To study the effects of deposition of atmospheric particulate matter (APM) on the properties of urban soils, the values of magnetic susceptibility (χ_lf) and heavy metals in the topsoils and road dust in the industrial, traffic, residential and agricultural areas of Baoshan District, Shanghai, were analyzed. The topsoils in the different functional areas of Baoshan District, Shanghai, commonly have significantly enhanced magnetic strength (χ_lf = 130.7×10^-8m³·kg^-1 on average) of about 86.2% higher than the local magnetic background. χ_lf of the road dusts nearby the topsoils in the different functional areas was even more significantly enhanced, which was 903.3×10^-8m³·kg^-1 on average. Likewise, heavy metal contents in the road dust were significantly higher than those in the nearby topsoils in the different functional areas. The contents of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Ni, Cr, Co, Mn and Fe in the road dust were 3.4, 2.4, 4.7, 22, 1.5, 2.8, 1.2, 1.4 and 1.6 times of those in the topsoils on average, respectively. Moreover, χ_lfof the topsoils in the Baoshan District was extremely significantly correlated with the contents of Cu, Zn, Cd, Ni, Cr and Mn (P < 0.01), and also significantly correlated with Pb and Fe (P < 0.05). Likewise, χ_lfof the road dust was also significantly correlated with the content of Zn, Ni, Cr, Co, Mn and Fe (P < 0.01), and with Cu (P < 0.05). Nevertheless, such correlations in the different functional areas of the district are highly different. Those in the agricultural topsoils are not significant. The distinctive characteristics of the road dust in the studied areas suggested that the APM under the urban environment contain a certain amount of anthropogenic magnetic particles enriched in heavy metals. The long-term and continuous deposition of such magnetic pollutants has led to the enhancement of magnetic signals and heavy metal contents in urban topsoils synchronously, and also adversely impacted the properties of urban soils significantly.