The Zhongshan Park central business district (CBD) in downtown Shanghai will be expanded to 500,000 square meters of area in the next three years to comprise a new Japanese-style shopping mall and an underground walkway connecting the park to surrounding commercial amenities, local authorities said Tuesday.

Similar to that of the CBD in Jing'an district, the new underground passage will be built under the main gate of Zhongshan Park, in the heart of the CBD area – a 330,000-square-meter lot that currently sees nearly 400,000 subway commuters pass through daily, said Cheng Fangjian, deputy director of the commerce commission for Changning district.

"The walls surrounding the park will be demolished and this will help open up the area," he told the Global Times Tuesday. "The underground passage will make the space more commercial friendly for businesses."

The park's expansion plans also include a 25,000-square-meter shopping mall, a five-storey Japanese-inspired commercial building that aims to become the next Shibuya of Tokyo in Shanghai, he added.

Cheng said that the building expected to feature East Asian merchandise is an effort to cater to nearly 20 percent of the city's expatriates and overseas Chinese residing in the area, a majority of who hail from Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

"The mall will focus on the interests of younger generations, those born in the 80s and 90s," he said. "It will offer the latest Japanese brand food, clothes and household items."

Cheng added that the mall is further expected to stir healthy competition amongst retailers, which should benefit local consumers.