By Yvonne Wang

 

The Shanghai Urban Planning Administrative Bureau has made public the final plan for the Bund  renovation project, designed to make it easier for residents and visitors to enjoy strolls along the historic waterfront area.

The blueprint is on display in the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall at People's Square, and planners are seeking public input.

According to a spokesman for the Shanghai government, the Bund renovation project will kick off in the fourth quarter of this year and finish construction by the end of 2009.

The plan calls for a 1.8-kilometer scenic walkway   along the Huangpu River, from Suzhou Creek in the north to the Shiliupu port in the south.

In addition, four new or upgraded squares along the Huangpu River will give the time-honored Bund a more attractive and leisurely atmosphere. The four parks are Huangpu Park, Chenyi Square, Festival Square and Meteorological Tower Square, all connected by platforms and ramps.

"Our idea for this renovation is to create more public space for city residents and visitors. We will develop the Bund waterfront into Shanghai's most classic sightseeing site," said Mao Jialiang, head  of the Shanghai Urban Planning Administrative Bureau.

As part of the renovation project, the number of  traffic lanes on Zhongshan Road E. No. 1 will be slashed from 10 to four, as it used to be before 1993.

Also, the road will be closed to most vehicles except buses and tourist buses that are going to the Bund. Through-traffic will be shunted to a 3.3-kilometer two-level vehicle tunnel beneath the road and river, due to come into use in early 2010.

The reduction in traffic lanes will help broaden the pedestrian way, which is now as narrow as 3 meters wide in some places,  to at least 8 meters. Other good news for tourists will be that they can walk across the road at some major intersections, instead of having to take an underground passage.

Ruan Yishan, a professor from the College of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University, told the Shanghai Star Business Journal that he doubted it is the right time to start the construction.

"The idea of renovating the Bund was put forward in 1990s. I support this tunnel project, but I'm afraid the construction will worsen the traffic congestion in the next three years," he said.

Ruan stressed that at this moment, the priority is to ease the traffic congestion around Zhongshan Road. N. because the eastern ramp of Zhongshan Road E. No. 1, dubbed by local residents as "No. 1 Asian Curve," has been closed, while the tunnel is not finished yet. "If there are no changes made to improve the traffic, it will bring about congestion during the construction period," he added.

City planners find that more than 80 percent of the traffic flow in the Bund comes from vehicles passing by, rather than going to the Bund. Therefore, even if most vehicles are channeled into an underground tunnel, they will not create new traffic chaos above ground.

As to the four squares along the Huangpu River, planners predict they will become new tourist attractions.

The front door and walls of the current Huangpu Park will be removed, and then the park will become a spacious garden square. The size of the Chenyi Square will be doubled, where a statue of Chen Yi, the first mayor of Shanghai after the founding of the People's Republic of China, is erected.

Two new squares will be built. A new Festival Square is near Fuzhou Road for public activities. Areas around the current meteorological tower near Yan'an Road E. will also be transferred into a new square, including a viewing platform.

Planners believe the renovation will make the area more environmentally friendly, and green areas in the neighborhood will stay intact.

"Under appropriate management, the Bund may be able to retrieve its reputation of 'ten miles of foreign spectacles'  in the early 20th century, or shi li yang chang in Chinese, with sightseeing sites, shopping areas, and historic buildings," Ruan said.

 

In the future, more service facilities such as newspaper kiosks and food stores will be set up on the waterfront. More plants, particularly trees and shrubs, will be planted to provide shade for pedestrians.

At the beginning, the Shanghai government invited 10 prestigious engineering companies from home and abroad to design the Bund waterfront.

After a decision by a group of experts invited by the government, four designs were short-listed. They came from Harvard University, Tongji University, GMP from Germany and Australian COX. However, none of the four final designs was chosen as the final winner. Instead, a mixed version of two finalists' ideas was picked. The bureau didn't explain the reason why it made such a decision.

Lin Lan, with the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said the final plan had absorbed ideas from two designs.

"The Bund waterfront is a comprehensive project that offers various designs emphasizing function, cultural and environmental concerns. A combination of such designs will serve different purposes," she said.