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Buffer zone to protect Forbidden City Protection Measures Plans of the Beijing Municipal Government require that new structures built in the buffer zone shall not be taller than nine metres high. "If the policy is truly implemented," Kong said, "people may stand on the terrace of any of the three main buildings in the Forbidden City and look into the distance without seeing a building so high that it blocks their vision. Existing buildings with a height exceeding nine metres will either be relocated or renovated to suit the limit." He was referring to the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Perfect Harmony and the Hall of Preservation of Harmony, where some of the most important imperial ceremonies were held. According to Kong, work is under way to find a new site for the construction of the National Modern Drama Theatre, a State-level cultural project. "The theatre has to be higher than nine metres and it so happens that the site chosen for its buildings is near the Gate of Earthly Peace." He also cited the office building of the Beijing Municipal Housing Administration Bureau, which lies to the southeast of Tian'anmen Square, in the eastern corner of the buffer zone. The building once had six stories and was 20 metres tall. "The top three stories have been demolished," Kong said. "The bureau has set a good example for government agencies in following the guidelines for the development of the buffer zone." The Beijing Municipal Government will, in principle, forbid the massive dismantling of traditional structures in the buffer zone, most notably siheyuan courtyards and hutong lanes, and the existing streets and lanes there will not be widened. "The buffer zone, taken as a whole, should be commensurate with the Forbidden City in terms of architectural style, colour and hue," Kong said. "That, in fact, is the whole point of our setting up this buffer zone. Silhouetted against a vast expanse of low, traditional housing buildings in an area without modern western-style structures, the Forbidden City will look even more magnificent and the Imperial City will look more authentic." According to officials of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics, urban infrastructural development will be allowed in the buffer zone, provided it conforms to the policy of preserving, as far as possible, the original look and feel of old Beijing. While protecting hutong lanes and siheyuan courtyards in the buffer zone, the government has pledged money and the effort to renovate water and heating supply systems there. "The problem is that the buffer zone happens to be one of the most densely populated areas in Beijing," said an official, who declined to be named. "For a fundamental solution to problems faced by the people there in their lives, I think there is a need for the government to reduce the area's population density. This can be done by moving residents out of the area and resettling them elsewhere in the city." Figures concerning the entire buffer zone were not available, but the local press has reported that in the area covered by the Imperial City, the population density ranges from 25,000 persons to 30,000 per square kilometre, compared with about 20,000 in Downtown Shanghai or Hong Kong.
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