October 25 marked the fifth anniversary of the opening of the Shanghai World Financial Center mixed-use skyscraper operated by Mori Building Group, the tallest structure in Mainland China (101 stories, 492m high) and located in the Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone of Shanghai's Pudong New Area.
As a landmark of Shanghai, a developing international financial center
The Shanghai World Financial Center is a "vertical multi-use city" that boasts state-of-the-art offices meeting the needs of global corporations, the highest observation deck in the world (recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as being 474m above ground level), the elite Park Hyatt Hotel, and shopping malls. Since its completion in 2008, the building has attracted information and people from around the world based on the concept of being a "global magnet", generating trends, exerting influence and, unlike conventional international finance centers, maintaining its bustling activity and magnetism as a hub not only for business but also culture and sightseeing. At present, it has nearly filled all its offices (with a 99% utilization rate) and, with more than 8 million visitors to its observation deck over the last five years, has established itself as a landmark of Shanghai.
Creating urban activity by town management
At the Shanghai World Financial Center, Mori Building has utilized its knowhow of town management gained from urban planning projects such as Roppongi Hills (Minato Ward, Tokyo) to organize events and other things that make it a place for people to meet as well as a cultural center. We have deliberately put up public art installations, held art events outdoors, and so on in order to create a bustling atmosphere in the streets. We also ensure high quality service by giving all facility and management staff thorough service training. Furthermore, we have earned high praise from our office tenants for our sophisticated approach to improving safety, security and convenience, including annual emergency drills, which are still uncommon in Shanghai.
Mori Building's knowhow used in Shanghai's dynamic urban development
Inauguration of pedestrian bridge interconnecting the Lujiazui area
In September 2013, an 8m-wide, 1.4km-long pedestrian bridge that took about eight years to build (in multiple periods) was opened in the Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone.
The origins of the bridge lie in Mori Building's proposal made to the City of Shanghai in 2005 for a unified suburban development plan including the Shanghai World Financial Center in order to make it safer and more convenient for pedestrians on Century Avenue, the 100m-wide main street in the Lujiazui. This company has been actively engaged from the project's conception to its design and construction, and now it has been completed.
Located 8m above road level, the overpass offers a panoramic view of the Lujiazui area while providing ingeniously built-in illuminations, thus exceeding the traditional role of a pedestrian route and becoming a bustling new tourist attraction that draws crowds all day every day, and transforming the entire Lujiazui zone into a pleasant place to stroll around.
The completion of the bridge symbolizes Shanghai's dynamic and speedy urban development and can be considered a development example of a vertical garden city proposed by Mori Building.
Based on the concept of being a "global magnet," the five-year-old Shanghai World Financial Center, a central institution in China's financial opening up to the world, will continue to fulfill its role by leading the growth of Shanghai as an international financial center. With a philosophy of "creating and developing cities," Mori Building Co., Ltd. and Mori Building China (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. will also apply their comprehensive urban development knowhow of city planning and operational management to contribute to attractive urban developments not only in the Lujiazui area but also the rest of Shanghai City.