A worker at the site of a future Walt Disney Co theme park in Shanghai. The construction of the first phase will start in June, but is unlikely to be completed by the end of 2014 at the earliest. [Photo / Bloomberg]

New theme park will cover 7 sq km, six times more than the original area

SHANGHAI - Shanghai's Disneyland project will be located in a seven square-kilometer (sq km) area northeast of the city that has been designated as a tourist destination, the municipal government said in a statement posted online.

The statement said the first phase of the park will cover an area of 3.9 sq km.

Construction of the first phase will start in June, but won't be completed until the end of 2014 at the earliest.

It will include the theme park, hotels, car parks, service centers, a lake and commuter stations for two subway lines which will be extended to reach the site, according to the city's blueprint.

The blueprint was jointly released by the city's Urban Planning, Land and Resources Administration Bureau and the Pudong District Government on March 8, and a public consultation period will run for 30 days before a final version is drafted.

The 7 sq km area is approximately 6 times larger than the area originally announced by the National Development and Reform Commission on its website in November.

A spokeswoman for Walt Disney Co (Shanghai) Ltd, who declined to be named, said on Thursday that the company "is not going to comment until the regulatory approval process is complete".

Wang Dawu, professor of tourism at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said the first phase is only the core area of Shanghai's Disneyland project, and that the site area will expand to meet requirements.

"The theme park needs to be continually updated and provide new attractions, to ensure that visitors keep coming back," said Wang. "Tourism-related industries will also cluster around the park, increasing the overall size of the project."

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Shanghai's mayor, Han Zheng, said on Sunday that investment in the first phase will total 24.5 billion yuan ($3.74 billion) and denied previous media reports that the total investment could top 100 billion yuan.

Han was speaking on the sidelines of a news conference during the ongoing National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference sessions.

On Nov 5, Walt Disney Co signed an agreement for the founding of the theme park with Shanghai Shendi Group, which was specially created by the Shanghai government for the project.

The agreement ends a decade-long negotiation marathon for the US-based company to bring its first theme park to the Chinese mainland. The attraction will be its fourth theme park outside the United States after Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo.