YANGPU has outlined a commer­cial development plan of its east, west and central areas amid a three-year strategy to turn the district into a hub of innovation in shop­ping experience.

In line with the blueprint, the devel­opment of the west will focus on the popular Wujiaochang (or literally “Pen­tagon Plaza”) — a cluster of shopping malls and commercial complexes.

The future of the central area, par­ticularly around Kongjiang Road, is earmarked for business with a “Shang­hai flavor.”

In the east, Yangshupu, where the Shanghai International Fashion Center is situated, is planned for more com­mercial development.

Yangpu is confident it will complete its program after taking 47.47 billion yuan (US$6.92 billion) in retail sales last year, a year-on-year increase of almost 9 percent.

From January through June this year, the overall retail sales of Yangpu Dis­trict generated 25.54 billion yuan, an 8 percent rise from the same period a year ago.

The Wujiaochang commercial circle at­tracted more than 300,000 visitors every day. Major retailers here generated 7.34 billion yuan in sales in the first half of the year, up almost 9 percent from a year ago.

Shops along Kongjiang Road reported 412 million yuan of sales during the same period, up nearly 8 percent from last year.

Fashion houses and boutique stores in Binjiang, around the International Fash­ion Center, rang up nearly 1 billion yuan in sales at the same time, a year-on-year increase of almost 9 percent.

At Wujiaochang, five commercial complexes sit at five cusp tips of the pentagon respectively. Wanda Plaza, Bail­ian Youyicheng Shopping Mall, Hopson One, Bailian UMAX and the Wujiaochang store of Suning.com have 600,000 square meters of floor space and pushed Wuji­aochang into becoming one of the top 10 shopping areas in Shanghai.

The magnificent turn-around of Wu­jiaochang took place in the early stages of the new millennium. In December 2006, the 335,000-square-meter Wanda Plaza was launched at the intersection of Handan Road and Songhu Road.

A month later, Bailian Youyicheng Shopping Mall was open, which has a total floor space of 126,000 square meters. It was hailed as a landmark shopping mall at the time. The late artist Chen Yifei designed the structure to look like a flying saucer atop Wujiaochang, at one of the busiest intersections in the galaxy. It was given the nickname, the egg, and it became an icon of the penta­gon plaza which has broken the cocoon into a butterfly.

In 2016, Hopson One opened its gate at the intersection of Xiangyin Road and Huangxing Road, and became the last one to join the commercial circle.

The 150,000-square-meter shopping complex also features a five-star Hyatt hotel and a top-tier office building, making Wujiaochang a forerunner of the business.

The Daxue Road, or literally College Road, in the vicinity is a lovely narrow street full of cafes, bistros, bookstores and designer shops.

The outdoor tables and chairs vary in texture, size, shape and color to create an endless variety of combinations. With elegant flowers and green plants, the street is full of vitality and rich in cultural and artistic vibes. The scene is more reminiscent of a thriving European city than that of an Asian street.

Daxue Road has become a gathering place for college students and young makers.

From the exit of Metro Line 10, next to the Jiangwan Stadium, turn left and there is a large underground shopping street, Pacific Fresh City, with all sorts of eclec­tic stalls on both sides. It also connects Wanda Plaza, Knowledge and Innovation Spring, Daxue Road, Zhengxue Road and the Knowledge and Innovation Commu­nity from the underground.

It offers a one-stop solution to shopping, entertainment, eating and drinking as well as commuting from underground.

“The Wujiaochang commercial circle is upgrading its business in recent years,” said Ren Jingqi, deputy direc­tor of Yangpu District Commission of Commerce.

More than 400 shops will be replaced every year, according to Ren. Last year YH Super Species opened its first store in Shanghai in Wanda Plaza offering fresh seafood and a cooking service.

The world’s first Jordan experience store opened at the Wanda Plaza this year together with Fila Fusion. Bail­ian Youyicheng Shopping Mall has introduced nearly 60 new brands. The Wujiaochang outlet of Suning.com opened an unstaffed store and Suning Cinema to boost the development of new retail.

In the future, the central and northern parts of the commercial circle will coor­dinate with the southern part or the core area to form a “Greater Wujiaochang.”

In the last two years in central Yang­pu, shopping complexes such as Junxin Times Square, CIFI Mall and Bauhinia Square have increased 140,000 square meters of commercial floor space.

The new shopping malls mainly focus on local families. The three-year action plan proposes to provide more than 500,000 square meters of shopping space around Kongjiang Road by 2020. Time-honored brands will be introduced to fulfill locals’ nostalgia for the old days.

Vertical parking lots will be built to ease parking difficulty.

In the east, the Yangpu section of the 45-kilometer thoroughfare along Huangpu River has huge potential for commercial development.

At present there is nearly 200,000 square meters of commercial complexes on both sides of Yangshupu Road. A clus­ter of high-end fashion houses will be created in the next three years to become one of the best throughout the city.

The Shanghai International Fashion Center and the Oriental Fisherman’s Wharf are the highlights. The Interna­tional Fashion Center, on the former site of a textile factory, houses more than 100 shops and over 200 fashion brands.

The annual Shanghai Fashion Week and a number of new product releases were also held here. The Oriental Fisher­man’s Wharf is an all-year-round trade platform of China International Import Expo, featuring more than 50 luxury brands in home décor, garments, shoes, luggage and jewelry.

A Maserati exhibition stand is on the first floor, whereas a Da Vinci museum, Mediterranean foods academy and craft liquors from Italy will also debut here.