Special Planning

views updated

Chapter 8
Special Planning

1. Three Ports and Two Networks

Shanghai will form an infrastructure framework matching a modern international metropolis. The “three ports and two networks” will be the foundation. The three ports are the international container deepwater pivotal port, an airport pivot in the Asia-Pacific region, and information port. Shanghai will establish a group of important projects for the three ports to provide access to rest of the world. The two networks are the rail transport network and expressway network, which together will form a fast and convenient freight transport network.

Shanghai will enhance the pivotal function of important infrastructures and continue to improve its city management and environmental protection. The construction of “three-ports and two networks” will achieve phased progress with congregation and radiating functions considerably strengthened. A significant breakthrough will be achieved in the construction of Shanghai's international shipping center. The first phase of Yangshan Deep Water port will be completed and put into operation. The container throughput in Shanghai Port will rank third in the world and the freight throughput first. Further progress will be achieved in the construction of the Shanghai pivotal airport system. By 2005, the airport's passenger and cargo transport will have increased by 1.3 times and 2.1 times respectively.

The rail network will have reached 123 kilometers, improving the railway's transport. The urban expressway network is designed as a whole, with 560 kilometers available to traffic by 2005. The MagLev demonstration line, Pudong railway (Phase I), and other important traffic facilities will be completed. Urban informatization will be further widened. Greater efforts will be put into environmental protection and eco-friendly construction. The first two rounds of the Three-year Action Plan on Environmental Protection will be completed, after which Shanghai will have been built into a national garden city. The 2005 target for afforestation coverage was 37%, with the per capita green space reaching 11 square meters, increasing 1.4 times that of 2000. The general environmental quality have been considerably improved.

1.1 International Deep Water Container Port

Yangshan Deep Water Port will have over 50 container berths with an annual throughput exceeding 25 million standard containers. The port's construction will be a decisive factor in changing Shanghai's city spatial structure, especially in the coastal area and the southern part of Shanghai.

Yangshan Deep Water Port

Yangshan Deep Water Port is located in the Qiqu Archipelago of Zhejiang Province, outside the Yangtze estuary and on the estuary shore of Hangzhou Bay. It lies 27.5 kilometers southeast of Shanghai's Nanhui Luchao Port and 104 kilometers from the international ocean shipping routes. It is the nearest port to Shanghai with a water depth over 15 meters. The port is connected to Shanghai and peripheral areas by Donghai Bridge and the Shanghai-Luchao Port Expressway. In addition, it can handle transfers to and from the ports along the Yangtze River and the coastline (Figure 8.1).

Yangshan Deep Water Port construction is indispensable to both the national development strategy and the holistic requirements of Shanghai's long-term development. It will become one of China's largest container ports. According to the overall programming of Yangshan Port area, the port's land area will reach 18 square kilometers. The port area will have 20 kilometers of waterfront capable of accommodating over 50 berths for fifth- and sixth-generation

containerships, with a throughput capacity of 25 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit). It will not only meet the requirements of the container throughput of Shanghai by 2020, but also provide sufficient space for future development. The first phase is designed for a throughput capacity of 2.2 million TEU, five container ship berths, and 1,600 meters of wharf waterfront. Its land area is about 90 ha. Five more berths will be built subsequently. Simultaneously, Shanghai will construct the 30-kilometer Luyang Bridge to connect Luchao Port and Xiaoyangshan. A “Haigang (Harbor) New City,” with a population of 200,000, will be built in the Luchao Port area.

Yangshan Deep Water Port will become an important support to Shanghai, as an economic center, influencing all aspects of Shanghai's economy. The port will also exert great influence on the urban development of southern Shanghai. In the past, southern Shanghai was a rural area. The few county towns that functioned as local district centers were only satellite towns having little to do with the city life of Shanghai. Thanks to the construction of Yangshan Port, this district will become closely connected to Shanghai's social and economic life. The channels running north from Luchao Port toward Pudong New Area and from Luchao Port toward Minhang District will be a main artery for Shanghai. The town ring formed by Pudong, Aviation City, Huinan, Haigang New City, Xinghuo, Jinshan, Fengcheng, Nanqiao, Minhang, and other districts, will bring essential changes to the social and economic life of southern Shanghai districts, together with the expressways and express railway connections, and a high-quality infrastructure system. As a result, the traditional towns and even villages will be reconfigured. Almost all the towns are to be incorporated into this ring and the ribbon development as well. The ribbon development will not only reconstruct southern Shanghai's urban space structure, but also bring changes to Shanghai's overall space structure.

Lingang New City (Main City Zone)

The future Lingang New City (main city zone, also known as Haigang New City) is a modernized city with a planned area of 95 square kilometers and a population of 300,000. This new city will rise on the vast mud beach around Nanhui Luchao Port. Lingang New City's design concept originates from an image of a water droplet sending out ripples. The landing point of the drop is the new city's central lake surrounded by boulevards and lake shoals. It is the soul of the city. Two peninsulas stretch from the lake's shore into the lake. Several grand cultural buildings stand on these peninsulas, such as the theater, the shipping museum, and the ocean aquarium. With the man-made lake serving as a center, the new city expands like ripples on the lake.

The first circle is the administration, commercial, and residential annular zone. This zone will house the Port Service Building, the Shipping Exchange, the Central Square, hotels, and restaurants. The second circle is a 400-meter-wide ring-like park zone lying between busy streets and the residential ring zone. The third circle is the residential area within a natural landscape and dotted with lakes and green spaces. Shops, restaurants, clinics, schools, and other support facilities are all available. The industrial area is located at the intersection between the deep water port and the wharf, with a long distance from the residential area. The industrial area possesses a well-developed, high-speed transport network. A comprehensive logistics zone will be established outside the central urban area.

