Building an energetic 24-hour urban district
Print Edition
Editor’s note:
Suzhou Creek flows across the Shanghai metropolitan area and has been a witness to the city’s transformation.
Along with the Huangpu River, the smaller creek has been called a “mother river” of Shanghai.
It originates from Guajing Creek, Jiangsu Province, and joins the Huangpu River at Waibaidu Bridge in downtown Shanghai after running 125 kilometers. Of the 53.1km in Shanghai, 21km are in downtown area, including 14.3km in Putuo District.
Originally called the Wusong River, the name Suzhou dates from the former foreign concession period when expats often traveled by boat on the little river from Shanghai to Suzhou in Jiangsu. Soon it was called Suzhou Creek.
Li Anlan
Putuo District has big plans to revitalize the old industrial town of Taopu, turning it into a modern and livable area with clean, high-tech industries, services, a vibrant community and a sound ecological environment.
Reviving Taopu is a key project in Shanghai’s general transformation plan for old industrial areas.
Proposals for urban development, including an ecological park, science center and residential communities, were discussed on September 17 at the 2013 Suzhou Creek Forum, in which more than 200 people participated.
Goals for the old industrial zone are diverse, but they are all about people-oriented development.
Transformation
“The transformation of traditional industrial zones is not about replacing them with new industries,” said Tang Zilai, professor and dean of urban planning at Tongji University. “It’s about forming a post-industrial model that combines work, daily life, leisure and education, making it an energetic 24-hour urban district,” he told the summit.
In terms of economic development, three zones are envisioned: a services function zone, a high technology and commercial zone, and a zone featuring company headquarters.
Over the past 10 years, Taopu has been trying to clean up the heavy pollution caused by rapid industrial development left over from the 1980s. Taopu had many factories that manufactured fertilizers, plastic, chemicals, pharmaceutical, and among others. It was all dirty and smelly and heavily polluted, similar like Suzhou Creek in the past.
Polluting factories have been shut down and relocated. Preference is now given to nonpolluting factories that don’t consume a lot of resources.
Green zones have been added.
To support a headquarters economy, Taopu should build a professional system covering finance, insurance, tourism, legal affairs, business consultancy, training and other fields, said Gao Xiaomei, vice chairman of the Shanghai Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the political advisor.
New goals
She said that goals for the old industrial zone include reviving the economy, developing the community, constructing infrastructure, and building an ecological environment.
Reshaping old industrial zones in big cities requires a broad urban planning perspective, positioning for the future and coordinating among various functions, she said.
In October 2012, Putuo contracted with Caohejing High-Tech Park to develop a new science center in Taopu. Caohejing is a successful park in Xuhui District that generates around 30 billion yuan (US$4.9 billion) in output value per square kilometer, the top among the country’s development zones.
Distinctiveness
Tang, the Tongji urban planning expert, said Taopu will be a new generation of technological and commercial zones, distinct from Caohejing and Zhangjiang High-Tech Park. It will combine work, leisure and education, focus on developing research and related commerce, and build platforms for sharing ideas.
Residential real estate will be developed to attract people working and living in the district. Well-planned communities help attract talented individuals. They need good facilities, green space, transport, easy access to schools, health facilities, shopping and leisure activities.
Tang also proposed an ecological theme park that could become a demonstration project for environmental protection.
Putuo has less public green space than the city’s central districts and Taopu’s transformation will provide an opportunity to create open space and parks, he said.
“More importantly, the severe soil pollution from heavy industries is a major challenge for development and also hurts the district’s image,” Tang said.
A well-constructed ecological park — with clean soil, gravel, sand, special plants, trees and running streams — can help remediate the soil pollution, expand green space coverage and provide a place for people to gather, relax and have fun, he said.
Gao, from the Shanghai CPPCC, emphasized the importance of ecological development of the entire area.
“We should say goodbye to the old thinking of extracting from nature,” she said. Manufacturing needs to be rethought, civic-minded living should be emphasized, energy-saving and emissions reductions should be actively pursued.
Hu Liming, president of Yanhua Smartech in Shanghai, summed up five essentials in planning Taopu’s future: “Seize the opportunity, be ready to be creative, plan with wisdom, build wisely, and operate in a smart way.”
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