The Cultural Revolution turned cities into arenas of mass campaigns, Red Guard struggle and factional violence, while attacking the "Four Olds" and damaging temples, gardens and historic quarters. Professional urban planning was effectively halted and planning institutes disbanded, with construction subordinated to political and defensive priorities. From 1968 the "down to the countryside" movement sent some 17 million urban youth to rural areas, draining cities of a generation. Maintenance and housing investment stagnated for a decade.
It froze formal urban planning for roughly a decade and left both physical heritage and the planning profession to be rebuilt after 1978.
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