China Landscape Architect

The term “urban village” has often appeared in the media, especially in the newspapers of Shenzhen and Guangzhou (coastal cities in southern China where migrant population congregate). In recent years, a “makeover” for these urban villages has become urgent task for local authorities.

SHANGHAI’S urban planning authority has developed tougher rules designed to bring historic preservation standards up to the same level in the suburbs as they are in the downtown.

The plan, unveiled yesterday by the Shanghai Urban Planning and Administrative Bureau, covers 32 suburban sites of historic importance and will soon be approved by city government, officials said.

The needs of the growing numbers of migrant workers in Beijing have been taken into account for the first time by city planners looking to improve the livability of China’s capital.

The 2008 International Seaside City of Tourism Development summit was held this morning in Rizhao, a beautiful costal city in east China’s Shandong Province.

With the theme of “Ocean, Ecology, Environmentally-friendly and the Future”, this year’s gathering is building a platform to encourage exchanges among tourism cities home and abroad on the topics including the travel industry, image-building tourism and management, as well as environmental protection.

YEARS of negotiations between the Shanghai government and Walt Disney Co appear to have clinched a deal for a huge Disneyland to be built in Pudong.

The official announcement is expected to be made after the Beijing Olympics in August.

An exclusive report published by the Hong Kong-based Wen Wei Po newspaper yesterday said the park will cover about 10 square kilometers of land - about eight times the size of Hong Kong Disneyland.

ANOTHER link in the Yangtze River Tunnel and Bridge project was completed in Shanghai yesterday.

Major engineering work on the tunnel section, from Pudong New Area to Changxing Island, and the bridge section from Changxing to Chongming Island, are now finished.

Zhang Quan, director of the Shanghai environmental protection bureau, said at a press briefing, that now is the time to shift the focus from urban areas and tackle environmental problems in the suburbs and the countryside, as more and more factories move their production bases there.

The restructuring is also putting a strain on the rural infrastructure, he added.

The measures might include the increased use of organic pesticides, limiting the use of chemical fertilizers, and accelerating the development of the areas’ infrastructure, including their sewerage systems, Zhang said.

“There are more than 2 million people living in rural villages in Shanghai, where it is very difficult to promote environmental protection measures,” he said.

“But the city has the funds and all other necessary resources to tackle the problem.”

Despite its rapid population and economic growth, Shanghai’s environment has been improving steadily in recent years, the bureau said yesterday in a statement.

Last year, almost 90 percent of days were reported as having “good” air quality, the highest number since monitoring began more than 10 years ago, it said.

Green coverage has risen to 38 percent, and as of last year, the amount of green space per capita was up to 12.5 sq m, the bureau said.

The awards ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Landscape Sculpture Design Collection Contest was held on May 31, with 5 gold prizes handed out. Sculptor Ye Zongming’s “Platform Diving” work was honored, along with “Visioning 5 Nikes” by Antonis Myrodias from Greece, “Colossus the Olympic” by Russian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli, “Making Concerted Effort” by Meng Dewu, “Eternal Flame” co-created by Tian Ziyang, Wen Zengzhu and Tian Ziyang.

Ye Zhongming comes from earthquake-affected Sichuan. In his acceptance speech, he described sculpture as the concentration of beauty and love, and stated that the most beautiful sculptures are in people’s hearts. “Those who are sacrificing their lives at the epicenter of the earthquake and those who risked their lives to bring the Olympic flame to the top of Mount Qomolangma are beautiful in our hearts,” he said.

The Bund is to be given a facelift to make it more pedestrian-friendly, the city’s urban planning bureau said yesterday.

The 18-month redevelopment plan, which will start at the end of the year, will restore the Bund’s neoclassical landscape by reducing the size of the road and creating more space for parks, walkways and viewing platforms, bureau director Mao Jialiang said.

The amount of space for pedestrians will double, while the road will be narrowed from 10 lanes to four, as it was 15 years ago. The road will be closed to most vehicles, except buses and those picking up or setting down. All through traffic will be redirected underground.

The new-look Bund will also feature more parks and squares for public events, and extra viewing platforms from which tourists will be able to enjoy uninterrupted views of the Huangpu River and its classical skyline, Mao said.

Shanghai and Singapore (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - Aside from featuring world-wide real estate developers from more than 15 countries, Cityscape China 2008 — the renowned international real estate investment and development event — will showcase numerous high profile projects including those of US-based MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM), UAE’s ETA Star Property, Meydan LLC, and Dubai’s Fortune Group. Organised by the Institute for International Research (IIR), Cityscape China 2008 will be held at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre in Pudong, China from 25 to 27 June 2008.