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Beijing has modified the overall city planning from 2004 to 2020 that was approved in 2005 by the State Council, China's cabinet, putting the emphasis on the treatment of "urban diseases" due to a long period of rapid development.
"The most important task of Beijing's urban and rural planning is to optimize its spatial layout and industrial distribution in the future," said Wang Fei, vice director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning. "This is also the fundamental way for the city to deal with 'urban diseases'."
Based on the modification of city planning as well as the Outline of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Integrated Development, which was approved by the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee in April, roles were reset for Beijing's 16 districts.
Beijing's downtown, the Chaoyang, Haidian, Shijingshan and Fengtai districts, and the city's core of Dongcheng and Xicheng, will serve as the center for national politics, cultural industries, international exchanges, and scientific and technological innovation. Non-necessary functions of Beijing will be relocated from those downtown areas to other suburban districts.
The Dongcheng and Xicheng districts will be areas for central government departments. They will also be the core area for politics, cultural heritage, and historical city protection.
With a population of 12.8 million, or 60 percent of the total residents, and more than 7.5 million jobs, 65 percent of the city's total, downtown Beijing also has nearly 50 percent of farmer markets and 68 top-level hospitals, providing outpatient service and emergency treatment for 210,000 people daily, almost 80 percent of such daily services in the city.
Due to high population density, overloaded urban functions, and heavy traffic congestion, urban diseases are especially serious in downtown Beijing.
Beijing plans to relocate 15 percent of its population by 2020 through moving non-necessary industries out of the areas, said Wang.
Tongzhou district, now playing the role of Beijing's municipal subsidiary administrative center in the eastern suburbs, will be the new seat for Beijing municipal government departments.
According to the new plan modifications, there will be high level infrastructure and facilities built in Tongzhou, including universities, art centers, theaters, exhibition centers, museums, libraries, large sport avenues, and top-level hospitals.
The districts of Tongzhou, Shunyi, Daxing, and Yizhuang are the regions to which the non-necessary functions of the central urban areas will be relocated and the population will be transferred. About 1.9 million people, 15 percent of the permanent residents of the six districts will be relocated out of town.
Yanqing district, in the northwestern part of Beijing, will focus on ecological protection to build a ‘backyard garden' for the capital.
Beijing's city layout also features two axes: the central axis and Chang'an Avenue.
The central axis or main artery of Beijing was originally a 7.8 km long street along which the city, including the Palace Museum, or Forbidden City, was built to realize an ideal vision in line with traditional Chinese design concepts dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911). It has been extended to the Olympic Green in northern Beijing, and will reach the South Fifth Ring Road. Another park of the same size as the Olympic Green will be built on the southern end of the axis.
Chang'an Avenue is to be further extended. The avenue in front of Tian'anmen Square will be extended to a total length of 55 km, reaching Mentougou district in the west and the new municipal government seat in Tongzhou district in the east. Between 80 to 120 meters in width, Chang'an is the world's widest avenue.
What changes can be expected in people's daily life by 2020?
The modification of Beijing's overall city planning will bring about great improvement, especially in transportation, ecological environment, infrastructure, and landscaping.
It will not only help relocate non-necessary functions out of the capital and deal with urban diseases, but make Beijing a more livable city.
Congestion control: Green transport will account for over 75 percent.
Congestion is the most distinct evidence of "urban disease" and is people's main concern.
To alleviate congestion, Beijing will work out a comprehensive transportation system by encouraging walking and the use of bicycles, meanwhile reducing the use of vehicles.
By 2020, Beijing's transport is expected to be 75 percent green, with travelling and commuting by bicycle no less than 18 percent.
The proportion of passenger car use and its travel density will shrink by at least 25 percent. The city will also make efforts to create a good environment for parking through facilities construction and improved management.
Environment: The per capita park green space will reach 16.5 sq m.
Regarding ecological environmental protection, Beijing will make a system of parks in and around the city. More effort will be made to recover and improve water quality in lakes and rivers, enabling them to play their roles in ecological protection.
Forest coverage rate will rise dramatically to around 43 percent generally and 30 percent in the city's flat areas by 2020.
The capital's per capita park green land will reach 16.5 sq m by 2020.
A number of ventilation corridors from northwest to southeast are planned. Construction scales of the upper reaches and elsewhere in the corridors will be strictly controlled.
Public service: Access to full community services within 15 minutes
The key to solving congestion lies in a proper dealing with tide flow, which requires a reasonable distribution of employment and residence in the downtown area. Beijing will increase the supply of affordable housing for residents who live in the central downtown area. It will improve traffic convenience for those who need to commute between downtown and suburban areas. Residents who work in suburban industrial parks will be offered public rental housing for convenient living.
In addition, Beijing plans to equip existing communities with improved facilities required for daily life, so that residents can have access to schools, hospitals, banks, cultural and exercise facilities, and shopping centers within 15 minutes.
Such communities are expected to account for 70 -80 percent of all residential communities by 2020.
Energy: Proportion of clean energy will rise to 90 percent
"Beijing will construct world-class infrastructure that is closely related to people's lives," said Wang Fei, vice director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning.
By 2020, Beijing will increase sewage treatment to 95 percent and waste incineration to 50 percent, in both urban and rural areas. It will implement the strictest management in the use of water resources, controlling the total amount of water supply at 4,190 million cubic meters. In addition, the city will consume no more than 85 million tons of standard coal and its clean energy will account for 90 percent of energy consumption.
