CONSTRUCTION is starting on a number of high-tech projects in the city’s traditional industry base in the north, covering robotics, new-energy vehicles and information technology.

Laboratories, research centers and production lines for 37 projects, mostly involving hi-tech and startup enterprises, will be built on land formerly owned by iron-steel, glass and electrical machinery manufacturers in Baoshan District.

The work is part of the city government’s efforts to transform its northern industrial base, famous for its steel industry as well as air pollution, into a number of innovative parks in an improved environment.

The new projects will cover a total area of around 2 square kilometers — equivalent to some 200 football fields — with a total investment of 29.8 billion yuan (US$4.7 billion), the district government said.

“Some old companies in Baoshan have been stagnant and lagging behind on efficiency, while those emerging industries lacked land for their development,” said an official with the district’s development and reform commission.

Many of the traditional industries had led to pollution problems and had long been complained about by nearby residents, he added.

The Shibei safety glass company, for example, has been asked to adjust its production and relocate plants to free up land for Sinylon, an automobile equipment manufacturer. Shibei had upset residents due to its pungent smells and sewage discharges.

Sinylon is to develop automated production lines for automobile components in the Baoshan Robotics Industrial Park. Nearby, a former workshop of the Pacific Mechatronic Co has been converted into an R&D center for new-energy vehicles. Also, a piece of land owned by an electrical company, suspended due to its owner’s default on debts, is being turned into an industrial park to house innovative and startup enterprises, the Baoshan government said.

Other projects, mainly in advanced manufacturing and modern services, include R&D centers for pharmaceutical firms, a production base for super-capacitor batteries, a traffic information center, an energy innovation center and an ecological community planning base

Tsingtao Brewery Co is setting up an R&D center for new wines and a flight simulator production line for the Aviation Industry Corporation of China will also be based in the district. To allow more space for emerging industries as well as public cultural venues, the Baoshan government has been converting derelict industrial container yards and warehouses into parks, offices and museums.

A 1-million-square-meter area along Metro Line 1’s seven stations between Gongkang and Fujin roads is home to more than a dozen state-owned warehouses that once housed silk, cotton, fruit, iron and steel. One of Shanghai’s biggest container yards is also in the area. Some warehouses and container yards will be converted into office space. Walking paths, sports facilities and gardens will replace the former container yards, the district government said.

Disused container marshalling yards and warehouses along Metro Line 3 have been converted into creative hubs and museums.

A container yard on Yingao Road, which has a section of China’s oldest railway, Wusong Railway, has been turned into a creative park with a dozen noted architects, fashion designers and art school students working in studios converted from containers.