Abstract: "We are not developing a housing estate; we are building a city!"

Modern, harmonious and beautiful World Expo communities will be built for those to be resettled. These will be of high standard but cost effective, fully equipped in limited space, beautiful and use less land.

"We are not developing a housing estate; we are building a city!" Liu Qi said proudly, pointing to the model of the Pujiang World Expo Park. Mr. Liu is the deputy director-general of the office in charge of the construction of the Pujiang Town resettlement base for the Shanghai World Expo.

The theme of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo is "better city, better life". This theme must be manifested in the staging of the World Expo; it must also be embodied in the living environment of the large numbers of residents to be resettled. Right now, efforts are being made to build modern, harmonious and beautiful World Expo communities for those to be resettled. These will be of high standard but cost effective, fully equipped in limited space, beautiful and use less land. The guiding principle for this project is to plan for excellence, design with professionalism, construct to high quality requirements, and manage in to high standards.

A few minutes drive from Lupu Bridge we came to the proposed site of the World Expo. The buildings on both sides of the road remain intact, a blend of both old and new. But we know that this place will soon become the beautiful exhibition area of the World Expo. The site covers 5.28 square kilometers, of which one fourth is in Puxi and three fourths is in Pudong.

On the road to Pujiang Town, some projects have begun. The road was very dusty, as workers were busily operating large machinery. The future is clear.

According to the authorities, the southeast part of Pujiang Town in Minhang District has been selected as the resettlement base for the residents to be affected by the World Expo preparations. Those to be resettled will mainly come from Huangpu and Luwan Districts. Pujiang Town is part of Shanghai's "one city and nine towns" development project. It will be built into a modern Italian-style town, with complete public facilities. The town will be connected with Shanghai through the extension of the M8 subway line.

The overall planning will be undertaken by the Shanghai Modern Architectural Group. The whole area will be turned into a large Italian-style residential community, which will have a rational functional layout, an innovative architectural space and a beautiful visual effect. Total floor space will be 1.12 million square meters, of which 870,000 square meters will be residential buildings and 250,000 square meters public and commercial facilities. The whole project will take two to three years to complete. Specifically, construction will begin this year for the first 300,000 square meters, and before the Spring Festival for another 100,000 square meters. The remaining will commence shortly.

Environment Changes Life

Cagnardi of the Italian architects Gregotti Associati, the chief architect of Pujiang Town, described the town's future in this way: "The residents here will be away from the stifling urban problems and will lead a carefree life in a natural and harmonious atmosphere."

While producing the architectural designs, the architects regard themselves as the occupants-to-be of the structures to be built. Although the resettlement base project features low-cost housing, both the overall planning and conceptual design and the designs of individual buildings must be forward-looking, advanced, integral and demonstrative.

The resettlement base is located in the southernmost part of the overall plan. The plan preserves the geometrical layout and small blocks of the town's original master plan. These unique features are further improved to allow sufficient space for walking and for daily exchanges in keeping with the habits and customs of Shanghai people and in light of the specific requirements of targeted resettlement. The plan has absorbed the essence of modern Italian theories on the ideal city. By emphasizing respect for nature and creating quality of life, the plan represents a concrete interpretation of the theme of the Shanghai World Expo: "better city, better life."

The plan features a riverside city, which is an Italian architectural style. Taking advantage of the existing environmental conditions, the plan uses a grid pattern, which is common in typical Italian cities. This grid contains a second grid made up of pedestrian streets and a third grid made up of public spaces and greenery. On the east side of Pujiang Town is a green slope that looks like a city wall, and the residential density is graded into different levels. Broad spaces and diversity of building types are also top considerations.

Landscape. The design principle emphasizes similarity in spirit, instead of in form. This principle is demonstrated in several aspects, including planning structure, architectural space, public squares and street uniqueness. In terms of space, a block is in a circular shape, mostly arranged with four to five story buildings. In terms of architectural shape, a block is also dotted with tall buildings of less than 12 stories so as to provide change. In terms of the designs of individual buildings, warm and bright colors will be used and modern Italian architectural ingredients will be introduced so as to create tidy, smooth architectural images and rhythms. Landscape design incorporates sculptures, paintings, fountains and other artistic tools so that the space is full of cultural flavor.

The "square city" in the downtown area is surrounded with water, which features both individuality and commonality. The river that runs through the community constitutes the axis of landscape. This system of water and green land reaches all commercial, service and other public facilities and constitutes a nature tour route. Combined with the roads to be built in the downtown area, the town will have a strong local flavor and showcase the rich style of the Italian city of Venice.