The building of Lingang New City (main city area) will be carried out in phases, with the first phase completed in 2005. The total urban area is 15 square kilometers and the population 75,000. In the long-term planning, the population will reach 300,000 by 2020.

Lingang Integrative Economic Development Zone

The main functions of the Lingang Development Zone include manufacturing, export processing, modern logistics, free trade, research and development, and education (Figure 8.2). In this plan, the manufacturing industrial zone commands a dominant position. The other zones are export processing, research and development, education, and services. The modern logistics park and free-trade zone, in connection with the planned industrial park of Haigang New City and Donghai Bridge, are arranged in the east of the logistics and free-trade zone, forming an overall layout of a main zone plus an auxiliary zone, each with a different function. A scientific research and education service zone will be set up on one side of the manufacturing and export processing zone, close to Lingang New City. The manufacturing and export processing zone is made up of some relatively independent sub-zones. Industries with a slight influence on the ecological environment and a low density in construction should be located in the sub-parks near the new harbor city.

A multi-level and multi-grade road-linking channel and a linking channel consisting of highways, rail transport, and street railways (tramcars) will be built between Lingang Integrative Economic Development Zone and Haigang New City. The road-linking channel consists of two expressways, two main highways, and a secondary highway. The expressways begin at both sides of Lingang Development Zone and radiate outward to join the highway network of Lingang New City. These two expressways are the A2 Highway, already in the planning stage, and the north-south Harbor-Airport New Expressway, proposed in the new planning. In addition, a circular expressway that couples the Lingang Circle Highway will be constructed to connect the Harbor-Airport New Expressway and

the A2 Highway, forming an well-developed, fast road transport system.

The two main highways in the middle of the development zone and Lingang city form a “diamond” trunk transport network. They are the most direct channel connecting the two places. The rail transport system will be constructed along one of these roads. Between the “diamond” trunk roadways are secondary highway and street railways.

The planning not only takes in the requirements of short-term construction, but also the requirements of the strategic development in order to support the sustainable, healthy, and high-quality development of Lingang Development Zone. As a result, two pieces of reserve land for future development and three development control corridors have been made available.

Of the two pieces of reserve land proposed for future development, one is set aside for a logistics park and free trade in the west of Lingang New City industrial zone. The other is set aside for manufacturing and export processing. The proposed two control corridors include a 1.5 to two kilometer-wide strip of land reserved for the future construction of public utilities, such as natural gas pipelines, high-voltage power lines, ecological protection, and housing development. A further 1.5 kilometer-wide strip will be a transport control corridor for the MagLev line, railway transport, expressway, and Pudong railway. Four ecological corridors will be established in connection with the suburban forest strip planning. The four ecological corridors are: Dazhi River ecological corridor, located at the north of the new development zone and the south of Dazhi River; Hulu ecological corridor, along Nanlu Highway and the A2 Highway; Hangzhou Bay ecological corridor, along Hangzhou Bay; and the East China Sea ecological corridor, along the East China Sea and the waterfront holiday resort zone.

Huinan Town

In early 1995, following the requirements of Shanghai's new master city planning, the Huinan New Town Master Planning was also compiled. The planning ranges from the urban loop in the east, Xiyuebu in the west, Lunan Road in the south, and Yancangxiang in the north, with an area of about 2,200 ha. The town is an important logistics center southeast of Shanghai. With a population of 200,000, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Nanhui County. There are two centers in the town area—the finance and trade center, and the commercial center. It develops mainly along two directions, extending eastward to the suburban loop and northward to Yancangxian Avenue of Huinan. There are five urban clusters: the northeast cluster, east of old Chuannanfeng Road and north of the extension road of East-West Avenue; the northwest cluster, west of Laochuan Nanfeng Road and north of the Gongji Road; the central cluster, mainly located in the old town; the southwest cluster, west of old Chuannanfeng Road and south of the Weixing river; and the southeast cluster, east of the old Fengchuannanfeng Road and south of the extension road of East-West Avenue. Their respective areas are 620 ha, 430 ha, 340 ha, 330 ha, and 490 ha.

Seaside Development Belt

The previous version of Shanghai's Master City Planning mooted the possibility of establishing several industrial and municipal infrastructures along the east and south coast of Shanghai. Up to now, this seaside area has not been included in the new urban planning. No systematic research has been carried out on the development of this area. However, Pudong International Airport is located at the junction between Shanghai's East-West Development Axis and the seaside zone.

Shanghai Seaside Development Belt covers the coastal belt from Waigaoqiao southwards through Wuhaogou, Pudong International Airport, Luchao Port to Jinshan Petrochemical General Plant (Figure 8.3). This belt focuses on or planned to focus on the development of infrastructures, such as seaport, airport, power plant, and sewage treatment plant, and industrial facilities, such as petrochemicals, tourism, recreation facilities, and suburban residential areas.

Shanghai's large-scale new city development was concentrated at the east side of the Huangpu River at the end of 20th century. In the 21st century, the enthusiasm for opening up Pudong will reoccur in the seaside development belt. The first round of new development of the coastal belt focuses on the construction of a seaport, airport, large-scale municipal infrastructure, and industrial facilities. In the mid-21st century, some similar development projects to those taking place worldwide will be carried out in this zone. The experience of Pudong may be repeated here in the zone.

