Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center facts for kids
| 上海城市规划展示馆 | |
Museum from northeast and across Xizang Middle Road
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| Established | 25 February 2000 |
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| Location | Huangpu District, Shanghai |
| Type | Urban planning museum |
| Key holdings | Scale model of city |
| Visitors | 5 million (since 2000) |
| Owner | Municipality of Shanghai |
| Public transit access | People's Square (Shanghai Metro) |
The Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center (simplified Chinese: 上海城市规划展示馆; traditional Chinese: 上海城市規劃展示館; pinyin: Shànghǎi Chéngshì Guīhuà Zhǎnshì Guǎn) is a cool museum in Shanghai, China. It's right next to the main government building in People's Square. This center was the very first place in China dedicated to showing off a city's plans. After it opened, many other big cities and new towns in China started building similar places.
Contents
What is the Exhibition Center?
This center is like a giant showcase for how the city of Shanghai was planned and how it has grown. It first opened its doors in the year 2000. These types of exhibition halls are designed to show off city plans and drawings. They help people understand how their city is developing and make them proud of where they live.
The Exhibition Center is a tall building with six floors above ground and two floors underground. Its main attraction is a huge model of the entire city of Shanghai. This model shows all the buildings that exist now and all the new ones that are approved to be built in the future.
Exploring Shanghai's Past and Future
Besides the big city model, the museum also has exhibits about Shanghai's long history. You can learn how the city has changed over time. There are also displays about future plans for Shanghai. Some exhibits include smaller models that focus on special areas, like the Bund. The center also has spaces for temporary exhibits that change often, covering many different topics.
The Building's Design
The Exhibition Center was built as part of a big project to improve the area around People's Park and People's Square. This happened in the 1990s and early 2000s. The park and square used to be a horse racing track. Today, they form one of the biggest open spaces in the middle of Shanghai.
The building was designed by an architect named Ling Benli. He worked for the East China Architecture Design & Research Institute (ECADI). His goal was to make the Exhibition Center look good next to the Grand Theatre. The Grand Theatre is another modern building on the other side of People's Square.
The Exhibition Center is about 43 meters (141 feet) tall. It has white aluminum panels on the outside. Its roof has a special design that looks like a fabric structure.
Amazing Exhibits Inside
The most exciting part of the museum is the giant scale model of Shanghai. It shows every building that is already standing and every building that is planned to be built. Visitors can walk around the model on the ground floor. You can also go up to a special viewing area above it for a bird's-eye view.
This model is meant to show the whole city, including all future developments. However, some support pillars go through the model. This means a few small areas are missing, and sometimes the pillars block your view.
Next to the big model, there's a small theater room. It has a screen that wraps all the way around you, 360 degrees! The room plays a video that makes you feel like you are flying through the Shanghai of the future. You get to see famous places, including some of the buildings from the Shanghai Expo 2010.
See also
In Spanish: Centro de Exposiciones de Urbanismo de Shanghái para niños
- Urban Planning Society of China
- Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning
- Panorama of the City of New York
