The Shanghai municipal government on Wednesday vowed to improve the city's environment by adding another 5,000 hectares of green open space before 2015, half of which will be allocated public space.

According to official estimates, the average per person public green area in Shanghai will be increased to 13.5 square meters within three years, up from the 13.1 sq m by the end of 2011, according to the Shanghai Administration of Afforestation and Sanitation.

Lu Yuexing, deputy director of the administration, said Shanghai currently has 153 city parks.

"Residents inside the inner ring road live no more than 500 meters from an open green space larger than 3,000 square meters," he said.

According to the new plan, the city's green coverage ratio is expected to reach 38.5 percent and its forest coverage rate will be 15 percent by 2015. Its current two rates are 38.22 percent and 12.58 percent respectively.

The region surrounding Shanghai is considered one of the world's most important "transfer points" for migrating sea birds, and so preserving its nearby wetlands is essential, added city official Xie Yimin, who is responsible for their protection.

"Shanghai has established four natural protection areas to preserve about 1,000 sq m of wetland — about 30 percent of the city's total wetland," said Xie.

Dongtan, a wetland area in the city's Nanhui district, has been built into the city's first wildlife reserve, where it is illegal to hunt.