SHANGHAI - Project A1, the new residential community for people who have been relocated to make way for Shanghai Disneyland, started construction in the city's Pudong New Area on Saturday, marking a new phase for the Disney project.

Project A1 is located in South Chuansha New Town in the southeastern suburbs of Pudong, the Labor Daily reported on Sunday.

Covering an area of 324,000 square meters, Project A1 consists of 6,500 residential apartments with a floor area of 550,000 sq m. All the apartments will be in use by August 2012, the report said.

The residential community, which adheres to "high-standards in planning, design, construction and management", will feature kindergartens, elementary schools, junior middle schools and senior citizen activity centers, an unnamed official in charge of the project for Pudong Construction and Transportation Committee, was quoted as saying.

The Shanghai government received the green light to build Shanghai Disneyland Park in partnership with media giant Walt Disney Co last October and the land assigned to the new Disneyland is expected to be vacant by late June.

The Shanghai version of the Magic Kingdom, which is expect to cost as much as 25 billion yuan ($3.66 billion), will include an amusement park, a logistics support area, a public utilities area and a parking lot.

The Disneyland project has pushed Chuansha's housing prices to over 15,000 yuan per sq m from 3,000 yuan three years ago, despite the recent dip in property prices.