Urban planning of Shanghai

The territories expanded and developed, with the colonial administrators attempting to create a "model settlement" along the lines of 19th-century London and Paris with paved streets, a tram system, a pure and continuous water supply, and sewage treatment adequate to minimize outbreaks of cholera.

The plan also designated around 15% of the area for parks and open spaces, with the most ambitious element being a civic center, occupying 333 acres (1,350,000 m2) and including a 50 m (160 ft) high pagoda and Washington-style reflecting pool.

[5] This plan was still in the process of enactment when the Nationalist defeat in the Chinese Civil War led to its annulment, the People's Liberation Army entering the city in 1949.

Following two decades of war, the first priority of the People's Republic of China with regards to Shanghai's urban planning was the restoration of all impaired utilities, communication, transportation, and other basic infrastructure.

A series of political movements including the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution further impacted the city's economic development in the name of various social goals.

This ended with the death of Mao Zedong, the fall of the Gang of Four that initially succeeded him, and the establishment of the Opening Up Policy under Deng Xiaoping in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Pudong New Area and several neighborhoods in Shanghai currently operate under special administration to facilitate business, particularly with regard to finance, high technology, exports, and entertainment.

The current urban plan, however, aims to commit all levels of the city government to restricting the municipality's population to 25,000,000 permanent residents and 3,200 km2 (1,200 sq mi) of developed land.