Refurbished green spaces made available to the public

Yang Nina, a resident of Shanghai's Yangpu District, was taking a stroll around the greenery area on Huangxing Road with her nine-month-old daughter on Tuesday morning.

The weather was lovely, and Yang's mood was upbeat.

She has been a regular visitor to the renovated green area. The hedge was removed in June after the city's call to open up more green spaces to the public.

The green space of RT-Mart's Yangpu store previously had a three-meter-high hedge that obscured the view and was inaccessible. Aside from a few camphor trees and magnolias, it consisted of bald patches of lawn with minimal space usage.

It was beautified by demolishing the retaining wall and hedge, adding bright flower beds, benches for resting, and three white magnolias as the main landscape trees, resulting in an accessible leisure green space.

"In the past, I needed to walk 15 minutes to Huangxing Park for a leisure walk, but now, it just takes a few minutes with this green space and the floral landscape is lovely," Yang said.

Shanghai's decision to open enclosed green spaces to the public is meant to enhance the city's overall public green spaces while also giving more opportunities for residents to relax and enjoy nature.

Since the release of a guideline on opening the auxiliary space of entities and enterprises to the public in 2022, 125 enclosed green spaces have been opened to the public as of October, with 32 transformed into "pocket parks," or mini recreational parks, the Shanghai Greenery and Public Sanitation Bureau said on Tuesday.

Another project is an open and shared green area in the Pudong New Area that is part of the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China's headquarters.

Before its renovation, the greening was minimal, with little layering or color. The ginkgo trees did not thrive and had weak wind resistance.

After the renovation, the green space of the headquarters and the nearby public green space were clubbed together, making for a total area of 5,242 square meters.

A pocket park was created by upgrading and transforming the entire green area.

Zhang Ling, deputy director of the Pudong New Area Greenery Management Center, said, "We have optimized the landscape and changed the space layout, adding floral scenery and planting red maple and plum."

Benches were set up and elements of aeronautical components were incorporated.

"The area has many white-collar workers and the move aims to provide a leisure space for them during their lunch break," Zhang said.