I. URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

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D. The adjustment of urban development

For over 30 years, the intense industrialization of Shanghai had completed its industry system and enhanced its commercial and financial potential. But outdated working mechanisms and the shortage of energy resources and raw materials brought about by the cancellation of a planned economy resulted in huge differences to the advanced technical and administrative levels of western countries. Consequently, Shanghai still had a long way to go to shift its city development from extensive industrialization to sustainable development.

In 1982 Shanghai drafted its first general plan since 1949 which advanced concrete principles to rationalise the city layout, establish a systematic town system, set up an efficient transportation system, beautify its city environment and create a superior investment environment. Thus Shanghai entered a new era of urban development.

In the1980s, Shanghai took advantage of its industrial adjustment and aimed at playing the multi-functional part a key city. It renovated its central city, developed the Pudong District, substantiated its satellite towns, constructed small towns in the suburbs and formed a coordinated system of central city, satellite towns, suburb towns and rural habitations.-

1. The general layout

With the central city of Shanghai as the main body, connections between it and its seven satellite cities and main small towns and principal cities of neighboring provinces are to be fully developed through highways, grade I roads and express rail transportation. New group sections are to be built in the planned central city, separated by croplands and green vegetation with planned zones and necessary green belts for satellite towns and small towns. Thus the network of cities and town in Shanghai would be composed of land for urbanization combined with circular and wedge-shaped green spaces to ensure residents’ easy access to the natural environment and to improve urban environmental qualities.

2. The layout of the central city

The old concentric layout would be changed to a multi-cored layout through actively renovating and reconstructing the central city in a careful plan, 9 new sections built around the old center and open lands for vegetation set aside between them. The new sections should have their own characteristics and public activity centres and they should also have synthetic multi-functional sub-sections. For example, Dabasi will be the local trading center, Hongqiao will be the center of foreign trade and Caohejing will develop hi-tech industry of micro-electronics. At the same time, certain lands will be reserved for future industrial development in eight industrial zones such as Pengpu, Beixingjing and Caohejing in order to adjust industrial allocation.

The central city should concentrate its renovations with industrial adjustment, infrastructure construction and improvement of shack dwellings to ameliorate urban traffic and improve environmental quality and city appearance. The renovation should focus on People's Square, extending to the Bond and Lujiazui in the east and to the Exhibition Center, Jingansi and Hongqiao district in the west and should greatly enhance Shanghai's economy, culture and living environment, as well as improving the city's appearance.

Pudong New Area will be renovated and reconstructed in a series of plans. Certain areas will be demarcated to develop finance and trade, science and technology, culture and education, and information and services. A financial and trade centre around Lujiazui will be set up as the extension of the city centre, while the Waigaoqiao port as a service base and a second international airport will be planned to become new transportation pivots. Only industries with little pollution can be developed in the old bases of the ship-building, petrochemical, building materials and metallurgical industries. Pudong has the advantage of being close to rivers and will become a beautiful new modern district.

3. The layout of satellite towns

The consistency, structures, coordination and compatibility of industries will be considered to substantiate the seven satellite towns and their infrastructures ameliorated in order to enhance their cohesion and attractiveness so that they can play their roles of absorbing population and industry from the central city -.

4. The layout of suburb towns

Suburb towns as local political, economical and cultural centres will be established according to the principle of urban-rural integration to encourage farmers to be engaged in different industries in the towns. The suburb towns should form a network of a suitable scale and their development should adapt to their own characteristics.