Anaclaudia Rossbach, executive director of the UN Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat), has highly commented on Shanghai's urban renewal efforts, saying they should be talked about and disseminated more.
In an interview released by China Media Group (CMG) on Friday, Rossbach said that the urban renewal projects, which focus on recycling and reusing existing buildings, are a critical step toward environmental preservation.
"This urban renewal project where the city was able to recycle and reuse existing buildings. And this is critical now to preserve the environment. We really need to make sure that we maximize what we have already built," she said.
Rossbach emphasized the proximity-based planning of the city's urban renewal projects, which integrates community services, childcare, healthcare, public spaces, and small businesses all within walking distances.
"And connecting, you know, this neighborhood with services, amenities, so the idea of proximity, so having in a neighborhood walking distance, the seniors' kind of a space, community centers, but also places for children, kindergartens, clinics, right, and public spaces [with] everything [in a] walking distance, little business around connected to residences. So this was very interesting. I don't think people know much about this Chinese experiences of urban renewal, so this is one thing from China that I think we should also talk more about here at U.N. habitat and disseminate more," she said.
Rossbach also highlighted the city's riverfront park as another standout achievement and further commended the city's plan to build itself into a "sponge city", capable of absorbing and reusing rainwater to mitigate flooding and enhance ecological resilience.
"The other is along the river in Shanghai, you know. So I believe there are 40 kilometers of now river parks where you can walk and cycle and where the city was able to transform the building environment into public spaces and reutilizes buildings that were previously used for, I don't know, warehouses, industry and so on for other types of use, right? And also [there is] the concept or the technology of sponge cities utilized along the river," she said.
UN-Habitat chief highlights Shanghai’s urban renewal practice
