As if living on land was not enough for Shanghainese, the Shanghai government's strategic plan of constructing a City in the Sea has been unveiled.

Shanghai's strategic plan and research program for building the City in the Sea, which was jointly undertaken by Shanghai Municipal Ocean Bureau, the City Development and Research Center of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Fengxian District Ocean Development Office and Fengxian District Haiwan Town Government passed an experts' review on January 12. According to Pan Zengdi, a researcher from Shanghai Municipal Ocean Bureau, the City in the Sea will be constructed by filling in the sea with dirt, encircling the sea, building bridges and it will make use of discarded building materials to promote recycling and energy-saving principles.

Statistics from local media show that Shanghai produces about 37000 tons of building waste every day, which accounts for 30% of the city's total solid waste. So the construction of City in the Sea is an effective solution for dealing with these waste products.

Pan says that they plan to spend about 10-15 years, or even longer, to build an internationally advanced and sustainable City in the Sea, which may also rely on wind power or tidal changes for energy and sea water for drinkable water. Pan says this will not only help Shanghai expand its development space, but also provide a new way for utilizing oceanic resources.