On the Horizon

On the Horizon

Shanghai changes almost daily. Go away for a holiday and your favorite café might have been completely renovated or your neighborhood convenience store torn down to accommodate yet more apartment blocks. The Pudong skyline was changed from rural to sci-fi in a mere decade. The future will bring even more developments and delights. So what's in the works now? Here's a taster:

The Shanghai World Financial Center being built in Pudong across the street from the Jinmao Tower is sent to be completed in 2007. Although it resembles a giant bottle opener in shape, at a planned 101 stories high, it's going to be one of, if not the tallest building in the world.

Rumors abound that Shanghai will get its own Disneyland, but this isn't due to happen until 2010. In the meantime, there's a brand-new Universal Studios to pave the way.

Shanghai's art scene is getting hotter and hotter with the renowned French modern art museum, the Centre Pompidou, being pegged to open up a temporary site in the Luwan district at the end of 2007, with a final site set to be completed in 2009.

Shanghai's transport will soon improve dramatically. Approval for a Maglev to run between Shanghai and Hangzhou was given in 2006, but talks between Germany and China regarding its construction are not progressing. If it ends up being built, everything should be finished by 2010. Construction on the Shanghai Metro continues to expand with a planned 11 lines to be built and in service by 2010.

On Chongming Island in the Yangtze, the Dongtan Eco-City and areas for ecological tourism are being developed. By 2010, Dongtan Eco-City is projected to have a population of 25,000 and be the world's first purpose-built ecologically sustainable city.