Tongzhou new town plans to relocate 15,000 people from its core area by June and local officials will open bidding next month on several construction projects.

The Beijing municipal government said the city will focus on Tongzhou new town in 2010.

The city's mayor Guo Jinlong pointed out in January that the new town construction will play an integral role in Beijing becoming a world city.

The authorities are working to complete construction on housing to accommodate the displaced people, Wang Yunfeng, Party secretary of Tongzhou district, said during a weekend forum.

Wang noted that bidding on several projects in the Five River Junction of Tongzhou will begin in April.

The projects include one culture tourism zone and two high-rise building communities.

"We have specific requirements regarding such things as the projects' function and image," Wang told Beijing News.

"Take the cultural water zone, for example. We will have beacons, courtyard houses with traditional gray tiles, but they may actually function as bars and cafes for modern people."

Tongzhou, known for its large population of workers who commute between Tongzhou and the Central Business District, is expected to be home to 900,000 people in the future, according to a district blueprint released by Wang.

"Tongzhou will develop into a northern water town of China, which flourishes in daytime because of business work, and bustles with noise and excitement at night because of various entertainment offerings," Wang added. "But realizing this goal may take 10 years of hard work."

Tongzhou, roughly meaning "the place for passing through", is at the eastern end of Chang'an Avenue, about 20 kilometers southeast of central Beijing.

It is considered an important land and water approach to Beijing because it serves as the eastern gate of Beijing and is at the northern end of the Grand Canal.

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Tongzhou new town, which has attracted famous architects from around the world, will be developed as an energy-saving, low-carbon city.

Though Beijing faces water shortages, Tongzhou doesn't face that challenge.

The new town will center on the Grand Canal, making it a "town river".