Waterfront goes on show

Yang Jian / SHINE

The newly opened waterfronts along the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek went on show at an exhibition on Sunday.

Photos and paintings selected from thousands collected from the public are on display at Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center.

There are plans to further open up riversides following the opening of a downtown section of the Huangpu River last year.

"It is an amazing idea to invite children and local artists to participate in the city's development," said Karen Gutierrez, a tourist from Panama.

"They showed us in a colorful way about how Shanghai looks at night and along the river. We can imagine how local people work together to make the city great," she said.

Maria Zapior from Poland, a tourism major postgraduate student at Shanghai University, said it is quite interesting to show the beauty of the city from the perspective of children.

Her classmate Sariah Calderon from Spain said she had seen great development of the city in recent years.

According to the plan “Striving for a world-class waterfront area,” seamless riverside zones will be created along both the river and creek by 2020, featuring more greenery, historical buildings, bridges and “sponge city” technology.

Planners studied riverfronts across the world, including Paris and Chicago, before coming up with the blueprint for Shanghai.

Many children from local international schools have visited other waterfront cities such as Paris, said an official with the center. A painting by 9-year-old Chen Fanrui "East Meets West," for instance, combines the scenery of Seine with the Huangpu River.

Zheng Hanwen, one of the winners, said, "High-rises along the Huangpu River are decorated with Chinese patterns, while the auspicious clouds, dragon and phoenix symbolize the rejuvenation of China." 

Ye Yucheng, another winner, was more personal. "Deliver Meal for Father," is about her father, a soldier in the People's Liberation Army based in Pudong who goes home to Puxi twice every week.

"The Huangpu River has become an emotional bond between Ye and her father," said her mother.

Walkways between Yangpu Bridge and Xupu Bridge have been opened with plans to extend them both upstream and downstream.

The 60km of the Huangpu waterfront between Minpu No. 2 Bridge in Minhang District and Wusongkou at the mouth of the Yangtze River in Baoshan District are to be a “demonstration zone for the development capability of the global city of Shanghai.”

Suzhou Creek is the biggest tributary of the Huangpu River and is being developed into a cultural zone. New riverfront in Putuo and Changning districts are complete. Other new sections in Huangpu, Changning, Jing’an and Hongkou districts will be opened by the end of the year.