fosters community. One other aspect we feel quite unique is that XINTIANDI as a platform has been working with local creatives and designerlabels to celebrate Chinese voices and brands. We firmly believe they will be an important cultural voice both in China and on the world stage in the not too distant future.

Can you tell me how you went about choosing the right brands, designers and restaurateurs to be involved in XINTIANDI?

XINTIANDI was created in China, with a strong Chinese heritage. When people come to Shanghai, they come to XINTIANDI as a destination. Because of that, we thought, “OK, what more can we do with this? Rather than just show-casing our own brand are there more local voices that we can celebrate?” We started this about ten years ago when it was really western brands expanding their massive footprint in China while local brands and designers were really just starting out. Now as China is coming onto the world stage, we are excited to see local talent coming to the fore with their own unique voice. We want XINTIANDI to be a platform for Chinese designers and brands and we are honored to be part of that conversation.

What element of XINTIANDI are you most proud of?

I'm proud of the fact that we are able to be part of Shanghai's story, and we are able to be part of the narrative of the city's growth – we have grown together. I think that's something we're really privileged to be part of, and we have to be respectful of it. I think we'd really like to continue to be an important part of that conversation going forward.

“I am proud of the fact that we are able to be part of the narrative of the city's growth.

很荣幸我们能够成为城市故事的一部分。”

你眼中的新天地是什么样的？

对我来说，新天地首先是一个相聚的地方。约二十年前上海能适合赴约聚会的休闲之处并不多，而作为东西方文化交汇、新旧相融的新天地，敏锐地预见到城市生活方式发展及消费升级的需求，独具创新地将石库门街区改造成为集时尚、娱乐、休闲与文化的城市会客厅，成为全中国的标杆性商业体、城市地标——上海新天地。现如今，中国线上线下的消费需求与习惯正经历着剧烈的变革，我们洞察到消费者对于社交和休闲的需求更是与日俱增，特别是那些真正的、有文化特色的社交场所。“人”是真正让一个空间和城市鲜活起来的灵魂所在，我们重视并鼓励人们在新天地相遇、成长、交汇，收获独特的文化领悟和社交体验。在这个不断打磨和迭代的过程中，新天地已然蜕变成为了社交目的地的首选。在这里，我们关注人与人的连结，分享社交故事，建构社群体系。

你为什么认为新天地的全新品牌宣言“回归社交本真”如此重要？

当你和别人四目相交的时候，才能真正地了解对方。通过这种方式来建立信任和关系非常重要。“回归社交本真”主张的是人和人之间真诚的连结和交流互动。人们的很多需求无法仅在线上获得满足，他们希望能把宝贵的时间花费在交流观点和思想碰撞上，亦或是与家人、亲友共度一段美好的时光。新天地提出“回归社交本真”的初心在于为线上线下的消费者提供更为独特和有品质的体验内容。

新天地即将推出的复合型全新空间Social House by XINTIANDI是基于这一理念吗？

现在当大家讨论消费时间和空间的停留，你会发现我们面临着多元选择。当然最典型的聚会方式就是朋友们一起吃个饭或者喝一杯咖啡，但这过程如何交换价值、分享独特体验呢？这是我们呈现Social House的初衷。这是一个集合不同主题区域的复合型新零售社交空间，打造了由旅行、设计、烹饪、音乐、健身等沉浸式社交场景构成的多元商业生态系统，文化与书的元素则会贯穿于整个空间，人们可以在这种独特的复合社交体验中找到自己的社群。

新天地有别于其他商业地产品牌的地方在哪？

我觉得从本质上来说，新天地其实不算是传统的商业零售模式，一直以来它都是一个社交目的地，让不同的人汇聚于此。我们敬重并不断发扬每一座城市的在地文化以及建筑遗产，也正因如此，不同城市的新天地得以建立起它们各自独特的文化风貌。新天地一直致力于创造富有活力的文化街区，更关注如何不断激发社群生机的创意内容。另一个特别之处是新天地作为一个平台吸引着本地创意人才和设计师一同在此为中国创造、中国年轻力量发声。我也相信未来他们会成为中国，乃至是世界舞台上文化发展的中坚力量。

能分享一下新天地在挑选进驻品牌、设计师或者餐厅时候的一些考量吗？

新天地是一个真正的中国品牌，创立于中国，“中国创造”已经深深烙印在我们的基因中。作为一个国际知名的城市地标，新天地也是人们来上海的必到之处。正因如此，我们一直在思考我们能再多做些什么？除了呈现并不断升级打造打造自身品牌，也应该更多的去发掘、鼓励和帮助更多的本地创新及创意人才？早在十年前我们已开始着手，那时海外品牌涌入中国并不断拓展商业版图，我们积极关注并扶持刚刚起步的本土品牌。现在中国逐渐在国际上崭露头角，我们期待着这些本地的人才以自己独特的话语站上国际舞台。新天地希望能成为中国设计师、中国品牌的展示平台，也很荣幸在这些年持续不断聚合力量。

新天地最让你为之骄傲的地方是什么?

很荣幸我们能够参与和见证上海这座城市的崛起，随城市一同成长，并成为城市故事中的一部分。这是属于新天地的一份殊荣，我们对此深怀感念，也相信在未来，新天地还会更加深入地参与创造“中国故事”之中。