Urban planners consider city's future
The 2nd congress of the 4th council of China Association of City Planning is held at Fudan University over the weekend.
Shanghai's next stage of urban planning will focus on the Yangtze River Delta integration demonstration zone, Lingang Special Area and Hongqiao Business Hub, the head of the city's top planning body said.
Xu Yisong, director of the Shanghai Urban Planning and Natural Resources Bureau, said the city will also look at the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek waterfronts, renovation of residential communities and rural revitalization.
The planning on these regions will meet the top standard and quality to help enhance the city level of Shanghai and its core competitiveness, Xu told the 2nd congress of the 4th council of China Association of City Planning at Fudan University over the weekend.
Members of the association and the planning bodies of neighboring provinces share opinions on the new trend and tasks of urban planning during the meeting at Xianghui Hall, the 70-year-old auditorium of the university in Yangpu District.
Urban planners and experts also visited the newly opened waterfront in Yangpu along the Huangpu River on Sunday to learn the city's latest practices on urban space construction, preservation on heritage structures and development of riverside regions.
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the same waterfront section in November and spoke of the need to properly balance the relationship between protection and development, and the importance of maintaining the city’s historical features.
The newly opened waterfront of Yangpu District
Local government officials shared their opinions of development.
Zheng Shiling, a professor at Tongji University, said Shanghai has reach the "bottomline" of massive constructions, so should focus on urban renewal.
The city has a large number of industrial heritage sites, covering over 600 square kilometers, as well as 250 old residential neighborhoods that have yet to be listed as protected, Zheng said. There are also 150,000 households who are still using chamber pots, he said.
The northern district of Yangpu aims to become a demonstration on these tasks, said Zhao Liang, deputy director of Yangpu.
The waterfront of Yangpu, for instance, the former site of China's earliest industries, will have about 1.3 million-square-meter commercial and business facilities by 2020. Theaters, music halls, art galleries and museums will be built along the waterfront in former factory buildings, Zhao said.
The Yangpu waterfront is known as the birthplace of China's modern industry. Many of the industrial buildings have been preserved.
Over 100 former machines and production tools have been retained and are being exhibited along the waterfront region. The former industrial layouts have also been largely retained with only unnecessary industrial ruins removed.
The newly opened waterfront of Yangpu District
