Total turnaround of Tongzhou gathers pace to become city's sub-center

The remarkable transformation of the Beijing suburb of Tongzhou into a major urban district in one of the world's most important conurbations is continuing to gather pace.

That process was put on the fast track after it was announced in 2015 that Tongzhou would become the capital's subsidiary administrative center.

According to the Beijing Overall Urban Development Plan, 400,000 to 500,000 people will move from Beijing's central areas to Tongzhou by the end of 2035. The size of its permanent population will, however, be kept within 1.3 million residents.

Most of the capital's administrative organizations and institutions were scheduled to move there in 2017.

Haojiafu village in the district, on the site where the administrative center's official buildings are earmarked to be built, has experienced profound change in recent years.

Three years ago, nearly 10,000 people living in Haojiafu and surrounding villages moved to nearby new apartment buildings, to allow for the construction of the administrative center.

"The neighboring buildings sprung up like magic," said Mu Shiguo, one of the relocated Haojiafu villagers.

During the Spring Festival holidays in 2017, construction kicked of of an underground vehicle access tunnel in the subsidiary administrative center.

Deviating from other tunnel systems beneath Beijing, Tongzhou's will be integrated fully into the local traffic network.

"This is indeed an underground kingdom," said Liu Xudong, one of the directors of the Zhongzhou tunnel project.

"The tunnel system... involves heavy investment, high construction standards and intelligent technology," Liu added.

Within the system, underground garages can reach all the buildings in the administrative area.

The underground corridors are designed to be wide enough for cars to pass, while leaving sufficient space for pedestrians and bicycles. This will create an efficient subterranean traffic network allowing for a slower pace of life topsides.

A series of subway routes running across the center of Tongzhou district are in the pipeline, while an eastern extension to subway Line 6 and Line 7 and a southern extension to the Batong Line are expected to be completed in the following two years.

Outside Beiguan station, on subway Line 6, four major landmark buildings in Yunhe Business District are under construction.

These will be the new home for some businesses transferred from the financial streets and the central business district in downtown Beijing.

The local government has set stringent screening standards to attract high-quality investment projects, according to Zhang Feng, an official in Tongzhou's department of construction management.

Although the transfer of commerce from Beijing's central areas is a key part of the development strategy, Tongzhou, as a modern urban district, will also take care to improve its local infrastructure and residential facilities.

"The sub-administrative center should not only play its role in administration, but also strike a better balance between the business and residential environments," said Hu Bo, an urban designer involved in the planning of the Tongzhou sub-administrative center.

To make Tongzhou a better place to live, Beijing invited 50 top international design teams to enter bids to be involved in the overall plan and key landmark designs.

Twelve joint teams from nine countries and regions were successful in the tender.

According to their plans, a number of new kindergartens, schools, hospitals, libraries and gyms, as well as parks, museums and theaters will be constructed, providing more amenities for local residents.

liyou@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 03/16/2018 page12)