Authorities in Shanghai plan to shift more traffic underground on the Bund as part of efforts to give pedestrians more room to view the riverside landscape.

The Huangpu District government has entrusted the Shanghai International Tendering Co to invite bids from all over the world for a comprehensive design of the Bund, the city's planning body said yesterday.

The target is the 15 hectares of riverside area between Suzhou Creek and the Shiliupu passenger shipping terminal.

The district government requires the blueprints to cover the design of landscape, traffic planning, environmental design and layout of public facilities and underground space.

Authorities expect to finish the design work within this year to work closely with another project, in which a tunnel will be built under the Bund before the 2010 World Expo.

When finished, the Zhongshan No. 1 Road E will be narrowed to four lanes from 10 lanes, giving more land back to the people.

The government also requires designers to include some waterfront facilities in their plans.

(Shanghai Daily May 12, 2007)