A lab, library and athletic center are a few upgrades that will be included in a new campus at NYU Shanghai planned for 2022, according to a press release by the university.
Located at Pudong’s Qiantan district in Shanghai, the campus will be in an up-and-coming area that is home to both residential and commercial buildings. It will be almost 1,230,000 square feet, allowing NYU Shanghai to double its classroom space and increase the current 1,300 student body by 4,000. The 10-story campus will be home to both graduate and undergraduate students, with areas open to the public, too.
NYU President Andrew Hamilton spoke about it using his standard catchphrase for the Washington Square campus, calling it “in and of the city.”
“[NYU] has a strong tradition of being a university without walls and also being very integrated with its host city,” Hamilton said in the press release.
A new 16,000-foot library will be one feature of the new campus, as well as more lab, research and athletic space.
NYU Shanghai rising junior Chris Nelson said that he has mixed feelings about the new campus, but many of his friends feel that the added space will be beneficial to current students.
Nelson worries business students who are placed in the newer campus may miss out on opportunities.
“The only real loss is we have such a high percentage of business students and being where we are they’re right in the heart of the business district,” Nelson said. “I think that’ll be a bummer for business students, in particular.”
Nelson did voice support for the collaboration between students and developers when planning the campus. The project was the first in China to be awarded Honors for Excellence in Planning a New Campus from the Society for College and University Planning.
With an increase in size, Nelson is also concerned that NYU Shanghai may lose its small-school atmosphere, but is hopeful.
“I think that can still be maintained considering the maximum capacity of the new building is going to be around 4,000 students, which is still very small,” Nelson said. “So, I think that very tight-knit community, I don’t think there will be a problem maintaining that at the new campus.”
A version of this article appeared in the Monday, Aug. 26, 2019, print edition. Email Victor Porcelli at [email protected].
