Zhang Jun/ Shanghai Daily news

The Bund area will have more alfresco facilities for pedestrians when its facelift is completed before the 2010 World Expo, city officials said yesterday, Shanghai Daily reported. 

Officials of the Shanghai Planning Administrative Bureau said the final blueprint of the new Bund will be published shortly for public reaction.

"The new Bund will be designed for people instead of vehicles," bureau official Yu Sijia said yesterday.

The Bund is undergoing an extensive facelift including the key project which involves the construction of a 3.3-kilometer two-level vehicle tunnel beneath Zhongshan Road E1.