MOST people don’t think of an industrial park as a place to visit. So it came as quite a surprise when I recently took a tour of Shibei High-Tech Park, a 24-year-old site that has undergone a major overhaul.

It’s part of development along the Middle Ring Road, and, yes, there are the company offices and workshops that I expected to see. But instead of a monotony of industrial-looking buildings, the park was designed with residential complexes, sports venues, hotels, medical facilities and a comprehensive shopping mall.

In short, Shibei is like a small, welcoming community. In Shanghai, it’s called “industrial urbanization.”

The Middle Ring Road is one of three east-west “belts” of development branching out along the South-North Elevated Road.

The idea is to integrate work and home in a comfortable and pleasant living environment.

The whole development area includes Shibei and a new film park that includes the Shanghai University campus.

INTERNATIONAL Film and Television Park Circum-SHU

ANOTHER major component underway in the Middle Ring Road development is a state-owned film park that includes the campus of Shanghai University.

The International Film and Television Park Circum-SHU envisions itself as a Hollywood of the future, though work is still underway on facilities amid the ruins of an old factory past.

More than 140 film studios and workshops are clustered in a relatively central area that used to be the base of heavy industry. Quite a few of the old buildings have been preserved and renovated.

M-Digital Studio has transferred its headquarters from San Francisco to set up operations in an old red-brick bungalow in the park that once served as a workshop of the Shanghai No.1 Machine Tool Works Factory.

Also housed in a renovated old building is Master Studio, which will serve as a periodic work site for film directors and producers like Malcolm Clarke, Shunji Iwai, Jia Zhangke and Andre Morgan. Their names are lending weight to the profile of the park, helping to attract young filmmakers and investors, said Tang Chenping, an official with park operator Daning Assets Management Group Co Ltd.

Tang said the idea of a film park along the Middle Ring Road originated about 10 years ago when Shanghai Party Secretary Han Zheng asked media tycoon Rupert Murdoch for advice on developing the film industry in the city.

Murdoch introduced Han to an old friend, the headmaster of the Vancouver Film School. The meeting led to the 2014 creation of the Shanghai Vancouver Film School, operated by Shanghai University and the Vancouver institution on the Shanghai campus.

Chinese director Jia Zhangke, who won an award for contributions to independent filmmaking at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, has been named the new director of the Shanghai Vancouver Film School.

The school’s reputation has also drawn film animation company Mili Pictures to Shanghai from Suzhou.

“We have great hunger for talented film people, but Suzhou couldn’t feed us any longer,” said Vice President Leon Cai. “Professionals are the core of our productions.”

Cai also praised the new site for its backup support in areas such as intellectual property copyrights.

For its part, M-Digital is currently working on special effects for a domestic adaptation of the Hugo Award-winning novel “The Three-Body Problem.” The science-fiction book was written by Chinese author Liu Cixin.

Jason Tang, manager of M-Digital, said his company was drawn to Shanghai from San Francisco because it offered a complete industry chain for movie-makers.

“The park gives us convenience and comfort,” he said, “and in return, we generate revenue for the park. If we grow well, more movie companies will come here. It forms a virtuous circle.”

Some support facilities in the park have been completed and are open to the public, including the Daning Music Plaza that has a multimedia fountain with music, water and fire, and the Jing’an District’s first IMAX theater.

SHIBEI High-Tech Park

I set out for the park thinking I would spend a whole day learning about the companies involved in cloud computing and big data.

But I widened my focus mind when I entered the park and was greeted by a stunning waterscape that includes lakeside cafes and flocks of black swans. It felt a bit like being in an environmental resort.

“We studied industrial parks in Singapore,” said Janice Liu, vice general manager of Shanghai Shibei High-Tech Co Ltd. “Tropical plants thrive there. We want it to be the same here.”

She added, “Over the years, we have been putting a lot of effort into cleaning up the waterway here and improving the eco-system.”

The design of Shibei also adheres to the principles of fengshui, the Chinese system of geomancy the divines meanings from location and patterns.

“What is good fengshui?” Liu said. “You feel comfortable here, and that is good fengshui.”

Garcia Shen, a research worker at the park, said the lakeside Starbucks is considered one of Shanghai’s most beautiful outlets and now is the second most profitable Starbucks in Shanghai. Black swans that glide about the lake are fed tidbits by young white-collar workers.

Shibei has about 700,000 square meters of residential housing, with a bus line encircling the area to provide convenient transport. Sincere Plaza, covering an area the equivalent of 11 football fields, is China’s first and only retail center built by an industrial park, according to Liu.

In another first, Shibei will open a privately run clinic next month, the first of its kind built and operated by an industrial park, Liu said.

China is now trying to reform its medical system to promote the use of primary care physicians as the entry point to healthcare. People requiring further specialized treatment are referred to appropriate care centers.

“Industrial parks aren’t covered by this system,” said Shao Jun, a former doctor who will head up the new hospital. “But workers in the parks may face health risks due to work pressure and irregular schedules.”

Shibei wasn’t born eco-friendly and people-oriented.

In the early 1990s, it was a heavy industry zone. From its bleak factory origins, the park has been transformed after years, benefitting from Shanghai’s modernization drive.

Today it has morphed from smokestack industries into a modern services and information technology hub. Shibei embraced the digital revolution beginning in 2010, prioritizing cloud computing and later big data. Nowadays it is home to about 100 technology companies, including China’s leading server provider Inspur.

The companies are involved in building open data platforms for both governments and enterprises in sectors such as healthcare, traffic control and monitoring visitors at scenic spots.

“They haven’t generated big revenues yet, but it’s just a matter of time,” Liu said. “This is the digital era, and I believe their growth will be explosive.”

On April 1, Shanghai Data Exchange was established in Shibei. Due to open by the end of August, the new center will integrate the activities of all companies involved with big data technology.

“I am very confident the new facility will be the biggest of its kind in China by the end of the year,” Liu said.

A shortage of professional talent remains a problem. Shibei is in talks with Fudan and Jiao Tong universities in Shanghai and with Stanford and Berkeley universities in California to use the park as a base of training and research.