Greening. Construction of the Pujiang ecological forest, which is the largest green project in Shanghai's history, has formally begun. According to the Shanghai Agriculture and Forest Bureau, the first phase of the Pujiang forest project, which covers 10,000 mu of land near the outer ring road was launched on September 22, 2004. This project will maximize the ecological benefit of the southern suburb to the downtown area of Shanghai. By then, people in Shanghai will be able to enjoy the fresh breeze from the "forest oxygen bar" in the south right in their homes.

At present, Pujiang Town is exploring new ways to build 90,000 mu of forests. When completed, the city will be surrounded with forests, the towns will be in the middle of green fields, and the people will be living among flowers. This year, Pujiang Town will strive to plant trees around houses on 15,000 mu of land and expand the forest area by another 3,500 mu of land. In addition, it will consolidate the seedling stock for 5,000 mu of land.

It is understood that when the large ecological forest around Pujiang Town is completed, this forest, which covers 60 square kilometers (90,000 mu) - 40 times the size of Century Park - will be the largest of the five ecological forests Shanghai plans to build in its suburbs.

Culture Changes Life

Pujiang Town, part of Shanghai’s"one city and nine towns"development project, will be an Italian-style town. But this style will not be demonstrated in a mechanical manner. Architect Cagnardi, who is in charge of the design of the town, says that the Italian character exists only in ideas, culture and way of life. The town of Pujiang in five years will by no means be a replica of an Italian city. Rather it will be a new highly ecological residential town, designed by an Italian architect.

To many people, a town on the outskirts of Shanghai in the past was typically no more than one street, which you could walk around three times in the time it takes to smoke a cigarette. All small villages scattered like stars.

This pattern of suburban villages and towns left over from the farming era has undergone repeated changes and transformations. They played important roles in the course of Shanghai’s urban development. But as urbanization and modernization speed up, problems became acute. In recent years in particular, Shanghai’s suburbs have also undergone constant changes in the course of urbanization.

Pujiang is a new town resulting from the merger of the three towns of Chenhang, Duhang and Luhui in the former Minhang District. With an area of 100.6 square kilometers, the town has a population of 118,600 people, of whom 90,200 are registered permanent residents. At present, it is the largest among Shanghai’s suburban towns.

As Shanghai is preparing for the World Expo, the town of Pujiang is also facing major changes. According to architects, the core idea of the town’s design is to turn it into an"ideal city". This ideal means that the city can both cope with historical changes and maintain its own cultural uniqueness and that the city’s layout can promote the integration of various social classes and social activities and can meet diverse cultural needs.

To a European city, the most important part is the spiritual center, and the city’s most important architecture should be able to reflect such a spirit. The design of Pujiang Town has incorporated this architectural style and its central square and open parks all help create this Italian cultural atmosphere.

Function. A green belt will run from south to north through the core residential area. The street along Friendship River will be flanked by various forms of waterfront walkways, cultural squares and catering and entertainment facilities. This will constitute a cultural and entertainment area and provide a wide green space for the residential area. The central area will have an axis flanked by unique buildings such as the grand Italian Palace and the Trade Center. Various architectural ingredients will be used in an organic manner to highlight the new town’s Italian style.

The design blends various functional layouts so that the town will be more like a community and full of vitality. North of the Jiangyue Road will be a large business center, and south of the road will be a shopping promenade that will be connected with the subway and street underpasses. Specialist commercial shops will be arranged along the Puchi Road to form an Italian-style shopping street. At the same time, some of Shanghai’s time-honored stores will be introduced there to reflect a historical continuation. The area will also have schools, parks and sports facilities.

Transportation. The extension of the M8 subway will have a station on the side of Puxing Road. The station will be connected through a street underpass with the public transport station, the taxi station and the public parking lot. Within the area, motor vehicles and pedestrians have separate routes. Vehicles entering each block will have to park outside each neighborhood, with only pedestrians being allowed in. This will enable vehicles to reach each household conveniently without causing serious interference to the residents in the community.

Habitation Changes Life

Mr. Liu Qi, deputy director-general of the project, told us that in creating the World Expo homeland, the architects have shown full respect for the habits and customs of Shanghai people. They put forward a specific motto for the World Expo community:“green city, harmonious life”. The aim is to enable a harmonious life for those to be resettled in this new city.

One typical detail is revealing:

The whole residential area is divided into 15 blocks. Each block is about 300 meters by 300 meters. All these blocks are linked by the green axis to the World Expo Cultural Square, which will constitute the nucleus of the 1.5 square kilometer residential area. There will be 1 parking space for every 2 households in the near future and 1.4 in the long run.

The guiding principle for the design of the Pujiang World Expo community is always consistent with the town’s master plan. Both architectural and environmental design will be harmonious with the overall cultural atmosphere of the town.

Pujiang Town will become a city built with ideals and will be our home in 2010.

(By Chen Wei)