Jing'an Sculpture Park facelift liberates more open green space
Without walking into the park, passers-by can take in the beauty of Jing'an Sculpture Park.
With greenery almost everywhere, the whole city of Shanghai seems to be becoming a giant park.
While parklands are often stereotyped as an ornament to the concrete jungle, the truth is they are an essential part of the urban landscape.
Shanghai, the most populous city in China, is actively weaving nature throughout the city. It is adding verdant walls and pathways, and inserting pocket parks on street corners.
In its latest efforts, the fences of downtown parks are being removed to make green spaces more accessible to the public.
With the barriers along Beijing Road W. gone, Jing'an Sculpture Park has taken on a new look.
After a one-month facelift, nearly 500 meters of 2.5-meter-high hedgerows along the road have been removed and replaced by flowers, bushes, foundations and benches.
A woman snaps a photo of the newly exposed Jing'an Sculpture Park.
"The park is seamlessly integrated into the pavement beside it, and passers-by can take in its beauty without stepping into it," said Xu Xinnong, an official with Jing'an Green Management Center.
"It also serves to activate the urban space," Xu added.
Nearby resident Liu Zhaofang, in her late 60s, is happy with the changes.
"I live across the street and witnessed the whole process of the facelift. The whole family is all for it," she said. "As I walk by, I am welcomed by blooming flowers and tinkling fountains. It really pleases me."
Also, from October 1, the park will be open 24 hours to the public.
According to Xu, more parks are on the agenda to have their fences removed.
A man takes a rest in the newly opened park.
Downtown Shanghai is crowded with buildings, and thus it's of vital importance to make use of every single space when it decides to go greener.
As well as Jing'an Sculpture Park, Zhongshan Park, Fuxing Park and Hongkou Park have also had their barriers taken down. The next to be liberated will be Heping Park in mid-October.
According to Deng Jianping, director of Shanghai Greenery and Public Sanitation Bureau, Shanghai is seeking to become a "park city" where residents can see flowers when they open windows, and greenways when they walk outside.
By the end of 2021, the city's forest coverage had reached 19.4 percent, with per capita greenery space amounting to 8.8 square meters. This has been increased several dozen times over the past several decades.
In a press conference held this week, Cheng Peng, director of Shanghai Ecology and Environment Bureau, revealed it will further increase to 9.5 square meters per capita by 2025.