1.2 Air Transport Hub

In its long-term development planning, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has specified clearly the necessity to strengthen the large-scale pivotal position of Pudong Airport, construct supporting facilities, improve its transfer capacity and

international navigation capacity, and build it into a nationwide passenger and cargo hub. Shanghai has been asked to speed up the planning and construction of Pudong Airport, aiming to elevate it into an international, large-scale air transport hub.

The Functional Orientation for Shanghai as an Air Transport Hub

A Complex Hub: Market resources and the geographical location of Shanghai have been taken into account by the Central Government in defining the functional orientation of Shanghai as an Air Transport Hub. Specifically, this hub will be a large-scale, complex pivot integrating local throughput distribution, the portal function for domestic to international transfers and international to domestic transfers, and also domestic and international transfers.

With this functional orientation, Shanghai will develop at the same time: the terminal and transfer markets; passenger and cargo transport; and the international and domestic markets. As a result, Shanghai will change its present strategy of taking the local market as its main business and focus on the passenger plane-transfer market, while still keeping the local market business. It will also target cargo and passenger transport. The airport will expand its current focus on domestic air routes by entering the international market and opening up more international air routes through vigorous development.

The fundamental function of the Shanghai Air Transport Hub is a local throughput distribution center. This will serve origination destination passengers that take the largest proportion of the market. This function is determined by the economic characteristics of Shanghai's location. The top advantage of the Shanghai airport pivot stems from its central market resources—the peripheral areas around the Yangtze River Delta. They have supported Shanghai since the beginning phase with vibrant transport demand and risk-proof ability and ensured the quality of its network and business benefits. Therefore, it is essential for Shanghai to secure a big share of the local and domestic market.

The essential function of Shanghai Air Transport Hub is to serve as an interface hub between China and the rest of the world. Currently, passengers traveling between other domestic airports and foreign airports through Shanghai take up a secondary proportion of the market, but this proportion will increase considerably. Besides stopover and ticket-for-every-subsection transfers, Shanghai-based airlines should speed up the effective integration of the domestic and international networks.

The potential function of Shanghai Air Transport Hub will be as an international transfer hub and domestic transfer hub. This potential should be fostered. First, Shanghai enjoys a geographic location favorable for developing transfer markets. It is located in the center of the developed coastal zone of east China. It is already a favorite transfer location from northeast and north China to east, southeast, and mid-south China. Compared with foreign competitors, Shanghai has the fewest policy obstacles in exploiting domestic transfer resources, and the locally based airline companies have more choices.

Second, Shanghai has a more advantageous network structure in international transfer than most of the pivotal airports in the Asia Pacific region. Despite its current laggard situation in international-to-international transfers, it holds a favorable geographic position that connects Asia to Europe, Africa, North America, and South America. It therefore has the great potential to be built into a “largescale international air transport hub.”

Another prominent function of the Shanghai Air Transport Hub is as an international cargo-transport hinge. The domestic and international economic status of Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta determines its rich cargo-transport sources. Currently, the throughput of Shanghai's cargo transport takes about half that of China, while international cargo transport is about two-thirds. Over the past decade, Shanghai's cargo throughput has maintained an annual growth of 22.5%, 5.8% higher than that of China, and 14.9% higher than the world average. In 2003, the throughput of Pudong Airport ranked 17th worldwide. In view of the rapid development of Shanghai's air cargo transport, priority should be given to establishing and consolidating its status as a major cargo transport hub in Asia and across the world.

Pudong as the Main Hinge : The principle for determining the functional layout of Shanghai's two airports is to fully consider the operational mode of one city with two airports and take them as a whole in the effort to build Shanghai into an air transport hub. The goal will be achieved in phases in accordance with the integrated layout of Shanghai's airline network. More options for passenger transfers in one airport should be offered to minimize the land transfer between the two airports. Under this principle, Pudong Airport will become the main hinge for building up the airline network and flights, while Hongqiao Airport will play a supporting role and be mainly engaged in point-to-point flights.

Strategic Objectives for the Construction of Shanghai Air Transport Hub

General Objectives : Shanghai Air Transport Hub should develop a complete domestic and international airline network after a few years of hard work and establish itself as an interface airport connecting China and the world and a central hinge in the Asia-Pacific region, eventually becoming an important node in the international airline network.

Phased Objectives : With the progress of the Shanghai Air Transport Hub construction, Shanghai's airline business volume will grow rapidly. Considering the growing trend of Shanghai's airline market, and the influence of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, international consulting firms forecast the future business volume of Shanghai's two airports as follows:

Table 8.1 Volume forecasts for Shanghai's airline business
YearPassenger throughput
(million persons)
Cargo-mail throughput
(million tons)
2007492.5
2010844.1
20151007.0

The development of Shanghai Air Transport Hub will be carried out in three stages:

Stage I (2005–2007) will be a period of preparation and startup, focusing on laying the foundation for the hub construction. The main objectives are to build up an integrated network structure in line with Shanghai's market resources with a focus on developing the international market and forming a domestic to international, and international to domestic transfers network.

Stage II (2007–2010) will be a phase of regulation and advancement when Shanghai Air Transport Hub will be completed. The main objectives are to advance the quality of Shanghai's pivot airline network and expand the scale of the airline network.

Stage III (2010–2015) is the phase of maturation and expansion when Shanghai's status as an air transport hub will be fully established. The main objectives are to improve the sixth traffic right network of Shanghai-based airline companies and turn it into an important part of the Shanghai Air Transport Hub airline network system. At the same time, efforts will be made to improve the technical indexes of the Hub.

