Shanghai to give $44bn boost to infrastructure

Shanghai is spending 300 billion yuan ($44bn, Dh161bn) to improve the city's infrastructure ahead of next year's World Expo, according to state media.

The Bund, Shanghai's storied riverbank area, is being transformed with a $735 million project to build an eight-lane road, 3.3 kilometres of which is underground. The park along the river will be widened. All of the Bund except for a public bus lane is expected to become a pedestrian zone. The project is due to be completed in early 2010.

Shanghai's Metro rail system is being expanded to 11 lines from the current seven. Five lines will connect directly to the Expo site, and one line is being expanded to link the city's Pudong and Hongqiao airports. A high-speed railway linking Shanghai to the eastern lakeside city of Hangzhou is due to be completed before the Expo.

Hongqiao domestic airport is to be upgraded, with a new terminal and runway to increase its passenger capacity fivefold to 40 million. The project is due to be completed in early 2010. Elevated pedestrian walkways are being built in Pudong's modern financial district, linking the district's main Metro station to the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, major office towers and malls.

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