sentences:  The Exhibition Center was built as part of the re-development of parkland at the edge of People's Park and around People's Square in the 1990s and 2000s.The Park and Square together occupy what was once the Shanghai racecourse, and today still make up one of the largest open spaces in central Shanghai.The building was designed by architect Ling Benli of the East China Architecture Design & Research Institute (ECADI), as a harmonious balance to the Grand Theatre, another contemporary building at the other end of People's Square.