1.3 Information Port

The Information Port is a general token of Shanghai's informatization (IT upgrading) as well as an important project in the building of a future information society in Shanghai.

Shanghai set the goal of building itself into an international info port as early as 1994 in order to make full use of the information resources and speed up its information infrastructure construction. Compared with such concepts as information superhighway and information infrastructure construction, “info port” is more complicated in content and can better reflect the particular features of a city like Shanghai.

After two years of elaborate planning and preparation, Shanghai announced the start of the Info Port project on July 15, 1996. The Office of the Leading Team on Informatization and the team were set up on the same day.

Over the past year, many bottlenecks have been overcome and noticeable progress made in the informatization endeavor. The informatization development environment has continuously improved, laying a solid foundation for Shanghai's development in the early 21st century. To sum up, Shanghai's informatization development finds its expression in four aspects.

Framework of Info Port Substantially Formed

Since the start-up of Shanghai's information port, Shanghai has achieved breakthrough development in the information infrastructure through several rounds of improvement. First, the technical level and service capability have been greatly improved. Shanghai's foreign bandwidth has been raised from scores of megabytes (MB) to over 1,000 MB. Two domestic high-speed channels with a bandwidth of 2,500 MB have been built to connect other provinces and cities. The city broadband network covers 90% of the buildings and communities and can supply 1,000 MB network interface to the community, 100 MB interface to buildings, 10 MB to users. The number of Shanghai's Internet, CATV, telephone, and cell phone users has reached one million, 3.15 million, 5.3 million, and three million respectively. The establishment of a Super Computer Center has upgraded the computing capacity available to the public from ten billion operations per second to over 380 billion per second.

Second, users are provided with diverse choices. Residents are using the Internet to access information services, such as surfing, Internet calls, email, online business, video-on-demand, remote medical treatment, and distance learning. The Medicare Computer System, covering 530 medical units and six million residents, is already online. CATV two-way reconstruction is completed for one million users, offering another method of high-speed Internet access to over one-third of residents in the urban area. Companies and institutions can also choose high-speed network services provided by China Telecom, Unicom, and Netcom.

Third, the info port has obtained sound social and economic benefits. A broadband information communication center enables the 13 network operators and access providers in Shanghai to achieve interconnection and intercommunication, greatly increasing the local exchange capacity and lowering running expenses. The construction of an intensive communications pipeline not only ensures the full use of underground space, but also helps telecom corporations and others special networks users gain equal access to the local pipeline resources. With the completion of the info port framework, Shanghai has built up a modern urban infrastructure system that meets the requirements of social and economic development, looks ahead to the city's functional construction in the new century, and boosts the digital economy and knowledge-based economy.

Dominant Position of Information Industry in Shanghai's Economic Development Secured

Since the Ninth Five-Year Plan Period, Shanghai's information industry has been developing rapidly. First, of all the industries in city, the information industry enjoys the fastest growth rate. In recent years, the average gross output value of the information industry has increased annually by 39%, industrial added value by 29%, and profit by 49%, much higher than other industries and ranking first in the six pillar industries. Second, the industry has a sharp competitive edge in the domestic market. Industry systems have been formed in microelectronics, communication, Internet, computer and software, digital audio products, and information services. Among them, both the sales revenue and the number of integrated circuit manufacturing companies take up 40% of the total. Shanghai's domestic market shares in SPC exchange, optical transmission facilities, and optical fiber are 30%, 30%, and 25% respectively.

Information Technology Widely Applied

The continuous improvement of the network and the rapid development of information industry have boosted the application of information technology and the exploitation of information resources in different sectors.

First, information technology is used to enhance administration efficiency. Both the municipal and district governments have setup specialized intranets. All government information that should be open to public is now available online. The administration information systems for industry and commerce management, taxation, law enforcement, personnel, and the decision-support system for governments have played an important role in improving work efficiency and service quality. Some administrative departments have begun to provide services to residents via the Internet.

Second, information technology has raised the operation efficiency of enterprises. Shanghai stays ahead of others in applying CAD (computer aided design), computer aided manufacture and management. The application of information technology in largerscale enterprises, such as automobile, shipbuilding, steel, tobacco, and other industries, has improved efficiency of production, management, circulation, and other procedures. The large business enterprises and chain stores have also benefited from commodity management and delivery information systems.

Third, information technology has improved public services. Currently, computer and network technology has been widely applied by Shanghai's administrative departments in charge of municipal development and administration. The residents now find it easier to shop with intelligent cards (IC). The public traffic IC is now used in subways, ferries, some bus routes, and taxis. Railway and civil aviation corporations have interconnected their online ticketing systems, offering greater convenience for passengers. The operation of some large-scale websites, such as Shanghai Hotline, Oriental and digital library, has enabled residents to enjoy various information services at home.

Fourth, information technology is also employed to improve the residents' standard of living. Shanghai's Community Service Network has built a city center, three district centers, and 400 information access points, enabling community organizations to provide services to residents through the Internet. Some new services have been developed, such as online charities, nurseries, old-age services, funeral, rehabilitation, welfare, and lottery.

A Beneficial Environment Formed for Informatization

In the recent years, Shanghai has created a sound development environment for informatization in terms of policy, law, security, human resources, and publicity.

First, informatization has become widely recognized. Information technology colleges have been set up in key universities and computer courses developed as part of the curriculum of primary and middle schools to strengthen the basic education on informatization. Over 400,000 middle school students have passed the Test on Computer Knowledge and Skills, and 1,510,000 received the Certificate of Computer Application Capability Examination. Mass media organizations have employed various means to publicize the importance of informatization.

