Take the city's 80,000-ton silo as an example. The structure, with 30 48-meter-high granaries inside, was built near Minsheng Wharf along the Huangpu River 22 years ago. It was once the city's major venue for grain and sugar storage and the largest silo in Asia.

Now, it is a 13,000-square-meter exhibition area. The ground and top floors are open to the public for free. And it served thousands of artists and tourists during the 2017 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season.

No change has been made to the facade except for the newly installed escalators outside the building. And its surrounding wharf area is a commercial and cultural zone filled with metal sculptures and wooden art.

Another example is the space with 400 vacant buildings on the Baowu Steel site in the northern suburbs, which will become the Shanghai International Art City by 2035.