Shanghai will expand the category of historic protection buildings for the next five years to include traditional residential lanes, industrial heritage and workers' communities.

The buildings that can typically represent the city's features in a certain historic period will be added into the listed heritages, the Shanghai Planning, Land and Resources Administration told the city's political advisory body on Wednesday.

The city currently has an estimated total of 44 square kilometers of historic buildings, equivalent to four Century Parks, under protection in downtown areas, along with 401 protected streets, the administration said.