Chief architect of Shanghai Tower draws up blueprint for Shanghai

Looking into the future

Back in the 1990s, Shanghai had the plan of building three iconic buildings in the Lujiazui Financial and Trade Zone: In April 1990, the central government decided to develop and open up Pudong, and the Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone has since been considered a landmark area for Pudong’s functional development and image building. In December 1993, the Shanghai municipal government approved the planning for the centre of Lujiazui, according to which the final area covers 1.74 million square meters, with a planned construction area of 4.35 million square meters and an average gross plot ratio of 2.5. The plan clearly proposed the construction of 3 high-rise buildings as landmark buildings, and the Z3-2 plot is where today’s Shanghai Tower is located.

The completion of the Shanghai Tower not only enriches Shanghai’s skyline, but also witnesses the success of Pudong’s reform and opening up together alongside the Jinmao Tower and the Shanghai Global Finance Center. “So I’ve seen Lujiazui go from a handful of buildings to now, a major CBD hub in China. I think when we first came to Jinmao in 2001, everybody said,‘Oh God, the planning here is so bad. Who would want to live and work in Pudong?’ But now, that’s where everybody wants to be.”