Shanghai government plans more "new cities", or big townships, to move downtown residents out to the suburban areas and cut the downtown population by 1.1 million to 8 million in 17 years, today's Oriental Morning Post said, citing a senior government official.

The downtown area refers to the 670 square kilometers within the Outer Ring Road, according to Wu Jiang, vice director of Shanghai Urban Construction and Management Bureau.

To attract the move-out population, Shanghai has increased its "new city" planning from the existing one to three, according to the urban planning the bureau released on Saturday.

The existing new city is the university city in west Shanghai's Songjiang district and the additional two are Anting, in north city's Jiading District, and Lingang, in south city's Nanhui County.

Unlike traditional satellite towns around a city, these "new cities" are new-style towns based on key industry projects, Wu said.

Compared with downtown areas, they provide cheaper and more comfortable housing, he said.

With the downtown housing price soaring, the official estimated far exceeding one million people now living in the city's central area can't afford new homes there.

(eastday.com November 25, 2003)