Shanghai to reduce house sizes

SHANGHAI: Residential properties here are to be made smaller and more energy efficient, the municipal government said yesterday.

From 2010, all new apartments will have to be an average of 15 percent smaller than at present, and be 65 percent energy efficient, according to a directive approved recently by the Shanghai municipal government and released yesterday.

They will also be required to recycle rain and river water and be constructed mostly from reclaimed materials.