Expats Living in Shanghai

La Doll International City or Top of City Shanghai ?
By Townscapehousing - Housing for Expats | Posted: 18 June 2013

From the outside both Compounds, La Doll International City and Top of City Shanghai might seem somewhat familiar. Though, the Top of City features a larger area by a good extent.
With 41% of the total compound size accounting for green areas, La Doll surely has a nice environment inside its compound. But La Doll isnt the only compound with its own Pond forming the compounds center and having nice surroundings. With the man-made lake, Top of City shares not only this feature, but provides lane of trees, quiet areas and a better taste of fresh air too. Quite important if you intend to use the balcony which is offered by both compounds more frequently.

When it comes to the location both compounds certainly show one of their strong points. If however you are more dependent on a quicker access to the Metro, Line 2 - Nanjing Road West to be precise, you should know that the distance from La Doll or Top of City takes you 6mins or 15mins respectivly. While La Doll provides faster access to Nanjing Road West, Top of City makes up for that by providing a variety of expat bars, restaurants and massage salons right in front of the east entrance of the compound (Da Gu Road). Overall, both compounds provide easy and fast access to the Jing An Business District and elevated Highway. Lujiazui can be reached within 15-20mins. Same goes for Hengshan Road, Gubei Carrefour and SCIS.

With that said, let us have a closer look of the apartments...
The apartment blocks 1+2 in La Doll and the three blocks to the east of the Top of City Compound have a lower quality compared to the rest of the compound. The developers build these "cheaper" buildings to accomodate the former residents in this area which couldnt afford the intended rent. This is the main reason why these buildings are mainly occupied by local residents.

By sharing almost the same location the sound level inside the apartments of the La Doll Compound is clearly less due the better wall/window insolation. Top of City apartments on the other hand come along with a proper central heating/cooling system which works via pre-paid cards.

Good managment can be found in both compounds, as well as more unique and not of-the-line apartments since the single units belong to individual landlords.

With a completion date of 2004-2006 (La Doll) and 2005 (Top of City) both compounds are rather new. Still, the facilities in La Doll, especially the Clubhouse, are said to be slightly better maintained.

Further alternatives in regard of location, style and price are: The Four Seasons Shanghai, Crystal Palace and Le Marquis which all are newer and higher quality places.

In regards to your personal priorities we hope this article can help you in your desicion making. Please do not hesitate to contact us for any questions you may have.