Second, information security is strengthened. Shanghai's administrative departments in propaganda, public security, confidentiality, security, technology, and informatization have worked closely to establish the city's information security liability system, security assessment system, and security technology support system. The millennium bug problem was solved successfully; the security of the Internet interface with the rest of the world has been effectively ensured; and cyber crimes effectively controlled. A test center for information security products, a virus protection center, and an antivirus laboratory were founded. The building of a safety shield project for the info port has provided reliable security guarantee for Shanghai's informatization efforts.

Third, corresponding laws and regulation systems were improved. In recent years, Shanghai has promulgated a series of local codes and regulations to deal with problems seen in informatization development, such as regulations to strengthen the management of basic communication pipelines and ensure the security of Shanghai's international marine cables. Shanghai has also adopted a series of policies to accelerate the commercialization of scientific achievements and encourage the development of the software and integrated circuit industry. Over the past few years, the Central Government has placed the bulk of national informatization demonstration projects and pilot projects in Shanghai in recognition of Shanghai's sound environment for informatization.

1.4 Rail Traffic Network

In the process of implementing the “World City” strategy, Shanghai finds its city scale expanding continuously as a result of its economic development and the centralization of various economic resources and population. This has inevitably brought huge challenges to the current urban traffic system. Drawing on the experience of London, New York, Moscow, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, Shanghai decided to develop an urban public transport system with rail transport playing a leading role and ground public transport playing an auxiliary role.

In 2001, the State Council approved the long-term plan of Shanghai's urban rail transport network. It will be an 805-kilometer-long network consisting of four high-speed rail lines, eight underground lines, five light rail lines, and 451 stations. The planned network will be second-to-none in China and rank among the top networks in the world with the only exception of New York whose city rail network consists of 25 lines with a total length of 389 kilometers.

In the central area, the rail transport stations, with a 600-meter service radius, will cover over 75% of the total area, and the ground transport stations, with a 300-meter service radius, will cover 80% of the total area. In other urban areas, the rail transport stations with a 600-meter service radius will cover 20% of the total area, ground transport stations with a 300-meter service radius will cover 60%, and ground transport stations with a 500-meter service radius will cover 100%. As for the suburban new cities and towns, ground traffic stations with a 500-meter service radius will cover 100% of highly urbanized areas. By 2010, the daily passenger-carrying capacity of public transport will reach 16.9 million, accounting for 30% of the total passenger transport and over 65% of the total motor vehicle transport.

Large-capacity high-speed rail transport will be the backbone of Shanghai's future urban transport system. In the coming five years, Shanghai will construct another 11 rail lines with 400 operational kilometers and form a rail transport network consisting of four vertical lines and three horizontal lines able to transport five million passengers daily, accounting for over 30% of passengers carried by public transport means. The planning also includes the construction of interchange stations, which will be carried out at the same time. About 80 large- or medium-scale key interchange stations will be built in Dongfang Road-Century Avenue, Longyang Road, Yishan Road-Kaixuan Road, Shanghai Railway Station, Zhongshan Park, Xujiahui, Zhenru, Hongkou Soccer Stadium, Yaohua Road, Jiading New Town, and Songjiang New Town areas, connecting all types of public transport and facilitating transfers.

The ground public transport will remain the foundation of Shanghai's urban transport. In the coming five years, Shanghai will also construct 300 kilometers of roads exclusively for public buses, of which 110 kilometers will be in the central urban area. The buses running on these roads can drive between ten to 20 kilometers per hour during peak hours, saving time for passengers on the way to and from work. The distribution of the city's public transport lines will be adjusted in accordance with particular circumstances in different areas. The lines covering the same area will be canceled and 60% of the terminal stations occupying road surfaces will be adjusted. The goal is to form a new bus network that works closely with rail transport and at the same time reasonably divides the transport work. The suburban public transport network will expand considerably to cover nine new cities, 60 new towns, and over 600 residential communities. Until then, the residents in the suburbs will be able to reach the new towns easily, enjoying the convenience of the rail transport network.

Taxis are a supplement to rail and bus transport. The operation mode of taxis will also be changed. Before 2010, 800 taxi stops will be built, making a total of 1,800 taxi stops. The mode of calling for taxi will be changed from flagging down into a combination of telephone booking, stop waiting, and roadside flagging; and the mileage utilization rate in the central city will exceed 65%.

1.5 Expressway Network

Planning Goal

Based on the overall strategic target of Shanghai's social economic development, the planned goal of the expressway network is to build a convenient, high-speed expressway network in light of the master goal of ensuring and promoting Shanghai's economic development; to drive the economic development of the regions along the Yangtze River; and to build Shanghai into a world-class economic, financial and trade center, international metropolis, and an important sea, land, and air transport hub in domestic and international transportation. Expressway construction will be based on Shanghai's 30-year highway network planning and the planned road network in Shanghai's master planning. By 2010, the city's expressway network system will have been substantially built and connected with the expressway network in the Yangtze Delta area.

