Tracking Urbanization

by Zhang Hong

Wang Jun is a journalist who has worked with Xinhua News Agency for more than two decades. Wang began working at the Beijing-based news agency upon graduating from college in 1991 when China was experiencing its fastest and most massive urbanization in history.

In Wangs computer is one of his treasures – an old picture of Beijing City taken from atop the White Pagoda in Beihai Park in 1912.

“What a beautiful city！” every time he looks at the image his pulse races. “More than a million people were making a living there， yet it was fundamentally a forest. Every courtyard had trees， and from that high point the city looked like a sea of green. The blue-bricked and grey-tiled courtyard houses were hidden beneath the green canopy.” Wang was reminded of what I. M. Pei said when the Chinese-American architect first climbed Jingshan Hill in Beijing：“I am Chinese.”

Bulldozers Force

On July 13， 2001， Beijing won the bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games. After witnessing the jubilant celebration on Changan Avenue late that night， Wang was filled with peaceful wishes as well as worry for the city. On his way back home from work， he noticed that Tuer and Xianger hutongs （traditional alleyways）， from the 13th and mid-14th centuries respectively， had disappeared without a trace. That same year， permanent residents of the city passed 20 million， and the former residence of well-known 20th-Century architectural historian， architect， city planner， and educator Liang Sicheng （1901-1972）， and his wife， architect and poet Lin Huiyin （1904-1955）， was razed. Statistics of Chinas third national cultural heritage census showed that 969 unmovable cultural relics had vanished.

After Beijings successful bid for the 2008 Olympics， 280 billion yuan was earmarked for preparations. “We were so moved after hearing the news，” Wang recalls， “because it meant that the door of the country would remain irreversibly open. It was an honorable event， but at the same time we worried what the city would become after the large investment was spent.” All his worries and thoughts on the problem later inspired his bestselling Beijing Record， a Physical and Political History of Planning Modern Beijing.

Since the 1950s， the capital city started expanding outward from a single center point so vividly that it has been compared to “making a pancake from the center out.” “The trend of radiation from a single center structure will emphasize focus on the development of infrastructure in the central area， which will create considerable construction work in the central area，”Wang explains. “The present central area of Beijing evolved from what it was in the Yuan （1271-1368）， Ming （1368-1644） and Qing （1644-1911） dynasties. In 1949， it was already home to 1.3 million residents and was already covered with buildings. So， adding so many more buildings in an already crowded central area inevitably leads to pulling down old ones， large-scale relocation of residents， and ultimately daily commuting problems.”

“Beijings traffic problem can be largely attributed to excessive concentration of city employment functions around the Forbidden City，” Wang continues.“Now， the suburban area is for sleeping. For example， Wangjing， Tiantongyuan and several other peripheral residential quarters accommodate several hundred thousand people. So， every day hundreds of thousands of people travel to the city for work in the morning and return home to the suburbs in the evening.”

Wang contends that even if it had been a spacious area without established urban districts and the Forbidden City， the onecentered structure plan was terrible for a city that would accommodate a population of 10 million， never mind one with so much priceless heritage in its central area.

A Tsinghua University professor even once revealed to Wang that some people had proposed removing the Forbidden City.

Astonished and shocked， Wang tracked down and interviewed the architect responsible for the removal project and read the files he could find. Everything he heard and saw confirmed the professors revelation.“Beijing made two plans to remove the old city in the past. Wang notes. “One was in 1990， and it aimed to renovate the dilapi-dated old houses in ten years. The other was made in 2000 with the goal to renovate dilapidated houses in five years. Today， probably less than a third of the old urban district remains.”

Construction of a Multicenter City with Balanced Development

In the first quarter of 2011， subway passengers surpassed 400 million in Beijing， a phenomenon jokingly described by netizens as “people in but flat pictures out； biscuits in but flour out.”

“This is the consequence of past planning，” Wang sighs， visibly pained every time he mentions the removal of old districts. “We feel the pain Mr. Liang Sicheng experienced.”

Wang is a firm supporter of Liang， who dedicated himself to preserving the countrys ancient buildings and cultural relics his entire life. In spite of his efforts to preserve the old capital， the former city gates and city walls were torn down in the 1950s. Wang highly praises Liangs ideas on urban planning： A large municipality should be divided into several small districts that resemble cells， separated by green belts. When one cell is full， a new one should be built.

“I became very excited when I first read Liangs plan，” Wang grins. “He answered the exact question I had been pondering： How to free the city from traffic congestion. This is a plan for the future.”

“His plan not only focused on the protection of the old town，” Wang adds.“It also pointed out that placing the administrative area near the Forbidden City would cause a great number of people to move outside the city， and eventually these people would have to travel all the way to the old town for work. This is the main culprit for the traffic problem.”

But ironically， even Liangs former residence was a victim of the “removal storm.”

In the 1930s， Liang documented the important city walls and city gates in Beijing with his camera and even conducted surveying and mapping work. “It is really painful，” Wang sighs as he examines those maps now at Tsinghua University. “Just as his work was completed， Japan launched war against China. Liang and his wife were forced to leave Beijing， and never got the chance to publish his survey of Beijings city walls.”

Wang and his colleague Liu Jiang conducted a joint survey on the municipal development model of Beijing， trying to determine whether Beijings layout could possibly meet the requirements for expansion for the 2008 Olympics.

The survey attracted major attention from decision-makers and triggered a massive project to edit and revise Beijings overall plan. In January 2005， Beijing City Master Plan （2004-2005） was approved by the State Council. The plan included comprehensive preservation of the old city， reinforced development of new urban districts， and adjustments of urban structures as its strategic goals.

Wang is excited that the latest master plan for Beijing has finally returned to the blueprint of Liang and Chen Zhanxiang（1916-2001）， another city planning expert who also pushed an idea in the 1950s that has not yet been realized： to construct a city with several centers and balanced development.

Wang attributes Beijings traffic congestion problem to the improper layout of the city and related strategy. “We live in a highly dense society excessively dependent on car transportation，” Wang opines. “About 30 percent of the residents travel by car， another 30 percent by the means of public transit and the rest by bicycle or on foot. Beijing has been developing various transportation modes equally， and the result is that all modes have encountered trouble.”

However， Wang rejoices that over the past decade the public has been more involved in protecting Beijings cultural relics， and that related government sectors have begun realizing that listening and cooperation are crucial to better preservation.

“The city has already mapped out a master plan for comprehensive preservation of the old city，” Wang stresses. “It requires the unremitting efforts of every citizen who loves his or her hometown.”

About Wang Jun

Wang Jun， senior reporter with Xinhua News Agency， currently works with Outlook， a weekly publication affiliated with Xinhua. He is the author of Beijing Record， a Physical and Political History of Planning Modern Beijing， City Documentation， and A Decade into the Urban Century. The New York Review compared Beijing Record to Jane Jacobs The Death and Life of Great American Cities， a classic that inspired urban planners to change the way they contemplate the city environment， and called Wangs book a classic documenting the nations great efforts in urban conservation.