Laws of the Shanghai Province

In order to further carry out "Provisions of Shanghai Municipality on Urban Planning" (hereinafter referred to as "Planning Provisions" ) and the spirit of the Fifth Shanghai Urban Planning Conference, strengthen the urban planning administration of land used for special purposes, including existing and planned municipal public facilities and public service facilities, in this Municipality, guarantee the construction of infrastructure, improve urban transportation, strictly control the population size and the total amount of buildings in the central city, increase public service facilities, public green areas and space for public use, and promote the functional upgrading, environment improvement and population dispersion of the central city, we hereby put forward the following suggestions on further strengthening urban planning administration in this Municipality:

I. Examine and approve construction projects strictly according to urban planning

All construction projects must meet the requirements of comprehensive planning of Shanghai. Design of control-planning units or regulatory plans in the areas where construction projects are located, if approved, shall be strictly carried out.

Planned construction in the central city shall follow the principle of "two increases and two reductions" , that is, increasing public greenery and space for public use, while reducing the total amount of buildings and the plot ratio. In the process of project examination and approval, the nature of planned land use, the planned building capacity and building height as approved may not be changed without authorization; and "three concentrations" shall be promoted conscientiously in planned construction in the suburbs and, mandatory contents, including the nature of planned land use and the planned control lines as approved, may not be changed without authorization.

Revisions and adjustments to approved plans that are proved to be necessary must be submitted to the original examining and approving administrative offices for approval.

II. Strictly prohibit changing at random the nature of land use

All newly-built, rebuilt and expanded construction projects on lands used by various municipal public facilities of transportation, post and telecommunication and sanitation, public service facilities of culture, education, public health and sports and secondary industrial establishments, including factories and warehouses, shall be carried out strictly according to approved plans and the nature of such land use may not be changed at random. Change of the nature of land use for construction projects, if proved to be necessary, shall undergo planning justification, and be examined and approved according to legal procedures, so as to ensure comprehensive balancing between district planning and each specific planning. Land lots that really need to be included in the transfer-out program for State-owned land use rights shall meet the requirements of regulatory plans.

In case of lands designated to be used for municipal public facilities, public service facilities or secondary industrial establishments, including factories and warehouses, under approved sub-district planning, design of control-planning unit, regulatory plans and other specific plans, unauthorized change of the nature of their use is strictly forbidden in the process of land transfer-out and project examination and approval, if adjustments to such plans have not been made through legal procedures.

No units or individuals may adjust or change the blue lines of rivers, or fill or block up rivers without authorization.

III. Strictly carry out "Technical Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on Urban Planning Administration"

According to the requirements of the new "Technical Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on Urban Planning Administration" of December 1, 2003 (hereinafter referred to as "Technical Regulations" ), detailed plans shall be made and approved for areas to be developed in their entirety with construction bases larger than 30,000 square meters in area before project examination and approval may be implemented.

Land use for residential or commercial buildings with construction bases smaller or equal to 30,000 square meters in area and with approved design control-planning unit or regulatory plans shall be implemented strictly according to the approved plans. In the absence of the above-mentioned plans, except for those projects left over from history and classified as ones to be cleared up, and those construction projects whose planning and design requirements have already been checked and ratified, urban planning departments shall verify and decide on the plot ratio index, on the basis of the size of the area of the bases and according to the standards defined in the "Technical Regulations" : "Within the inner ring road, the plot ratio for residential buildings shall be limited to 2.5 and below and that for commercial buildings to 4.0 and below; between the inner ring road and the outer ring road, the plot ratio for residential buildings shall be limited to 2.0 and below and that for commercial buildings to 3.5 and below" , subject to a reduction at the ratio ranging from 5% to 20%.

Construction projects involving the acquisition of State-owned land use rights through transfer-out shall be subjected to the control of such planning indexes as the nature of the building and the plot ratio checked and ratified by the transfer-out contracts and are no longer entitled to any policy incentives for roads, greenery and open space.

IV. Handling projects left over from history strictly according to suggestions for their clearing-up

Projects left over from history for which clearing-up suggestions have already been defined by the municipal, district or county urban planning departments must be cleared up strictly according to such suggestions. The continuation of construction after clearing-up shall be implemented with an optimized program, building capacity may not be increased without authorization, and policy incentives for roads, greenery and open space shall no longer be granted. Acts of unauthorized increase of building capacity in the examination and approval of projects left over from history shall be investigated and dealt with strictly according to Article 76 of "Planning Provisions" and other related regulations, as soon as they are identified.

V. Strictly carrying out supervision and examination of urban planning

Construction acts in violation of laws shall be investigated and dealt with strictly according to law. Illegal buildings in specific areas defined in urban plans as public greenery, conservation districts of historic sites, sensitive building zones and ecologically sensitive zones shall be demolished without exceptions, and no make-up planning formalities may be performed. When conducting planning examination and acceptance of completed construction projects, verification and examination shall be made strictly according to the items checked and ratified in the planning licenses for the construction projects. Projects either under construction or completed that do not possess planning licenses for construction projects or are not built according to the planning licenses for the construction projects shall be investigated and dealt with by the municipal or district/county urban planning departments strictly according to Article 68 of "Planning Provisions" .

Shanghai Urban Planning Administration Bureau

September 8, 2005