The Huangpu River waterfront in Yangpu District will become a demonstration zone for how the city is developing with its people as the focus within three years, the district government announced on Thursday. The area is known as the birthplace of China's modern industries with the nation's first water, electricity, shipbuilding and textile companies. Many industrial buildings have been preserved during redevelopment of the riverside area. A 5.5-kilometer waterfront section on the west and east sides of the river is open to the public, while renovations are ongoing to improve the environment and facilities. “The Yangpu government has made a three-step plan to make the waterfront a demonstration for the construction of a people-oriented city,” Xie Jiangang, Yangpu’s Party secretary, told a press conference on Thursday. During a visit to the area last November, President Xi Jinping said: “The cities are built by the people and for the people.” He said urban planning and development must be committed to a people-centered approach and focus on people’s needs. The former industrial center will be given a brand-new look by the end of this year with improved public space, a beautiful ecological environment and optimized public services, according to a blueprint. About three additional landmark sites for culture, sport and tourism will be built on the waterfront in 2021. By hosting the 46th WorldSkills Competition from September 22 to 27 in 2021, the waterfront region of Yangpu is expected to become a “world-class sitting room,” attracting the global attention. By 2022, the people-oriented demonstration zone will be preliminarily completed to drive the quality development of Shanghai, Xie said. Apart from the sightseeing facilities, the riverside region will also attract a swathe of characteristic industries, innovative talent and leading domestic and foreign enterprises. The urban governance experiences of the region will be copied and promoted elsewhere. Construction of several key riverside projects is ongoing, such as the WorldSkills Museum, shipyard public space and the first phase of the bridge park, said Zuo Weidong, executive vice director of Yangpu’s waterfront development office. The museum, organized by WorldSkills International, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Shanghai government, will open to the public along with the competition. It will be a permanent non-profit venue with free admission. Twenty-four historical structures are being preserved, such as the Hanfenlou building, the former library of the Commercial Press dating back to 1904 and the remaining shipyards built around 1900 by a German company to build shallow-water vessels, tow boats, ferries and cruise ships. “New functions will be given to the historical structures to make the region another demonstration of the protection of historical buildings,” Zuo said. The heritage site of a nearly century-old soap factory on the riverside has been converted into an art space and café. The Fantasy Bubble exhibition hall was developed on the former production site of the Shanghai Soap Co, originally built by British businessmen in 1923. The former Yangshupu Power Plant, once the biggest thermal power plant in East Asia and the city's tallest structure, will also be developed and open to the public, Zuo said. The plant, which was built in 1913, operated until 2010. The southern part of the Yangpu waterfront will feature a 700,000-square-meter complex with commercial and cultural facilities as well as office buildings for multinational headquarters. The central part near the Yangpu Bridge will mainly develop ecological tourism and the online economy, while the section near the power plant will mainly showcase the history of the region, Zuo said. Continuous riverside zones are to be created along the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek by 2020, featuring more greenery, preserved historical buildings, bridges and “sponge city” technology. Sidewalks stretching 45 kilometers on the banks of the Huangpu River between Yangpu and Xupu bridges have opened. The city now plans to extend those upstream and downstream while improving the section that is already open.