The construction of two huge projects to house Shanghai residents relocated from the area of the coming 2010 World Expo began on Monday, 2,000 days before the opening of the event.

The 151-hectare Pujiang Expo Garden in Minhang District will have a construction area of 1.1 million square meters, with 870,000 square meters for housing and 250,000 square meters of public and commercial facilities.

The entire complex is scheduled to be completed in two to three years, with the first group of residents moving in next year.

Up to 40 percent of the area of the complex is to be green space and each household is to have some parking space.

"The project must create modern and beautiful new homes as a demonstration of the theme of the World Expo: better city, better life," said Zhou Yupeng, Shanghai's vice mayor and deputy director of the World Expo Organizing Committee.

In the largest relocation project in Shanghai history, an estimated 15,000 households with nearly 50,000 people will have to move to accommodate the expo.

"The municipality has been greatly concerned with the relocation, which will affect the success and significance of the expo," Zhou said.

The Sanlin Expo Garden in Pudong District also broke ground on Monday. It will cover 132.9 hectares in total with 101 hectares earmarked for residential purposes.

The Sanlin design is similar to that of the Yuen Long area in Hong Kong, with facilities such as shopping, public transportation, cultural and entertainment centers, as well as, banks, post offices and telecommunication services.

Construction of this area is scheduled to be finished in the first half of 2006.

Shanghai World Expo Landholding Corporation is building the Pujiang development and Pudong Real Estate Development Corporation is handling Sanlin. They won a public bidding held by the Shanghai Municipal Housing and Land Resources Administration last month.

Vice Mayor Yang Xiong said the coming expo will likely launch a new and massive round of construction and improve the quality of living of local residents significantly.

(China Daily November 9, 2004)