Developments under way or on the drawing board defy belief by their sheer scale. At least ¥30 billion is being invested by Shanghai to stage the World Expo 2010 extravaganza, which is expected to attract 70 million visitors in the six months it will be open (between May 1 and October 31, 2010). A huge area of downtown alongside the Huangpu River is being transformed into a city of pavilions and exhibition halls, most of which will be torn down after the event. Infrastructure due to be finished in time for the event will include ¥20 billion worth of roadworks with a tunnel under the Huangpu lit by solar power (to fit in with the event’s eco-theme), the renovation of docks to accommodate 60 new ferries, several new Metro lines and the extension of existing ones, and the redevelopment of the Shanghai South Railway Station with an initial capacity of 12.7 million passengers. The renovated station will connect with the Metro’s Line 3 and the Shanghai-Hangzhou railway line, which was set to have a ¥35 billion, high-speed Maglev track ready by 2010 with trains doing the 175km journey in half an hour. However, concerns over radiation affecting nearby residents have halted the scheme. Construction of Shanghai's third major railway station begins in 2008; it will be near Hongqiao Airport and by the time it opens in 2013 should link Shanghai by high-speed rail to Hangzhou, Nanjing, Nantong and Beijing. The once suspended World Financial Center was due to open in mid 2008, and dwarfs the neighbouring Jinmao Tower and Oriental Pearl Tower in Pudong’s Lujiazui area. At 492m high, the 101 storey building is the tallest in mainland China and only marginally shorter than the 508m Taipei 101 in Taiwan. Work is also under way on a new bridge between Pudong and Chongming Island in the mouth of the Yangtze, the site of an important bird reserve. The bridge will serve a massive new eco-friendly city called Dongtan – one of 10 satellite cities being built around Shanghai. Constructed on China’s third-largest island, the first phase will have a population of 25,000 and be ready by 2010. After completion in 2040, Dongtan should house 500,000, as will three of the other satellite cities.­­­­