By Lu Xuejiao
The early bird catches the worm. On January 4, the first working day of 2022, Hongkou District held a centralized ground-breaking ceremony of major projects in 2022 at the site of the project of the Innovation and Creative Design Institute of the North Bund (the Lester School and Henry Lester Institute of Technical Education) located in the North Bund. Hongkou’s development and construction is launched in the new year in all aspects with the spirits of “decisive battle and rush from start”. Guo Fang, chief of Hongkou District Party Committee, attended and announced the start of all major projects in Hongkou District in 2022.
Hu Guangjie, deputy chief of Hongkou District Party Committee and governor of Hongkou District Government, delivered a speech at the site. Guan Yetong, Member of the Standing Committee of the Hongkou District Party Committee and Deputy Governor of Hongkou District Government, presided over the activity. The principals of Shanghai Construction Group (SCG), Arcplus Group PLC, Shanghai Innovation and Creativity Institute, Hillhouse Group and other enterprises, the main responsible comrades of relevant departments in Hongkou, and the representatives of the parties participating in the centralized construction projects attended.
With a "start" order, the site began to work. This year, Hongkou has arranged 65 formal major projects, with a total construction area of 5.17 million square meters, a total investment of RMB194.3 billion and a total planned construction area of 2 million square meters, covering three regions in the south, middle and north of Hongkou, which involve municipal infrastructure, public services and livelihood security, commercial buildings, residential projects, old housing repair and other fields.
Among them, there are 20 projects participating in the centralized ground-breaking ceremony of major projects, including the Innovation and Creative Design Institute (the Lester School and Henry Lester Institute of Technical Education), residential project at No. 32 block, reconstruction project of Jiulong Hotel, new school at No. 161 block, residential project at No. 122 block, Luxun Park reconstruction project, municipal supporting works for new residential buildings at Old Hongzhen Street, Linping Pump Station and Disposal Station of Ditch Sludge in Hongkou District.
"In the future, these major projects will provide a stronger driving force and support for promoting high-quality development, high-quality life and efficient governance in Hongkou," said Xu Jifeng, deputy director of Hongkou District Construction Management Committee.
This year is a key year for the development and construction of the North Bund to "accomplish within years". The core area of the North Bund has also ushered in the starting many star projects, such as the Innovation and Creative Design Institute (the Lester School and Henry Lester Institute of Technical Education), the new Daming Drainage System, the reconstruction project of Beihong Middle School, the reconstruction project of Wuzhou Road (Zhoujiazui Road - Hailar Road), all of which are located in the North Bund area.
The Lester School and Henry Lester Institute of Technical Education, where the ground-breaking ceremony was held, is an old building with a history of more than 90 years. It is expected that it will be fully renovated in the 3rd quarter of this year. The Innovation and Creative Design Institute is to be built at the original site, which is committed to boosting industries, incubating innovation and bringing together creative and academic talents. "In the future, there will be internationalization oriented design concepts, which will form industrial design, architectural design, product design, fashion design and others and reflect the characteristics of the North Bund's soft power, internationalization and leading the trend of the times," said Zheng Ke, deputy general manager of Shanghai North Bund (Group) Co., Ltd.
This year, Hongkou will closely focus on the development strategic goal of building "Shanghai North Bund and Pujiang Golden Triangle" put forward by the 11th Municipal Party Congress, adhere to the highest standard, comprehensively benchmark the world reception hall according to requirements, carefully and elaborately build benchmark projects such as Puxi commanding heights and second-floor corridors, and adhere to respect and to care for old buildings to its best with care, patience and perseverance to create more charming and attractive new urban spaces. Meanwhile, Hongkou will fully implement the "Whole-process Accompany" plan of early intervention, regular promotion and rapid coordination with the help of the strongest cooperation and will actively accelerate the process of project approval, commencement, construction and commissioning to achieve the targets of early commencement, early promotion and early completion and goals of early image, early function and early effect.