THE city government will spend 440 million yuan (US$61.97 million) on Shenzhen Central Park, aiming to attract more visitors, according to a report released by the municipal urban planning bureau Wednesday.

The report said the refurbishment of the Central Park would draw on the experience of Central Park in New York and Hyde Park in London, to make it the “city’s plant living room” in the future.

The urban planning bureau said that there were six thorny problems for the Central Park at the moment. These included inadequate public transport, improper management of the park, uncompleted facilities, such as a lack of toilets and leisure equipment, and the pollution of the Futian River that runs through the park.

In addition, the park was separated into five parts from north to south, making each part an “isolated island” and park visitors found it quite difficult to get to neighboring parts by walking.

The city government would take several measures to solve these problems, according to the report. First, the Futian River would be cleaned and more species of trees planted to improve the ecological environment.

“The litchi forest in the park has obstructed the view, causing difficulties for the park management and was more inconvenient for visitors,” said Huang Weiwen, vice director of design with the municipal land resources bureau.

Huang said lighting and transport facilities would be improved to eradicate hidden dangers. In addition, the park would design bicycle paths and safe walkways for pedestrians.

The report said a total of about 450,000 cubic meters of earth would be produced from lake excavations and other construction. The earth would be used to create artificial hills in the park.

(Cai Yingbo)