Local residents stroll in Xujiahui Park in downtown Shanghai. [Photo by Xing Yi/chinadaily.com.cn]
Shanghai is set to become even greener in the future as city is planning to build thousands of parks in the next 15 years, the municipal government announced on Wednesday.
Deng Jianping, director of the Shanghai Landscaping and City Appearance Bureau, said that the Thousand Parks Program is catered to meet the objectives set in the city's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) and the long-range objectives through the year 2035.
The program's goal is to have 1,000 parks in Shanghai by 2025, and 2,000 parks by 2035.
Local residents stroll in Xujiahui Park in downtown Shanghai. [Photo by Xing Yi/chinadaily.com.cn]
The city presently has 406 parks and a forest coverage of 18.49 percent, while the public green spaces per capita stands at 8.5 square meters, Deng said.
"Compared with London, New York and Singapore, the current scale and quality of green spaces in Shanghai still has room for improvement," he said. "We plan to make greenery a soft power of the city's core competitiveness."
The parks will be built around the outer ring road of the main city of Shanghai, and also around the five New Cities in the suburbs — Jiading, Qingpu, Songjiang, Fengxian and Lingang.
Local residents stroll in Xujiahui Park in downtown Shanghai. [Photo by Xing Yi/chinadaily.com.cn]
According to the plan, there will be a city park located every 2 kilometers along the 98-km outer ring road, and each of the five New Cities will have at least one park larger than 100 hectares.
Zhu Xinjun, chief engineer of the bureau, said that a continuous, uninterrupted biking and jogging lane along with the outer ring road will commence construction by the end of this year. This lane is expected to be completed by 2025.
Wang Xiangyang, deputy governor of Minhang district, said the construction of parks in the district will be integrated with other development projects such as office buildings and industrial parks.
A local resident rests in Xujiahui Park in downtown Shanghai. [Photo by Xing Yi/chinadaily.com.cn]
In the downtown area, small parks will be built in communities and added to public spaces along the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creeks.
Hong Jiliang, deputy governor of Huangpu district, said that parks will become an integral part of renovation projects in the old part of the city.
"We will build many 'pocket parks' each with a size of between 300 and 500 square meters, making them easier for residents to access," Hong said.
