Shanghai has set several goals for this year's urban
construction including the renovation of 1 million square meters of
old homes, 22-kilometer of new metro lines and the second phase of
the Yangshan Deep-Water Port, the Shanghai Morning Post
said today.
This year the city will launch a project to renovate 4 million
square meters of old homes, which will improve the standard level
of the housing conditions, and plans to complete 1 million square
meters by the year-end, the newspaper said.
Two subway extensions will open service within the year,
extending the city's operational metro lines to 145 kilometers from
123 kilometers. The western extension of Metro Line No. 2 will
reach the Hongqiao Airport, and the northern extension of Line 3
will reach Baosteel Group in Baoshan District.
The government also pledged to complete the structural
groundwork of new lines, with intentions of operational status in
2007, and to kick off the construction of the lines that will
transport supplies during the 2010 World Expo.
This year, more than 50-kilometers of bus-exclusive lanes are
going to be added to the city's roads to optimize the urban
transport network.
As part of the plan to build Shanghai into an international
shipping and air hub, the second phase of the Yangshan port will
start operation this year. The city will accelerate the
construction of the Pudong International Airport expansion project
and the expressway linking to the airport.
The Shanghai South Railway Station will be put into service this
year, and the inter-city rail link between Shanghai and Nanjing
will also begin construction.
For urban management, the municipal government will continue to
spread its "grid-by-grid urban management network" to cover all the
downtown area.
Shanghai introduced the system based on a computerized city map
at the beginning of this year. Authorities designated special
watchdogs to supervise various street disorders, such as errant
bicycle parking, missing manhole covers or illegal street stalls.
The government has divided the city into thousands of grids -- each
of which is 10,000 square meters -- and designated a certain number
of personnel, including many laid-off workers, to take charge of
them.
The city will also build 10 million square meters of new
parkland, and will launch the third-phase renovation of the Suzhou
Creek and the construction of a waste burning facility in Minhang
District to enhance Shanghai's environmental protection.
(Shanghai Daily February 6, 2006)