In terms of the expressway network's service and accessibility, Shanghai will realize the goal of “15–30–60.” The “15” refers to the fact that vehicles in key industrial zones, market towns, traffic hinges, and passenger (cargo) distributing centers will be able to access an expressway within 15 minutes. The “30” refers to the fact that it only takes 30 minutes to travel between the central city and new cities or provincial boundaries. Expressways will be built between the central city, 11 new cities or counties (Baoshan, Jiading, Minhang, Jinshan, Songjiang, Linkong Town, Lingang New Town, Chengqiao, Qingpu, Fengxian, and Nanhui), nine municipal-level industrial parks, and important transport pivots. The “60” refers to the fact that it takes 60 minutes to travel between any two points on the expressway network. Expressways will be built among the new cities, county towns, important transport pivots, enabling a journey between new towns, counties, important transport pivots within the suburban circular road to be completed within half an hour, the journey between new towns, counties, important transport pivots out of the suburb circular road can be completed within an hour.

Duration and Range of the Planning

The long-term planning covers the year 2010 and the short-term planning covers the year 2005. All urban areas except the central city, namely the area outside the Outer Ring Road, will be covered.

Main Conclusion

The annular and radial layout is applied to Shanghai's expressway network. Apart from the completed Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway, Shanghai-Hangzhou Expressway and Yingbin Avenue, the planning proposes the Shanghai-Chongming-Suzhou, Shanghai-Jiading-Liuhe, Shanghai-Qingpu-Pingwang, Xinzhuang-Fengxian-Jinshan Expressway (Line Four), Shanghai-Luchao Port, Line Five, Jiading-Jinshan, Xinwei, Tingfeng, Tongsan Expressway, and suburban annular line. By the end of the plan period, the total length of the expressway network will reach 650 kilometers with newly built expressways of 343 kilometers and reconstructed expressways of 220 kilometers.

Construction Scale of Expressway Network

The planning proposes that the target length of expressway will be completed by 2010. The construction scale of the expressway network will be based upon the requirements of Shanghai's economic and transportation development with full consideration given to the coordination between expressway construction and Shanghai's overall development objectives, Shanghai's status and image, and the capability and feasibility of the construction. According to the plan, 600–700 kilometers of expressways will be built in Shanghai to reach a stable scale. If 650 kilometers of expressways are built in Shanghai in 2010, the expressway index per capita will reach 0.43 kilometers per 10,000 persons with expressway area density reaching 11.3 kilometers per 100 square kilometers and a population area density of 2.10.

2. Ecosystem Planning

Since the Ninth Five-Year Plan, Shanghai has followed persistently the sustainable development strategy, attaching great importance to environmental protection and development. Through the implementation of the Three-Year Action Plan for environmental protection and development, Shanghai has strengthened the environmental protection infrastructures and effectively regulated the total discharge amount of the main pollutants. The quality of atmosphere and water has been gradually improved, and the afforestation-focused urban ecosystem has been built. At the same time, the market mechanism is actively applied to speed up the development of sewage and waste handling facilities, realizing a coordinated development of environment, society, and economy while maintaining an annual GDP growth of over 10%.

2.1 Shanghai's Environmental Protection since the Ninth Five-Year Plan

Environmental Protection and Investment

Since 1998, CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and the Municipal Government have held an annual conference on population, resources, and environment to deliberate Shanghai's environmental protection. To have “blue sky, clean water, green land, and good habitat,” Shanghai Municipal Government drew up and published the Decision on Certain Issues on Strengthening Shanghai's Environmental Protection and Construction and its Implementation Proposal namely the 2000–2002 Three-Year Action Plan. In light of these plans, Shanghai has carried out environmental protection in the following five key aspects: water environmental control, atmosphere environmental control, afforestation, solid waste treatment, and pollution control in industrial zones. Shanghai has increased its investment in environmental protection since the Ninth Five-Year Plan. Over the past three years especially, the annual investment in environmental protection has accounted for 3% of the annual GDP.

Urban Wastewater and Household Garbage Treatment

In recent years, Shanghai has brought the market mechanism into full play, reformed the investment and financing mechanism, and effectively enhanced the marketization and industrialization of wastewater and garbage treatment.

First, Shanghai has attracted foreign capital and domestic funds to urban environmental infrastructure construction. It has established two household garbage incineration plants in the Pudong and Puxi areas on foreign government loans, both of which have a daily treatment capacity of over 1,000 tons of garbage. It has also attracted foreign investment to establish a solely foreign-owned household garbage biochemical treatment plant in Pudong that can process 1,000 tons of garbage per day. Shanshan Group Corporation, a domestically listed company, has built a household garbage integrated treatment plant in Taopu with a daily treatment capacity of 1,000 tons.

Second, Shanghai has been studying new methods of incorporating private capital into the construction and operation of environmental facilities. Shanghai Youlian Combo, more than 85% of whose capital comes from private shareholders, won the bid to build Zhuyuan First Wastewater Treatment Plant, the largest treatment plant in Shanghai. In addition, Shanghai has been actively exploring the marketization mechanism for urban household garbage collection. The operators are transformed into independent legal entities in order to sharpen their market adaptability. In actual operation, the property management company (on behalf of residents) selects the garbage collector. The collector selects the transfer dealer and the transfer dealer selects the treatment plant. The charge will be paid on the basis of contracts and computer weighing. Work efficiency and service quality have greatly improved.

At the same time, Shanghai reformed the old household garbage transport and treatment methods that gave the responsibilities to district governments. The new policy is to entrust the district governments to process a set volume of garbage. If the garbage produced by a district exceeds the set volume, the extra part will be processed at the district's expense. If the garbage produced by a district is less than the set volume, the district could pocket the saved expenditure. The expenses that were used for extra garbage treatment are rewarded to low-garbage districts, which serves as an encouragement to the district to reduce garbage volume.

