Shanghai may seek Bund listing
Shanghai may apply for World Heritage listing of the waterfront Bund district in a move aimed at preserving the city's heritage, state media and an official said yesterday.
The mainland already has 28 properties on the World Heritage list, including the Great Wall and the gardens of Suzhou. A United Nations agency, the World Heritage Committee, approves the selections, which are either cultural or natural attractions.
The Shanghai Morning Post reported that government officials - who had previously studied the proposal - were now preparing to apply for the listing. An official of the cultural bureau confirmed the plan, but declined to give further details.
But one academic involved in cultural preservation said Shanghai faced an uphill battle because of competition across the mainland. He also claimed that the Bund fell short of some of the requirements of the World Heritage Committee.
The Bund shapes Shanghai's skyline along the bank of the Huangpu River. Many of the buildings date from the 1920s to 1940s when it was the hub of finance, with a mix of architectural styles.
