The construction of two huge projects to house Shanghai
residents relocated from the area of the coming 2010
World Expo began on Monday, 2,000 days before the opening of
the event.
The 151-hectare Pujiang Expo Garden in Minhang District will
have a construction area of 1.1 million square meters, with 870,000
square meters for housing and 250,000 square meters of public and
commercial facilities.
The entire complex is scheduled to be completed in two to three
years, with the first group of residents moving in next year.
Up to 40 percent of the area of the complex is to be green space
and each household is to have some parking space.
"The project must create modern and beautiful new homes as a
demonstration of the theme of the World Expo: better city, better
life," said Zhou Yupeng, Shanghai's vice mayor and deputy director
of the World Expo Organizing Committee.
In the largest relocation project in Shanghai history, an
estimated 15,000 households with nearly 50,000 people will have to
move to accommodate the expo.
"The municipality has been greatly concerned with the
relocation, which will affect the success and significance of the
expo," Zhou said.
The Sanlin Expo Garden in Pudong District also broke ground on
Monday. It will cover 132.9 hectares in total with 101 hectares
earmarked for residential purposes.
The Sanlin design is similar to that of the Yuen Long area in
Hong Kong, with facilities such as shopping, public transportation,
cultural and entertainment centers, as well as, banks, post offices
and telecommunication services.
Construction of this area is scheduled to be finished in the
first half of 2006.
Shanghai World Expo Landholding Corporation is building the
Pujiang development and Pudong Real Estate Development Corporation
is handling Sanlin. They won a public bidding held by the Shanghai
Municipal Housing and Land Resources Administration last month.
Vice Mayor Yang Xiong said the coming expo will likely launch a
new and massive round of construction and improve the quality of
living of local residents significantly.
(China Daily November 9, 2004)