Xuhui plays around with a grand plan for developing its riverside
Print Edition
XUHUI District plans to build six theaters by Huangpu River to make the riverside an “international cultural landmark.”
The district director Fang Shizhong announced the ambitious plan yesterday.
The complex, with 10,000 seats planned, has been named West Bund Media Harbor.
It would cover 100,000 square meters and be completed around 2018, Fang told the Waterfront Global Talk 2016 forum in Xuhui. The district government held the forum to solicit ideas from around the world on developing Xuhui riverbank.
The area was expected to become a place having a large cluster of theaters and an international cultural landmark, Fang said. It would include an egg-shaped theater with 3,000 seats, a “dream theater” with 1,800 seats, a music hall and an IMAX cinema, along with two further theaters.
The district aims to create an open space where the public can enjoy and participate in various activities along the 11.4-kilometer-long riverside area of Xuhui, according to the government.
The West Bund area would have 8.4 kilometers of boulevards with tall trees to be planted on both sides, five bridges for sightseeing, 800,000 square meters of open public areas and more than 100,000 square meters of waterside decks by 2017, Fang said.
Tram lines, ferry ports and a helipad have been planned for the area, according to a development plan.
The zigzag riverside boulevard would be an area where people could walk or drive at low speeds to enjoy the scenery, Fang said.
The West Bund was aimed at being on a par with the world’s famous riverbanks such as the London South Bank and the Paris Left Bank, he added.
According to the plan, the district will build two-story sky-walks as well as a connected underground space for the West Bund.
The 9.4 square kilometer area along the river was once home to the city’s earliest cargo transportation railway station built in 1907; Longhua Airport, the then biggest airport in the Far East in 1917; China’s first modern cement factory built in 1920; and a major coal transportation dock built in 1929.
Cooperation with Paris
Fang said the district government had decided to develop and open the area to the public around 2009 ahead of the World Expo 2010 Shanghai.
Some of the industrial relics such as the former railway and a maritime tower had been preserved and developed into new attractions, he added.
A 2.5-kilometer railway had been preserved as an industrial relic. More than 40,000 square meters of the dock had been converted into riverside decks and the former coal plant and aircraft assembling lines had become art museums.
The district government would cooperate with the Center Pompidou, Paris to develop a West Bund Art Gallery for the area, Fang said. “It will not simply exhibit the artworks from the Center Pompidou, but highlight China’s contemporary art,” he added.
Meanwhile, the West Bund area of Xuhui has been planned as part of the Central Activities Zone in the downtown area by the city government, according to the master plan for the city’s development over the next two decades. The CAZ is an urban planning concept that includes business, culture, entertainment, shopping and tourism.
Other CAZ areas include the Lujiazui, the Bund, People’s Square, the World Expo 2010 site and the Qiantan area, Zhongshan Park, Hongqiao Central Business District as well as the riverside areas of Hongkou and Yangpu districts, according to the master plan.
The plan was submitted to the Standing Committee of the Shanghai People’s Congress for evaluation yesterday and will then go to the State Council for further approval.
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