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Beijing Develops Tongzhou New City as its Sub-Center

Author

Global Site Plans - The Grid

On June 29th, the eleventh Beijing Municipal Party Congress positioned the development of the Tongzhou New City as "the sub-center of Beijing." Liu Qi, Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China said in the government report that it's time to speed up the pace of urbanization, and to further implement the strategy of focusing on the Tongzhou District by building a fully functional sub-center.

Rural Beijing and Outer Suburbs

The sub-center is planned to be a livable city with commercial, residential, entertainment, and tourism functions. Moreover, the sub-center will spatially support and functionally complement the city center while being a relatively independent Central Business District. Like Tokyo, London, Paris and other major international cities that have sub-centers, Beijing also needs a sud-center to relieve the pressure of rapid urban development, and increase the carrying capacity of the city.

In March 2009, Beijing unveiled the Beijing Municipal Master Plan (2004-2020), which will adjust the spatial layout of Beijing and proposed to build 11 new satellite cities, among which the Tongzhou District will have prominent advantages in transportation infrastructure, and natural and cultural resources. Moreover, Tongzhou is adjacent to Langfang and Tianjin, which are important transport corridors of the Bohai Sea. As a result, building the sub-center in Tongzhou will greatly increase regional connectivity.

Tongzhou, Beijing

Tongzhou's supreme natural environment, advantageous policy, convenient transportation and comprehensive business infrastructure have attracted a series of well-known real estate developers to build high-end housing. The new city's livable environment is especially marketable to homebuyers. In October 2010, the city opened the Tongzhou Canal Forest Park, which added fifty million square meters of open space to the city.

Do you think the Tongzhou New City development will relieve Beijing's housing and transportation pressures?

Credits: Images and data linked to sources.

The original article, published in Chinese, can be found here.