Shanghai has set several goals for this year's urban construction including the renovation of 1 million square meters of old homes, 22-kilometer of new metro lines and the second phase of the Yangshan Deep-Water Port, the Shanghai Morning Post said today.

This year the city will launch a project to renovate 4 million square meters of old homes, which will improve the standard level of the housing conditions, and plans to complete 1 million square meters by the year-end, the newspaper said.

Two subway extensions will open service within the year, extending the city's operational metro lines to 145 kilometers from 123 kilometers. The western extension of Metro Line No. 2 will reach the Hongqiao Airport, and the northern extension of Line 3 will reach Baosteel Group in Baoshan District.

The government also pledged to complete the structural groundwork of new lines, with intentions of operational status in 2007, and to kick off the construction of the lines that will transport supplies during the 2010 World Expo.

This year, more than 50-kilometers of bus-exclusive lanes are going to be added to the city's roads to optimize the urban transport network.

As part of the plan to build Shanghai into an international shipping and air hub, the second phase of the Yangshan port will start operation this year. The city will accelerate the construction of the Pudong International Airport expansion project and the expressway linking to the airport.

The Shanghai South Railway Station will be put into service this year, and the inter-city rail link between Shanghai and Nanjing will also begin construction.

For urban management, the municipal government will continue to spread its "grid-by-grid urban management network" to cover all the downtown area.

Shanghai introduced the system based on a computerized city map at the beginning of this year. Authorities designated special watchdogs to supervise various street disorders, such as errant bicycle parking, missing manhole covers or illegal street stalls. The government has divided the city into thousands of grids -- each of which is 10,000 square meters -- and designated a certain number of personnel, including many laid-off workers, to take charge of them.

The city will also build 10 million square meters of new parkland, and will launch the third-phase renovation of the Suzhou Creek and the construction of a waste burning facility in Minhang District to enhance Shanghai's environmental protection.

(Shanghai Daily February 6, 2006)