Guest
Wu Binghuai, Wang Shuguang
Interview Background
The year 2026 marks the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period. At this new stage of development, how will Jing'an pursue "International Jing'an: An Outstanding Urban Area" and play a leading role with distinctive contributions to Shanghai's building of the "Five Centers"?
Host:
The year 2026 marks the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period. At this new stage of development, how will Jing'an pursue "International Jing'an: An Outstanding Urban Area" and play a leading role with distinctive contributions to Shanghai's building of the "Five Centers"? This interview features an in-depth dialogue with two guests: Wu Binghuai, Deputy Director of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources of Jing'an District, and Wang Shuguang, Director of the Detailed Planning and Urban Design Branch at Shanghai Urban Planning & Design Research Institute. They will discuss Jing'an's spatial development plan for the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the new spatial layout of "Two Developmental Axes with One Gathering Zone and Three Areas", the "Σ Ecological Corridor" plan, and efforts to promote balanced, high-quality development between the district's northern and southern areas.
Wu Binghuai:
Hello, host. Hello, everyone.
Wang Shuguang:
Hello, host. Hello, everyone.
Host:
The 15th Five-Year Plan period marks a critical phase for Jing'an to fully advance its role as a key hub for Shanghai's "Five Centers" initiative and achieve decisive breakthroughs in transformation and upgrading. It is also a pivotal five years for optimizing the territorial spatial layout, promoting high-quality, balanced development across the district's north and south, and modernizing spatial governance. Jing'an has established an overall urban spatial layout featuring "Two Developmental Axes with One Gathering Zone and Three Areas" channeling resources toward these axes and zones to foster high-quality balanced development between its northern and southern areas. Could you walk us through the concept behind the spatial layout of "Two Developmental Axes with One Gathering Zone and Three Areas"?
Wu Binghuai:
Certainly. The development framework of Jing'an District is supported by two crisscrossing axes, each with a distinct mission. The east-west "West Nanjing Road High-end Service Developmental Axis" is deeply integrated into the city's main "Yan'an Road‒Century Avenue" axis. With its dense concentration of multinational headquarters and high-level institutions, it aims to build a global resource allocation hub that connects and serves the world. Strategically aligned with this is the "North-South High-quality Balanced Developmental Axis", which spans the district from north to south. Leveraging transport corridors like the North-South Elevated Road, it systematically enhances the landscape along its route, fosters functional synergy and resource mobility between the northern and southern areas, and coordinates the development of auxiliary axes such as Xizang Road‒Pingxingguan Road and Pushan Road‒Wanrong Road. This integration transforms Jing'an's north-south connectivity from mere geography into mutual resource sharing, industrial collaboration, and functional interplay, injecting robust momentum into regional coordinated development.
Host:
If the "Two Developmental Axes" form the robust skeleton of Jing'an's development, the "Σ Ecological Corridor" linked by the Suzhou Creek, Pengyuepu River, and Zoumatang River serves as the vital network that stitches the district together and enhances the district's quality of life.
Wu Binghuai:
Exactly. Building on this skeleton and network, three functional areas jointly underpin a new blueprint for high-quality, coordinated development across the entire district. "West Nanjing Road‒Suzhou Creek Bay Central Vitality Zone" has the strategic mission of building a world-class central vitality zone and a core area for an International Consumption Center City. By promoting integrated development along both banks of the Suzhou Creek, it aims to create a landmark district in the heart of an international metropolis that showcases Shanghai's high-end quality and Jing'an's distinctive character. The "Daning Production-Life-Ecology Integrated Innovation Zone" serves as a pivotal hub linking the south and north, following an integrated development approach that combines sci-tech innovation with cultural creativity, R&D with transformation, and work with life, to achieve the organic integration and coordinated development of production, life, and ecology. Shibei High-tech Park stands as a frontier for Jing'an to foster new quality productive forces. To establish a world-class industrial innovation community, it seeks to cultivate a vibrant sci-tech innovation atmosphere and ecosystem and shape an urban digital economy demonstration zone where technology and humanities converge.
Host:
Thanks for your introduction. Jing'an District leverages its interconnected water systems, including the Suzhou Creek, Pengyuepu River, and Zoumatang River, to establish an "Σ Ecological Corridor". How can high-quality ecology drive high-quality development?
