Qingpu, a land of rivers and lakes in the outer suburbs of Shanghai was ignored for a long time, resulting in the city's development lagging behind. After entering the 21st century, the local government gathered insights on various fields, and proposed the city’s vision as “Qingpu, a green watertown, one of the best habitable cities”, working out the meticulous plan incorporating local characteristics, respecting nature and history.

The New Qingpu Practice is committed to 1) Environmental protection and construction with a focus on the water environment; 2) Ecological greening construction that results in comfortable public spaces; 3) Developing an urban plan that fits the local features meticulously to sustain the culture of the watertown. The “Master Plan of the New City of Qingpu”, approved by the municipal government of Shanghai, clearly states that New City of Qingpu will be fully developed as a characteristic intermediate-size city with the connotation of “the culture of watertown” and “the culture of history”. It is envisioned that by the year 2020, it will be a multi-functional city with a population of 500,000 residents and an area of 53.8 km2. That is the purpose of “Qingpu, a green watertown, one of the best habitable city”. To fulfill this objective, the initiative sought to: 1) Construct a habitable city; 2) Construct a sustainable development city; 3) Construct an ecological city; and 4) Construct a city featuring native culture.

Through the implementation of the Qingpu master plan, the new city of has already become one of the best areas in Shanghai, both in air quality and surface water quality. As a suburban new city, it possesses the native culture and charms and has got sound achievements.