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Three years after the 2010 World Expo closed, residents will finally be able to walk into
the Puxi UBPA area of the former Expo site by the end of this month. It will be turned
into a creative urban block that is friendly to the environment. Wu Yina has more.
Construction work was still going on at the Puxi side of the former Expo Park when ICS
went there this afternoon. The general planner for the area said the first phase of renovation
work covers an area of 100,000 square meters, and will be divided into two blocks.
"For southern block, the main function is for culture, leisure, tourist and office.
For northern block, this is relatively, compared with southern block, it will be quite aerial,
because most of the buildings will be occupied by office type, mainly the creative industry,"
said Tang Zilai.
"The positioning of the area is a multi-industrial function. We will invite all areas from the
creative industry chain to come here, for example, the design exhibition, product experience,
and sales. We are still trying to find more tenants, till now 75% of the buildings have
got contracts," said Gong Zheng.
The northern part of the UBPA area has already attracted the Shanghai Design Center, one
Fortune 500 company and representative offices for two foreign cities.
"Actually when we decided to participate in Expo, we already have the hope that we can
be part of the afterwards development of this area. Yes now we're very happy to see that
this area is developing so fast, and that it will be a really sustainable area in Shanghai.
We are very proud with our Hamburg House that is constructed according to our most energy
efficient standard a part of this process," said Lars Anke.
"We have negotiated a lot, because this is very complicated. The Expo Bureau wasn't a
company before, so we need a lot of patience. But as we were the first company to come here,
we've got some profits rather than other companies," said Jean-Maurice Hebrard.
Expo authorities say the area will be more environmentally friendly than other industrial
parks in town. A bike rental program will be set up to encourage green commuting. And
all the rain water will be recycled.
"Every time I come to China I get surprised because it's never the same. So continued
commitment to green buildings, green environment and green communities is clearly being and
evolving in China, so we are proud of China and we're excite," said Mahesh Ramanujam.
Expo authorities told us that the northern part of the UBPA area will be open to the
public by the end of this month and the entire park will be turned into a creative urban
block by 2017. They say when it's all done, the area will be able to get the LEED-Neighborhood
Development's highest green building rating - a process that is already under way.