Landscape Corridors in Shanghai and Their Importance in Urban Forest Planning

Shanghai has now experienced more than 20 years of innovation and open experiments in promoting economic growth. However, rapid urbanization has been accompanied by increasingly serious environment pollution that already affects Shanghai’s sustainable development goals. The Shanghai municipal government has realized that it is very important to develop urban forests to improve environment quality and provide livable places for its urban residents. In 2002, the pilot research program, Urban Forest Planning and Development in the Modern Shanghai Metropolitan Region, was launched by local government to initiate eco-city construction in Shanghai. Since we have been involved in this program (author Y.-C.S. was one of the two principal investigators [PIs], and author J.L. was one of the co-PIs, who was responsible for the urban forest planning), we present here the proposed framework of urban forest greenways and corridor network plans for the Shanghai Metropolitan Region. In addition, we summarize the types of landscape corridors that occur in Shanghai, and address the importance of urban forest planning in water protection, air pollution prevention, urban hydroclimate regulation, catastrophe prevention, biological conservation, and outdoor recreation.