Garden-inspired hub to rise from Putuo rubble
An artist's rendition of the planned Baoneng Zhonghuan Center on Zhenbei Road in Putuo District.
A garden-inspired office and commercial hub will rise in west downtown Shanghai from the ashes of four unfinished buildings which were demolished by directional blasting on Monday morning.
The new urban renewal project, known as the Baoneng Zhonghuan Center, on Zhenbei Road in Putuo District near the city's Middle Ring Road will feature a commercial complex covering 260,000 square meters, along with high-end hotels, apartment units and office buildings.
Construction will start by the end of 2020 and is scheduled to be completed in four years.
The district government announced the blueprint for the site after the successful blasting, which was the first time in the country's history that multiple buildings of such scale were demolished simultaneously.
Ecological elements will become the main attraction of the project, according to financial conglomerate Baoneng Group, which is behind the project. Rooftop gardens, ecological skywalks and sunken parks have all been planned for the project.
It will be part of Putuo's newly developed Middle Ring Road Commercial Center, which hosts popular retailers such as home decoration giant B&Q, German wholesaler METRO and Zhonghuai Bailian Shopping Mall.
"The site is expected to become a downtown cultural parlor, a new attraction and landmark of Putuo," said an official with the district. People can work, shop, play, dine, watch performances, stay at hotels and live there, he added.
Four unfinished buildings occupied a prime spot near the city's Middle Ring Road for two decades.
The project's prime spot near the Middle Ring Road and G2 Beijing-Shanghai Expressway had been occupied by four half-finished high-rise buildings for two decades. They were each over 80 meters tall with some 20 floors.
Their former owner, the Sichuan-based Xinglida Group, invested in 2001 to build a large shopping mall, but construction was halted halfway due to lack of funds. The unfinished buildings were then transferred to several other owners.
The Baoneng Group took over the site in 2019 with intentions to redevelop it into an ecological commercial hub.
Due to potential safety risks from the unfinished and abandoned buildings, the developer decided to tear them down. Their designs were also considered outdated to the tastes of modern consumers.
About 160,000 square meters of space have already been detonated while the remaining 90,000 square meters will be demolished by bulldozers.
The directional explosion was conducted at 12:30am on Monday, when the city's seismological bureau registered a minor 1.7 magnitude earthquake.
Several protective fences and water cannons were readied to prevent the spread of dust, according to the district. The nearby township and subdistrict governments also informed residents beforehand.
Putuo police were monitoring the surrounding areas as early as four hours before the blasting.
An artist's rendition of the planned Baoneng Zhonghuan Center on Zhenbei Road in Putuo District.
Before their demolition, four unfinished buildings occupied a prime location near the city's Middle Ring Road for two decades.
Unfinished buildings near the city's Middle Ring Road prior to their demolition.
