Analysis of Shanghai's Commerce - urbanistic considered

00 INTRODUCTION – dimension and speed

Due to the complexity and the continuing changes this paper makes no demand for giving settled descriptions – the attempt is to analyse the basic transport system and further to sketch relevant urban development patterns, like Pudong New Area.

The Yangtze River Delta, Shanghai-Nanjing-Hangzhou is undergoing a radical upheaval process – the dimension and the speed of Shanghai's Development exceeds European thinking:

- The annual construction works in Pudong New Area alone are comparable with the ones of complete Spain;^[2]
- Shanghai has one of the fastest growing metro systems in the world – from the current operable 65km to more than 180km by 2005, 16times faster than Barcelona.^[3]

Between 1978 and 1990 about €3 billion were spent on urban infrastructure projects, in the next six years between 1991 and 1997 the investment exceeded €18 billion.^[4]

In the early eighties the construction of the whole public mass transport system started from scratch, following the strategic neglecting by the Central Government in Beijing.^[5]

Today, after the reforms of Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin, a former mayor of Shanghai, it is said that the city's large construction projects are the PRC Government's 'cuddles'.^[6]

2002 about 80 urban infrastructure projects with an investment of €6,5 billion were under construction, supporting à AIR TRAFFIC à RAIL TRAFFIC à ROAD TRAFFIC and à SHIPPING.^[7]

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01 SHANGHAI BASICS - density and growth

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02 URBAN PLANNING - polycentricity and pragmatism

Shanghai is undergoing a rapid transformation: From communist planned economy to an open economy, from an industrial city to an post-industrial high-dense city.

Government control and market economy have merged under a common agenda consequencing in a new pragmatism in urban planning, like the development of Pudong New Area shows.

History

Shanghai, a former fishing village grew into a trading town beginning in the tenth century. The settlement structure was defined entirely by tradition. When the Chinese Empire was forced to grant concessions in 1842, the European urban design prevailed and shaped the city to this day. The districts formed a pattern along the western bank of the Huangpu river. The infrastructure met the European standard, bringing paved roads, urban lightning and a water and sewage system.^[8]

The International Settlement and the French Concession expanded in western direction with the Huangpu River forming the western boundary. Around 1900 the city began to grow and Shanghai became increasingly industrialized, combined with growing slum belts on the edges of town.^[8]

In 1948 Shanghai's resident population was 4,6 million people on 617km², in 1968 Shanghai's territory was increased ten times to a total of 6186km², smaller towns were incorporated. New Sub Centres with special functions emerged: Baoshan for steel production, Songjang for the mechanical and Minhang for the chemical and engineering industry – residential and employment functions were combined, to avoid dormitory suburbs.^[8]

Pudong New Area

In the nineties the district of Pudong was chosen for the development of a financial and commercial zone with China's Stock Exchange in Luijazui. Pudong New Area, between the Huangpu River and the Chinese Sea covers 522km². Central Luijazui measures 28km², surrounded by the Inner Ring and connected by various river crossings with the old town.^[9]

An international urban planning competition was held for the Luijazui Central Area. In 1992 eight offices were invited to participate. The urban design projects of Toyo Ito, Massimiliano Fuksas and Richard Rogers were awarded. However the Chinese authorities pursued their pragmatic plans, ignoring the winning entries: Various Properties had been sold before – the master plan lacks of an underlying structure: A central axis starting at the exit of the river tunnel extends 5km southeast ending in a central park.^[10]

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The Proposal of Toyo Ito represents the attempt to integrate the traffic flow into the urban structure:

The plan divides the site into strips of land stretching in north-south direction – to plan zoning according to functions such as a leisure/culture (1), commerce/business (2), sports - green buffer belt (3), conventional facilities (4) and housing development (5).^[11]

Multi-layer transportation networks are freely superimposed over the district: Subway systems, underground tunnels and arterial roads, a network of restored creeks, pedestrian walks and sub-surface motorway systems. Office buildings, hotels and housings constitute the vertical elements penetrating these layers of horizontal grids.^[11]

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Future

The future issues for the city's transport system, defined by the Shanghai 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-2005) and the Shanghai Master Plan (2000-2020):

- Construction of an efficient, high-speed urban passenger transport network consisting of rail transport supported by buses and streetcars;^[12]
- Construction of an efficient road network, including expressways, with multilevel, well-defined functions;^[12]
- Construction of an integrated transportation system connecting Shanghai to the rest of China and the world, including a deepwater container port, an international airport, a modern information port, expressways, high-speed railways, and water- ways for transport use;^[12]

[...]

^[1] cf. Vöckler, Kai. (2000) Peking Shanghai Shenzen: Cities of the 21st century. Frankfurt: Campus: 387.

^[2] cf. Schittich, Christian. (1999) "Construction Site Shanghai – a Brief Outline". In: Detail 1999/7: 1175.

^[3] cf. metroPlanet: Shanghai. (2003) http://www.metropla.net/as/shan/shanghai.htm (01-06-2003)

cf. metroPlanet: Barcelona. (2003)

http://de.geocities.com/metroplanet_barcelona/bcnmetro.htm (01-06-2003)

^[4] cf. Martin, Volker. (1999) "Shanghai zur Jahrtausendwende". In: Stadtbauwelt 1999/24: 1343.

^[5] cf. Hoffmann-Loss, Fanny. (1999) "Wettlauf mit der Zeit". In: Stadtbauwelt 1999/24: 1363.

^[6] cf. Warner, Torsten. (1999) "Ist der Himmel grenzenlos?" In: Stadtbauwelt 1999/24: 1384.

^[7] cf. www.china.org.cn (2002) "City plans big urban projects". In: eastday.com 01-03-2002.

^[8] cf. Vöckler, Kai. (2000) Peking Shanghai Shenzen: Cities of the 21st century. Frankfurt: Campus: 461.

^[9] cf. ibid: 461, 462.

^[10] cf. Vöckler, Kai. (2000) Peking Shanghai Shenzen: Cities of the 21st century. Frankfurt: Campus: 462, 590, 591.

^[11] cf. Levene, Richard: Cecilia, Fernando. (1994) toyo ito: 1983/1995. Madrid: El croquis: 156.

^[12] cf. Shanghai Municipal Government. (2000) "Urban Transport in the 21st Century". In White Paper: 146. http://wwww.adb.org/Documents/Conference/Making_Cities_Work/17-Shanghai.pdf (01-06-2003)