Online economy park for Yangpu waterfront
An artist's view of the Changyang Belt online new economy ecological park in Yangpu District.
A major online new economy ecological park on the Huangpu River waterfront in Yangpu District will feature riverside gardens, preserved industrial heritage, talent apartments and backstreet markets, it was announced on Monday.
The Changyang Belt park to cover 7.46 square kilometers along the river was one of the two online new economy eco-parks unveiled by Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng along with the Zhangjiang Online park in the Pudong New Area.
Xue Kan, director of Yangpu, said the eco-park won’t be like traditional high-tech parks with “cold technology,” but full of warm life ambiance and humanity.
Furthermore, the “gene” of the city’s century-old industrial heritages along the river will be well inherited by the online new economy tech firms, Xue said.
The Yangpu riverside region is known as the birthplace of China's modern industries with the nation's first water, electricity, shipbuilding and textile companies. Many industrial buildings have been preserved during redevelopment.
The Yangpu eco-park will include a riverside belt along the 15.5-kilometer waterfront, featuring ecological gardens and new technologies, development patterns and businesses.
A headquarters zone will be developed to the east of the Yangpu Bridge, between the Power Station Auxiliary Equipment Plant Station, a service station developed from what was once China’s largest auxiliary machine factory dating back nearly a century, and the Shanghai International Fashion Center, once the largest textile mill in Asia.
A Research and Development Innovation Park zone will be developed near Fuxing Island, a small island separated by a canal.
Over 30 leading online new economy firms and 3,000 innovative tech companies along with 200 top professionals and 200,000 employees by 2025 will be attracted or developed in the Changyang Belt regions by 2025, said Zhao Liang, deputy director of Yangpu.
An artist's rendition of the online new economy ecological park in Yangpu District.
"The total industrial scale will reach 300 billion yuan (US$46.44 billion) in five years to become China's leading entrepreneurship base and online new economy highland." Zhao said.
“It aims to become an innovation landmark to represent Shanghai in international competitions and cooperation,” said Zhao.
He noted that the Yangpu belt will have one of the highest economic densities among China’s famous high-tech parks such as the Zhongguancun software park in Beijing.
The boom in the online economy after the COVID-19 pandemic has brought more opportunities for tech firms and new online businesses in telecommuting, online entertainment, e-commerce, online education and contactless delivery.
New infrastructure, such as 5G base stations and charging stations for electric cars, are expected to help restore the economy after the pandemic as well as drive future economic development, according to the district government.
Yangpu has offered its best land to accommodate the online new economy firms, said Zhang Hanling, director of the district's planning and natural resources bureau.
Compared with Zhangjiang’s online park, Zhang said the riverside belt of Yangpu features more greenery and riverside attractions as well as preserved industrial heritage, which will become characteristic office buildings for online startup firms.
A major highlight will be developed on the riverside region where the Huangpu River meets the Qiujiang River and Fuxing Island Channel, Zhang said.
"The Huangpu River waterfront, which has long been occupied by large state-owned enterprises or financial companies, will also be home to Internet and startup firms with the launching of the Yangpu park," said Lu Lei, secretary general of the Shanghai Information Services Association.
Lu, who takes part in the general planning for the Changyang Belt, said a small city will be developed along the river, unlike those enclosed industrial parks, for people to work and live.
The eco-park features a riverside belt and two zones along the Huangpu River.
To attract global talent, Zhao said green channels will be open for professionals to apply for city residence permits, while talent apartments for programmers will be built.
The apartments will be suitable for young engineers or programmers with small size but good community environment close to their companies, Zhao said.
Convenient facilities such as commercial centers, hair and nail salons, restaurants and culture and sports facilities will be developed to fill the region with life ambiance and “cooking smells,” Zhao said.
A number of new Internet companies have been growing rapidly in Yangpu despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The added value of software and information service sectors in the district increased by 20 percent between January and September of 2020.
Livestream company Bilibili and its subsidiaries have seen revenues rising by 73.54 percent by September, while the incomes of the delivery platforms such as JD-Daojia and Dada have increased by over 80 percent.
“The pandemic has driven the rapid development of the online and livestream businesses,” said Zhao Bin, founder and CEO of Agora, a real-time audio-video service provider based in Yangpu.
During the pandemic, the company’s livestreaming services are used over 10 billion times a day on average for online meetings, classes and entertainment, Zhao said.
“We’re willing to further grow and develop with the newly unveiled eco-park in Yangpu,” he added.
An artist's rendition of the Changyang Belt online new economy ecological park in Yangpu District.
