Land reuse essential for Shanghai: experts

Shanghai (CNS) -- Shanghai authorities need to boost the reuse of urban land to address the growing scarcity, an expert suggested at a seminar on Monday.

According to Vice Mayor Yang Xiong, who cited the National Land Use Plan, the total amount of land for construction in Shanghai will be 2,981 square kilometers by 2020, leaving limited space for development.

Zheng Shiling, director of the Institute of Architecture and Urban Space at Tongji University, referred to the Shanghai 2010 World Expo, which reused land in a polluted industrial area near the banks of the Huangpu River, as well a large and dilapidated residential area.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's urban population reached 690 million in 2011, accounting for the majority of the total population for the first time ever.