Wu Binghuai:
Along the Suzhou Creek, Jing'an focuses on upgrading landscapes, optimizing functions, and innovating scenes to build a world-class waterfront cultural hub. By coordinating the planning of waterfront blue-green slow-traffic networks and urban leisure functions, the district has developed a dense riverside and cross-river slow-traffic system, embedding waterfront art spaces, enhancing waterfront landscape quality, and arranging waterfront consumer experiences to fully invigorate the area along the Suzhou Creek. Along the Pengyuepu River, Jing'an integrates green space connectivity, slow-traffic space optimization, and public activities to shape a high-quality waterside leisure destination. To enhance public access and functional diversity at Daning Park's waterfront, the district actively introduces diverse and vibrant amenities, including sports, leisure, and cultural performances. More slow-traffic bridges and scenic walkways are planned to be built across the Pengyuepu River and along the north-south stretch of the Middle Ring Road to better connect waterfront areas with surrounding communities and meet residents' leisure needs. Along the Zoumatang River, a comprehensive and dynamic space is being developed for sci-tech innovation talent, in line with the Shibei High-tech Park's positioning. By integrating blue-green ecology with leisure, recreation, and innovation services, Jing'an revitalizes and transforms waterfront areas into multifunctional spaces—such as hubs for sci-tech innovation and outdoor socializing for youth—where creativity, leisure, work, and life seamlessly merge.
Wang Shuguang:
The "Σ Ecological Corridor" will better connect regional boundaries, enhance functional quality, and create an ecological space where blue and green landscapes intertwine, riverbanks interact, and water and city integrate, bolstering high-quality development with premium ecology.
Host:
Thanks for sharing that. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Jing'an District, aligning with the city's overall strategy and its own realities, pursues differentiated and distinctive development. The district's southern, central, and northern functional areas each develop unique strengths while fostering synergy to create a landscape where each achieves growth and facilitates shared prosperity. Could you elaborate on how the northern and southern areas can coordinate to achieve high-quality and balanced development?
Wu Binghuai:
Certainly. First, we will bolster the core functions of each area to lead distinctive development. The southern area will continue to serve as the core driving force, build a world-class central vitality zone, maintain its leading position in commerce and business, and steadily enhance its development capacity and standards. The central area will develop distinctive functional industries, enhance the brand appeal of its high-quality, industry-city-integrated urban areas, promote synergy among life, ecology, and production, and create a model of comprehensive vitality along the Middle Ring Road. The northern area will advance its sci-tech innovation industries, strengthen its role as a source of innovation, and build a leading sci-tech innovation hub in Shanghai. Second, we will strengthen north-south transport links to ensure the efficient flow of production factors across the district. We aim to advance the construction of key roads, better connect urban areas, and enhance the composite axis's influence based on a "one main, two auxiliary" north-south corridor. Focusing on Jing'an's "Σ Ecological Corridor", we will build a comprehensive, continuous, and engaging slow-traffic network. This includes adding more slow-traffic bridges over the Suzhou Creek, connecting the waterfront of the central section of the Pengyuepu River, and filling gaps in the Zoumatang River slow-traffic system to enhance the landscape and character of the waterfront areas.
Wu Binghuai:
Third, we will continue to improve people's livelihoods by enhancing public services and the quality of living spaces. One priority is to improve housing conditions by renovating roughly 8,000 substandard residential units and promoting better integration of industry and urban functions. Another is to optimize public services by refining the layout of facilities within the "15-minute Community Life Circle" and raising service standards and quality. Finally, we will actively revitalize old buildings to create a synergy between architectural preservation and industrial development. We will continue the renovation of the Yuyuan Road Urban Conservation Area, exploring ways to integrate historical and cultural preservation with urban renewal. Meanwhile, we aim to revitalize clusters of historical buildings in areas like the East Siwenli area and blend them with surrounding new developments to unlock their historical and cultural potential and drive industrial innovation and upgrading. Industrial sites like Shanghai Pengpu Machine Building Plant, Shanghai Xinzhong Power Machine Plant, and Shanghai Metallurgical & Mining Machine Manufactory (Jing'an Innovation Galaxy Phase II) will be preserved and repurposed. Their unique spaces will be integrated with emerging industries and innovation enterprises to support industrial heritage and foster innovation.
Wang Shuguang:
High-end resources in the south drive sci-tech innovation in the north, while northern sci-tech innovation in turn supports southern resources. Integrating the south's high-end resources, the central area's cultural ecology, and the north's sci-tech innovation ensures each functional area collaborates while showcasing its distinct features, thereby promoting high-quality and balanced development across Jing'an's northern and southern areas.
Host:
Thanks for sharing that. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Jing'an District will adhere to the fundamental principle of "high-quality and balanced development across northern and southern areas", seize the new trend of sci-tech innovation returning to urban areas, leverage strengths and advantages, foster stronger momentum through optimized spatial layout, enhance coordination and complementarity of resources between the north and south, comprehensively advance urban functionality and quality, and achieve high-quality and balanced development across the district's northern and southern areas. Thank you both for your insightful sharing. That brings our interview to a close today! Thank you.
Wu Binghuai:
Thank you, everyone! Goodbye!
Wang Shuguang:
Thank you, everyone! Goodbye!