Announcement of The World Bank’s Blueprint for Modernization Project in Shanghai, China on October 15, 1993

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.* Telephone: (202) 477-1234 News Release No. 94/20EAP Contact: Erin Burns (202)458-2210 External Affairs, EAPVP Shan2hai, China: Blueprint For Modernization Washington, D.C., October 15, 1993 --- A $657 million project will revitalize an aging and overburdened transport system in Shanghai, China, home to roughly 15 million people. The Shanghai metropolitan transport project, the second of its kind, will also help complete construction of a four-lane raised highway around the city, as well as improve operations of the largest bus system in the world. A World Bank loan of $150 million is supporting the project; while the Shanghai municipal government is providing the remainder of the cost. Shanghai municipality houses the largest port in China and lies at the head of China's industrial heartland, the Yangtze Economic Zone. With a population of about 180 million of the estimated total of 1.2 billion in China, the Yangzte Economic Zone produces 25 percent of the country's gross output. Despite this dynamism, however, the area is suffering from serious infrastructure deficiencies as a result of an extended period of under-investment. According to Mr. Stephen Stares, World Bank task manager for the project, the amount of land occupied by roads within the municipality is "extremely low at about 5 percent, compared to 20 percent or higher in the developed world. In addition, most roads are very narrow and follow original street layouts which have scarcely been modified in the past 50 years." Coupled with a high volume of bicycle, bus, pedestrian traffic and a private car fleet growing at 15 percent a year, traffic patterns are characterized by "serious congestion with bus speeds averaging about 5 miles per hour, or roughly the same speed as bicycles," Mr. Stares said. SECOND SHANGHAl METROPOUTAN TRANSPORT PROJECT To tackle this PROPOSED PROJECT mm NNER RNrOA problem, World Bank and MAJOR INTERCTHANT E5AND RAMPS Chinese authorities embarked LANK ONDERPR EVO WnINNER RING ROAD UNDER CONSTRUCTION on the first phase of the INOTINPROJEC metropolitan transport PRVo S project, approved in September, 1991. This included construction of a 7 kilometer stretch of the Inner Ring Road (IRR) - the raised highway that will eventually encircle the city - as well as r support for traffic management in the central VL business district including ., N A installation of traffic signals, t oKILOMETERS and greater regulation of Cross Section of Inner Ring Road traffic flows. The second transport project will build on the first, expanding 0250S 0505 traffic management procedures to the " U060, V. entire area within IRR and extending T construction of the road. The IRR itself includes construction of a four-lane raised TT TT highway, as well as repairs on existing 25 05 0250 four-lanes of ground-level road and the establishment of lanes for bicycle traffic. This design, according to Mr. Stares will "accelerate and facilitate both local and longer distance travel, as local traffic will use the lower road, while people traveling longer distances will use the raised highway." The 22 kilometer segment of road to be constructed under the most recent project will complete the IRR in Puxi (west bank) and link it to the Yangpu and Nanpu Bridges, recently constructed with assistance from the Asian Development Bank. Shanghai Municipality is financing the construction of the IRR in Pudong (east bank). This link to Pudong will facilitate the area's development. According to Mr. Stares, "the Chinese envisage Shanghai as a new Hong Kong, and view the development of the Pudong area as the key to Shanghai's modernization." In addition to traffic management efforts to regularize and separate flows of traffic, the project will also provide assistance to Shanghai Transit (ST), the largest urban bus system in the world. Much-needed depots and interchanges will be built and in the longer-term, efforts will focus on the reform of ST, including disentangling its management and operations from the municipality. This complements technical assistance provided under the first project to assist ST in the reform of its management and operations. In fiscal year 1993, China received almost $3.2 World Bank Lending to China in FY93 billion in lending from the World Bank, making it the Tehml Assistace Bank's single largest borrower for the second Environent 4% consecutive year. Roughly 29 percent of this was 9% Education & Urba Agriculture devoted to projects in the transport sector. deveon , 30% 10% The Bank has identified infrastructure bottlenecks as one of the key challenges facing China's continued development. The Second Shanghai Metropolitan Transport Project is part of a coordinated effort between China and the World Bank to alleviate I7ndustry this bottleneck to growth. 5% Transport The loan is extended for twenty years, including 29% Energy 13% five years of grace, at the Bank's standard variable interest rate, currently 7.43 percent. Notes: Money figures are expressed in US. dollar equivalent Maps are for the convenience of readers. The denominations used and the boundaries shown do not imply any judgment on the legal status of any territory or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. 2/###