Residents ordered out of pre-1949 neighbourhood before bulldozers clear site for Shanghai revitalisation project

A PLAN to redevelop a huge section of Shanghai's inner city with the help of a Hong Kong developer has local residents expressing frustration as the provincial Government acts to force thousands to move.

Luwan district officials this weekend are notifying more than 3,000 people in the Taipingqiao area that they must vacate their homes by the end of this year to make way for the construction of a lake that stands at the heart of a city-centre revitalisation scheme.

The Taipingqiao area redevelopment plan involves the wholesale demolition of 52 hectares of pre-1949 housing and the construction of a modern commercial business and residential district directly south of the city's famed Huaihai Road commercial avenue.

An estimated 30,000 families, or 100,000 people, will be moved as part of the effort. Many are elderly and retired residents who have lived in the neighbourhood for decades.

Behind the redevelopment are the Shanghai Government and Vincent Lo Hong-sui's Shui On Group, which is organising the town planning and has commissioned US urban planner Skidmore, Owings and Merrill International to draw up the Taipingqiao area master blueprint.

The group also is investing US$150 million (HK$1.17 billion) to build a massive restaurant and entertainment development at the site, using the remains of the city's colonial period, stone-gate, lane houses, or shikumen.

Shui On officials contacted in Shanghai distanced themselves from the compulsory removal of people, saying the action was directly handled by the provincial Government and did not involve the company.