Wendy Zhang/ Shanghai Daily news

Shanghai plans to renovate five million square meters of old residential properties every year during the period of the 11th Five Year Plan (2006-2010) to improve residents' living conditions, according to a work conference yesterday.
The renovations, based on a market mechanism with support from the government, will have different criteria for different types of apartment.
At present, Shanghai has a total of 352 million square meters of residential apartments, of which more than 100 million square meters was built before 1990 and 25 million square meters more than 50 years ago. It is estimated that more than 86 million square meters are in need of renovation.
From 2003 to 2005, the city renovated 27,800 old residential buildings, a total of 34.92 million square meters. Investment of more than two billion yuan (US$250 million) benefited 1.0156 million households over the period.