Environmental Infrastructure Construction

In terms of water environment improvement, RMB 2.6 billion was invested in the second phase of the Upper Huangpu River Diversion Project, which has been completed. The Confluent Sewage Treatment Plant Phase 2 and the main work of Wujing-Minhang Sewage Northward-transporting Project, with a total investment of RMB 6.4 billion, have also been completed. Thanks to these projects, the pollution sources in an area of over 340 square kilometers along the Huangpu River and Suzhou River have been diverted into the confluent sewage channel for treatment. The sewage treatment rate in 2001 reached 53.3%. For solid waste treatment, the coverage rate of the urban household garbage classified collection reached 30%. Pudong and Jiangqiao household garbage incinerator plants, with a total investment of RMB 1.4 billion, have been built and put into operation.

For air quality treatment, Shanghai adjusted its energy structure and adopted a centralized heat supply. One hundred percent of the urban households have access to natural gas, compared with 91.4%in 1996. Natural gas from the East China Sea has been introduced into the Pudong area and part of the Puxi area. Two coal-burning free zones and a batch of atmosphere pollutant discharge compliance zones and streets have emerged. Unleaded gasoline and clean energy-powered vehicles have been popularized. The noise control in streets in the city central area and suburban towns have all reached the required standard, pushing the percentage of compliant areas to 56%.

For ecological environment development, the construction of green belts surrounding the city, green corridors, large-scale green patches in urban areas, natural reserve districts, and suburban forests bring the total area of Shanghai's greenbelts beyond 14,800 ha, realizing the goal that every street owns 3,000 square meters of green space. In addition, the green space per capita has increased from 1.02 to 5.5 square meters. The afforestation coverage rate has exceeded 23.5%. Shanghai has fostered a few replanted woods, coastal protection forests, and river-course protection forests, and set up six natural reserves with a total area of 908 square kilometers. After the areas along Xinhua Road, Hetian Road, and Taopu industrial zone were removed from the heavy pollution list, Shanghai allocated RMB 3 billion especially for environmental improvement and initialized the integrated environmental improvement project in another heavily polluted industrial zone, Wusong industrial zone.

Suzhou River Rehabilitation

In 1998, Suzhou River Rehabilitation Project Phase I (1998–2002) was started. The main tasks targeting the water area were “odor control and black water control” and the tasks on the ground area included improving the dirty and disorderly situation and green space construction. In all there were ten major projects, including controlling the pollutants in all six tributaries of Suzhou River. By 2000, the black water and bad odor was eliminated from the main stream of Suzhou River, the water quality of the main stream and branches of Suzhou River was improved and stabilized, and the water ecosystem gradually revived.

Air Pollution Treatment

Shanghai's air pollution is caused by burning coal and oil. The main pollutants are nitrogen oxide, suspended particles, and sulfur dioxide. Since 1997, Shanghai has replaced the fuel for coal furnaces with clean energy through the natural gas popularization project. Over 3,300 coal-burning furnaces have been replaced in three years, cutting coal consumption by 171 thousand tons per year and reducing sulfur dioxide and dust discharge by 3,370 tons and 800 tons per year respectively. Environmental monitoring indicates the average dust fall decreased from 13.82 tons per month per square kilometer in 1996 to 9.97 tons in 2001. Indexes of sulfur dioxide, suspended particles, and nitrogen dioxide also declined.

2.2 Shanghai's Afforestation

A harmonious ecological environment will be established. The greenbelts surrounding the city will be built and an afforestation system and greenery spatial system will be established, taking the large-scale ecological forests in the suburbs as the main body and the greenery rings, wedges, corridors, and gardens as the basis.

2.3 Chongming Ecological Island

Chongming is located at the estuary of the Yangtze River in Shanghai's north wing. It is the third largest island in China and the largest estuarine alluvial island in the world with an area of 1,225 square kilometers and a population of 640,000. The island is endowed with a good environment and is one of Shanghai's largest developmental spaces. With the completion of the Shanghai-Chongming-Suzhou cross-river bridge and the Chongming Island Bridge in 2007, Chongming will make full use of its four advantages of special island layout, accessibility, good ecological environment, and broad land resources to become one of Shanghai's strategic key districts at the beginning of the 21st century.

Planning Guidelines

Chongming's future development will be carried out in accordance with the following guidelines:

First, ecological modernization should prevail over traditional industrialization. The relationship between the development of Chongming Island and that of Shanghai should be properly handled.

Second, sufficient natural ecological conservation space should be reserved for wetlands, rivers, lakes and forest when future large-scale projects are planned. Coordination should be maintained between economic development and environmental protection, and that between short-term development and long-term development.

Third, efforts should be made to promote the integration of urban and rural areas in developing modern ecological industry so as to effectively solve the problems surrounding countryside, agriculture, and farmers. The relationship between ecological development and economic development should be well handled.

Overall Objectives

By 2020, Chongming will be built into an ecological island district of the world-class city of Shanghai and the most beautiful “marine garden” featuring a beautiful ecological environment, well-known leisure and entertainment facilities, and advanced clean production. It will become an ecological activities demonstration island at home and abroad, as well as a link in the north of Shanghai to connect the Yangtze River Delta and the Grand Coastal Thoroughfare.

Functional Positioning

First, Chongming Island will be built into an international-level forest and garden island with forest, water system, wetlands, and pastoral features as the main themes.

Second, Chongming will be built into a world-class ecological habitat demonstration island in terms of ecological environmental protection, ecological industry upgrading, ecological culture fostering, and luxurious ecological residential districts.

