Urban Planning Exhibition Center, Shanghai

The urban planning museum, in Shanghai

The urban planning exhibition centre of Shanghai is a museum entirely dedicated to the town and to its future, topped with a roof in the shape of a magnolia flower, on the People's Square. The Shanghai audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this building inaugurated in 2000, famous for its immense model of the whole metropolis.

The giant model of the town of tomorrow

In front of you stands the urban planning exhibition centre of Shanghai, a museum entirely dedicated to the town and to its future. This luminous building, topped with a roof in the shape of a magnolia flower, the floral emblem of Shanghai, was designed by the architect Ling Benli and inaugurated in 2000. Situated on the People's Square, it symbolises the ambition of the metropolis to become a modern, innovative and sustainable town. Inside, the main attraction is an immense model of more than six hundred square metres representing the whole town. You see there its skyscrapers, its bridges and even its future projects, lit by a system simulating day and night; by overlooking this model, you really have the impression of flying over Shanghai. The immersive technologies occupy a central place in the route, with panoramic films, interactive screens and reconstitutions that make the visitor travel through the different eras of the town, from the small port of the nineteenth century to the megalopolis of today. The museum thus uses models, videos and old photographs to tell how Shanghai transformed itself and how it projects itself into the future. It is an ideal place to understand the vertiginous urbanism of the town and the scale of its growth. A museum of the town and a showcase of the future, the urban planning centre is a fine stop of the discovery of Shanghai.

What to see

Here you discover the museum dedicated to the town and to its future, designed by the architect Ling Benli, topped with a roof in the shape of a magnolia flower and inaugurated in 2000; its flagship attraction is an immense model of more than six hundred square metres representing all of Shanghai, skyscrapers and future projects included, completed by panoramic films and interactive screens retracing the eras of the town. The urban planning centre is a showcase of Shanghai. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The urban planning centre lies on the People's Square, in the Huangpu district, reachable on foot and by metro. It is a museum that follows its own days and opening hours, variable; entry is generally subject to a fee. It is best to enquire before coming.

What to see at the urban planning centre of Shanghai?

Above all its immense model of more than six hundred square metres representing the whole town, skyscrapers, bridges and future projects included, lit by a system simulating day and night; the museum, topped with a roof in the shape of a magnolia flower and inaugurated in 2000, also offers panoramic films and interactive screens retracing the eras of Shanghai.