As of now, Shanghai has a total of 1,013 parks of various types, with per capita park green space reaching 9.5 square meters, an increase of 1 square meter per person since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan period. The city’s first-round goal of building a “Thousand-Park City” has been achieved ahead of schedule, with an initial establishment of an urban and rural park system and continuous improvement in the layout of park green spaces.
During the 15th and 16th Five-Year Plan periods, efforts will focus on scaling up, improving quality, diversifying functions, and enhancing distinctive vitality, aiming to develop a second round of the Thousand-Park Construction Project. It is projected that over 500 new parks of various types will be added during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, increasing per capita park green space by 1 square meter, adding 500,000 square meters of vertical greenery, and constructing over 500 kilometers of new greenways.
Since the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the city has fully advanced the construction of a park city and the “Thousand-Park City” initiative. A total of 858 parks across the city are now open 24 hours a day, accounting for 85% of all urban and rural parks. Continuous progress has been made in greenway development, forming a preliminary health-oriented, diverse, interconnected, and accessible urban greenway leisure network. So far this year, 652.82 hectares of new green space and 349,300 square meters of new vertical greenery have been created. The total length of greenways in the city has reached 1,998.81 kilometers, with the total area of vertical greenery amounting to 518.16 hectares.
West Bund Natural Art Park (Phase I) covers a total area of approximately 36 hectares, situated at the intersection of Shanghai’s “One River and One Belt,” extending the rich cultural and artistic ambiance of the West Bund waterfront. “One River” refers to the Huangpu River, and “One Belt” denotes the Ring Ecological Park Belt.
The park integrates urban habitats, all-age experiences, child-friendly features, and nature education. In the core area, a 3-hectar “Child-Friendly” demonstration model—Forest Insect Realm—has been created, themed “What Lies Beneath the Forest,” featuring nine non-powered children’s play facilities inspired by local insects, such as stick insect swings. An “Ecological Conservation Island” has been set up to promote nectar-rich plants and create natural habitats for amphibians, birds, and insects, facilitating the restoration of natural ecosystems. A multi-dimensional greenway system, consisting of 2.7 kilometers of ground-level paths and 500 meters of elevated walkways, provides spaces for walking and running. Various activity areas and interactive facilities, including tent lawns, basketball courts, and ping pong tables, offer rich, vibrant, and attractive sports spaces. Moving forward, the park will expand the concept of “Park Plus,” providing functions such as research education, convenient dining, and art appreciation, showcasing traditional Jiangnan scenery and parent-child sports vitality, offering a diverse, immersive natural ecological space for leisure, exercise, fitness, walking, sightseeing, and education.
To standardize the management of urban parks and pocket parks, policy and institutional safeguards have been strengthened. Relevant notices have been issued in recent years to clarify access standards and continuously improve the dynamic adjustment mechanism for urban and pocket park directories. Revisions to the “Shanghai Pocket Park Management Guidance” have been completed. In highlighting park characteristics, emphasis has been placed on plant themes. By adjusting plant community structures and concentrating large-scale plantings of colorful foliage and flowering trees and shrubs, a number of pocket parks with显著 “colorful” effects and distinct thematic features have been created. In expanding park thematic functions, efforts have been made to tailor park themes to local conditions, deepen and enhance service functions and thematic characteristics, gradually cultivating park cultural brands. While providing visual feasts for visitors, the connotation and quality of parks have been continuously enriched.
Simultaneously, efforts are accelerating to implement the design outcomes of master gardens and bridge-chain stations. Four master gardens—Qingpu Yingzhu Garden, Manchun Garden, Fengxian Pujiang Garden, and Songjiang Tahui Forest—are set to begin construction within the year.
Efforts continue to highlight “Park Plus” features, guiding parks to incorporate elements such as sports
