New Cities/New Soviets: China 2

February 15, 2006

China 2 - High-rise Beijing

In Beijing, after you notice the smell of charcoal, the next thing you notice is the layer of dust on everything. There is so much construction going on -- every block, it seems, has some major new high-rise going up -- between knocking down old buildings, excavations, and concrete dust, there is a nearly visable miasma which settles on everthing.

Beijing is circled by a series of highways, called ring roads. Oddly, there is no first ring road. Most of these photographs were taken near our friend Sarah's apartment, which is located just outside of the second ring road. This is convenient because one of the two subway lines in Beijing follows the second ring road. The other one runs East-West in a line past Tienanmen bisecting the rings.

subway map of Beijing -- can you see the ring roads? I think the upper loop is a light rail, not a subway, but I could be wrong

one of the ring roads and high-rises

Inside the 2nd ring road is a mix of old neighborhoods, characterized by alleyways called "hutongs," new high-rises, and governmental buildings. Between the second and third ring roads, where the development of the city was presumably less ancient, the development of high-rises is almost unrestrained, and the composition is approximately equal parts slightly older housing blocks (perhaps dating back to the 80s), brand-new high-rises, and high-rise construction sites. Beyond the 3rd ring road the density of the city drops dramatically, giving way to low-rise neighborhoods. Between the 4th and 5th, from what I saw, are clusters of high-rises (akin to Co-op City). There are 6 ring roads in all, with a 7th planned. The population of Beijing tops 15 million.

high-rise cluster

high-rises under construction

next: INTO THE HUTONGS

Posted by Sam at February 15, 2006 02:51 PM