Shanghai aims to become a park city, a forest city and a wetland city, and foundations for those long-range objectives are expected to be established by 2025. The city's Pudong New Area has responded actively to promote the construction of a park city, in a bid to improve people's living environment and build itself into a leading area with a  high-quality ecological environment.

Today, Shanghai has 406 parks, a forest coverage rate of 18.49 percent and the area of public green spaces per capita is 8.5 square meters, according to the Shanghai Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau. However, the city is still focusing on improvement.

In July 2021, the municipal government announced the Thousand Parks Plan with the aim of increasing the number of parks in the city to more than 1,000 by 2025, and 2,000 by 2035. By the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), the total number of parks in Pudong is expected to exceed 200.

According to official data, the area launched a project to build pocket parks, city parks and countryside parks, and 16 new parks were built in Pudong last year, bringing the total number to 69. This year, the area plans to build 45 new parks, which will combine fitness, culture and community service facilities that can meet the diverse needs of residents.

More pocket parks will also be built near residential buildings, each with a size of between 300 and 500 square meters, making them easier for residents to access.

Shanghai Binjiang Forest Park is located at the city's northernmost edge of Wusongkou, which is where the Huangpu River meets the Yangtze River. It is the closest forest park to Shanghai's downtown area. [Photo/WeChat account: pdnews]