Later this year, Shanghai residents will gain access to detailed plans about their neighborhoods and learn whether they'll be affected by new parks, Metro lines, or other infrastructure projects, a top city official said yesterday.

"One of major tasks for this year is to make our government more transparent, particularly in urban planning that requires relocations," Qiao Zhigang, deputy director of the Shanghai Informatization Commission, told a municipal conference yesterday.

He said the government is now considering methods for publicizing its urban development plan and schedule for neighborhood relocation.

The most likely venue for the new information source will be the Websites of government departments, Qiao said.

A decision hasn't been made yet on whether the planning period to be revealed will be three or five years or some other time frame.

Some officials said they often receive complaints from residents about a lack of transparency when the government forces people to relocate.

"Transparent urban planning is an obligation of a responsible government," said Huang Yuehai, a laid-off worker living in Yangpu District.

He said people should know where new subways, elevated roads and other infrastructure projects will be built.

The city plans to triple the length of its current metro system by 2010 for the World Expo.

By June, more than 13,000 families and 1,000 companies will have been relocated this year to make way for the new metro stations.

Another 18,000 families will be relocated by next month to make way for construction of World Expo sites, municipal government spokeswoman Jiao Yang said.

(Shanghai Daily April 13, 2006)