S.H. Bay, emerging star on the Shanghai skyline

SHANGHAI: Nearly all famous cities in the world have developed along the banks of equally renowned rivers. Paris has the Seine, London the Thames and New York has the Hudson River, to name just a few. These beautiful rivers flow peacefully through the cities and have given rise to rich civilizations.

Shanghai also has its own mother river - Suzhou Creek, which has been a witness to both the joy and the pain of Shanghai's growth. While flowing to Wuzhen Road and North Zhejiang Road in Zhabei district, Suzhou Creek creates an elegant curve of over 1,000 m. The riverside economy is naturally expected to make this curve the new hot spot of Shanghai city.

Called the last "golden treasured place" of Shanghai, Suhewan, or S.H. Bay (the Soho Bay) in Zhabei district is now facing a new round of innovation, expected to help make it another new landmark of the city.

In order to fully protect the original heritage architecture in this area, 5A office buildings, yacht docks, high-end communities and a public greenbelt, the largest in downtown Shanghai, are scheduled to be built, making S.H. Bay a new hub when the whole project is completed in 2015.

The S.H. Bay area, with a total length of 2,300 m along the river, starts from Gonghexin Road in the west and ends at North Henan Road in the east. It covers West Qufu Road-Haining Road-Tiantong Road in the north and the Suzhou Creek in the south.

A new era

Once a business center of old Shanghai at the beginning of last century, S.H. Bay features a cluster of banks, commercial chambers and factories, which made it an important center for the local financial and logistics industries.

Supported by China's reform and opening up policy, S.H. Bay, with its profound history and rich cultural legacy, is now entering a new era.

The 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) of the city envisages that the modern service industry be taken as an important means of improving the economic development format. This also gives the S.H. Bay project obvious priority and unprecedented opportunity.

The project is listed as one of Shanghai's first batch of nine modern service industry zones to be constructed. It is also one of the key modern service industry zones that the district government will focus on during the 11th Five-Year Plan period.

To aid the revival of the old financial hub, the Zhabei district government has conducted extensive research into the area's environment in a bid to set up a brand new community and one of the city's best riverside business hubs.

The geographic advantage of S.H. Bay is obvious, Zhabei district government sources say. It is located in the prime downtown area of Shanghai, with the business zone of the Bund lying just 1,500 m to the east, and China's No 1 Street - East Nanjing Road - only 500-800 m to its south.

S.H. Bay boasts a convenient transportation network linking it with three north-south and three east-west major roads including Haining Road, North Henan Road, North Xizang Road, North Zhejiang Road and Tiantong Road. Three metro lines have stations here, including Metro Line 8 (Qufu Road station), the under-construction Metro Line 10 and the scheduled Metro Line 12.

At present, the S.H. Bay area on the north bank of Suzhou Creek houses blocks of mostly old residential communities and warehouses. Compared with the south bank of the creek, it offers preferential rates in terms of building rent, cost of human resources and property management. This is one of the important elements sure to attract various kinds of enterprises.

With the construction of municipal supportive projects, and complete reform of creative storage and the Suzhou Creek Art Museum, S.H. Bay now has the perfect foundation of investment and development. Further, comprehensive government service and preferential financial/taxation policy can provide strong support to business.

Attractive layout

The layout of S.H. Bay will include five major zones: core business zone, cultural creation display zone, greenbelt, comprehensive functional service zone and riverside high-standard residences.

The core business zone is the area between North Xizang Road and North Zhejiang Road, where flagship stores of international brands, high-end restaurants and bars, headquarters of international groups, and international organizations and clubs will be located. The soon-to-be-auctioned plot 41 and plot 42 are also located in this area.

The cultural creation display zone lies between Wuzhen Road and North Xizang Road. Taking full advantage of the old warehouses, this area is expected to attract international architectural design companies, masters' studios and cultural creative companies.

The public greenbelt is situated between North Zhejiang Road and North Fujian Road. This will be the largest public park in the downtown area, which will also feature a yacht dock. The greenbelt will cover 40,000 sq m.

The integrative functional service zone is located between North Fujian Road and North Henan Road. Taking advantage of the convenient transportation and metro lines, the key is to build high-level office buildings and residential communities here.

High-end riverside communities are planned between Gonghexin Road and Wuzhen Road. The long riverbank will definitely provide beautiful views for high-end riverside residential communities.

Gathering high-end business and fashion brands, displaying cultural and creative ideas, developing riverside travel, providing high-quality life and reviving the economic prosperity of Suzhou Creek area, S.H. Bay is ready to become the new landmark of Shanghai.

(China Daily 05/08/2008 page19)