Third, Chongming will be built into a leading international tourism and vacation island featuring holiday leisure, sports, recreation, recuperation, training, conference, and exhibition.

Four, Chongming will be built into an island for scientific research and technical innovation, attracting multinationals, research and development centers, international educational institutes, consulting forums, and international or intercontinental organizations.

Overall Layout

The general layout of Chongming is divided into five functional zones, according to the island's north-south landform, and considering the special space requirement of its east and west plus the road distribution.

Chongming East Zone consists of the Grand Coastal Thoroughfare scenic area and the ecological demonstration, leisure, and sports areas. Located in the east of the island with an area of over 180 square kilometers, the zone consists of the east beach wetland and migratory bird reserve, the planned Shangshi ecological park, and Chengjia Town.

Chongming Central Zone is made up of three sub-zones: the central forest, the leisure and vacation, and the educational and research and development. This zone is located at the center of the island, covering an area of 500 square kilometers and currently taking forestry and agriculture as its main industries. The Dongping National Forest Park, another brand of Chongming Island, is also situated in the central part of this zone.

Chongming North Zone includes theme parks and an organic ecological agriculture demonstration area. Located in the north of the island, this belt-like zone is home to modern farming, Chongming's new reclamation area, and Jiangsu's reclamation area. The north line of the planned island ring road and the Grand Coastal Thoroughfare will pass through this zone. Its planned area is about 170 square kilometers.

Chongming South Zone is a pastoral urbanized central area. This zone is located in the south of the island. Chengqiao, Baozhen, Xinhe, Miaozhen, Shuxin, Xianghua, Zhongxing, and Chengjiazhen jointly form a main group of towns on the island. It has an area of 200 square kilometers with a dense population and economy.

Chongming West Zone will be developed into an ecological lake-view zone integrating holiday resorts, and international conference and office buildings. The zone is located in the west of the island, close to the exit of Chongming-Haimen Bridge, which is part of the Chongming cross-river route. It has the largest natural lake on the island, plus the Chongxi deep-water waterfront section (more than 14 meters deep). With an area of 150 square kilometers, it consists of Lühua Town, part of Sanxing Town, Xinhai and Yuejin farms.

2.4 Environmental Protection and Future Development of Shanghai

There is still a big gap between the current level of environmental protection and development in Shanghai and the high standards expected of a modern international metropolis. There are many environmental difficulties to be solved and important issues to be addressed. A higher-quality environment can only be obtained through the persistent implementation of the Three-Year Action Plan for environmental protection and the implementation.

Three-Year Action Plan

Shanghai Municipal Government has initiated a new Three Year Action Plan (2003–2005) for environmental protection and development which focuses on six key areas: water environment, atmosphere environment, solid waste, afforestation development, agriculture, and heavily polluted areas. The objective of this plan is to enable Shanghai to obtain a high general environmental quality and become China's top-grade large city with clear water, clean riverbanks, and fresh air. It will also strive to become a national garden city and one of cities most livable at home and aboard.

Administrative System, Mechanism, and Technical Innovation

Protection and improvement of the environment is a systematic project. Depending on the continual innovation and optimization of administrative systems and mechanisms, Shanghai will form a well-rounded mechanism that brings governments, society, enterprises, and individuals together. In the near future, Shanghai will accelerate the pace of innovation, especially in the following fields:

Shanghai will accelerate the establishment of a public financial investment system to ensure a steady increase of financial investment in environmental protection and improvement. It will encourage and attract social financial investment, perfect the system for paid discharge, and restrain pollution discharge by carrying out the principle of “whoever pollutes pays,” establish and perfect a policy-guiding mechanism for environmental economy, and encourage clean production to achieve the aim of positive pollution prevention.

Shanghai will reform the development and operation management system for urban sewage and solid waste disposal by means of project-oriented financing and public biding. It will break up trade monopoly and regional monopoly, open the environmental sanitation and afforestation service market, perfect the bidding system for management power, separate the functions of governments and enterprises, speed up the establishment of the system for reducing and recycling household refuse, and encourage enterprises to exercise professional management in pollution prevention and control.

Shanghai will strengthen environmental protection legislation, establish and improve a legal framework for environmental protection that suits market economic development, complies with Shanghai's practice, and meets international practices. It will accelerate the formulation or revision of environmental protection laws and regulations with a focus on the pertinence, operability, and innovation of legislation. It will strengthen the law enforcement capability and further enhance environmental supervision.

Shanghai will speed up the environmental protection innovation system and improve the mechanism for market-oriented environmental protection technological advancement. It will strengthen the research on major environment decision making with a focus on urban ecological development, economy and environment, water source protection, polluted river treatment, vehicle pollution prevention, energy, and environment. It will introduce international environmental standards. Enterprises will be encouraged to play a more important role in technical innovation. Great efforts will be made to foster a service market for environmental protection technology, develop an environmental protection consulting service, and form a market-oriented, enterprise-focused development mechanism for the environmental industry.

Following the principle of simplifying the examination and approval procedures in the early stage and strengthening supervision after the event, Shanghai will deepen the reform of administrative examination and approval systems, strengthen classified management, and exploit new modes for filing or informing commitment. It will also deepen the reform of the pollutant supervision and control system, apply administrative, economic, and legal means to strengthen the sewage discharge permit system, and strengthen the control of gross discharge. It will establish an examination and approval system on total pollutant discharge for new projects and adopt preferential policies to encourage industrial enterprises to relocate to functional industrial parks of different levels.

About this article

Special Planning

Updated About encyclopedia.com content Print Article