The long-awaited Xiangmi Park is expected to open in May, officials told Futian district's urban management conference for 2017 on March 1.

"We will speed up the construction of parks so the total area of parks will account for more than 15 percent of the district's land mass within two years," Gao Shengyuan, head of the district government, said at the meeting. The district will also build a park atop the Futian sewage treatment plant, Gao revealed.

The construction of parks will be a priority for Futian this year as the district will host the 19th International Botanical Congress from July 23-29, Guo Zhisheng, head of the district's urban administration bureau, said. This will be another high-level international event held in Shenzhen, similar in scale to the 2011 Summer Universiade.

On Feb 16, chairman of the Futian District Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Li Shengwei, led committee members in an inspection of the construction of Xiangmi Park. The advisers found the construction and installation work on the park has almost been completed.

The Rose Garden project, inside the park, is one of the eight featured parks in Shenzhen. This warm rose garden is expected to become a romantic place for marriage registration ceremonies.

The new park can host 20,000 people and will be Shenzhen's first handicapped-accessible park.

Covering an area of 420,000 square meters, Xiangmi Park is located on the west side of Xiangmihu Road in Futian district. The district government approved the project in August 2014 and invested 256 million yuan ($38.84 million) building the park.

Before being turned into a park, the land was occupied by the Shenzhen Agricultural Science Group Co. The new park was planned around the original landscape.

Scenic water areas will be a highlight in the park and will be constructed to reflect the area's original landscape.

The director of the Xiangmi Park project said that the ecological park will also be filled with wildlife.

The park has been designed to connect with public transportation and serve pedestrians. Cycling paths and entrances will be constructed throughout the park. The district government also built a footbridge to link one of the park's entrances to the residential areas on the north side of Qiaoxiang Road.

The park will have nearly 500 parking spaces and will contain garbage recycling equipment, according to a staff member from Futian's urban management bureau. Xiangmi Park will also have handicapped-accessible facilities, including rest areas with special sensors to help the visually impaired.

Xiangmi Park, which will be able to host 20,000 people upon completion, is expected to open soon.

(HK Edition 03/10/2017 page1)