In 1949, after Communist Party of China won the Chinese civil war, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was founded and Beijing was established as the capital city of the People’s Republic of China. Planning history of PRC can be categorized into two time periods (Wang, 2016): first, urban development during the planned economy (1949-1979); and second, urban development under the transformation to the market economy (1979-2005). Here, in this paper, I will be focusing on the development under the market economy, especially for the second half of that period.
Before getting into the second period, I will briefly explain planning of the first period. After the founding of the PRC in 1949, the country adopted planned economy system. In Beijing, the municipal government created the guideline of “fully using and developing the Old City”. This has brought a monocentric urban structure to Beijing. In 1953, the municipal government proposed its first master plan after the founding of People’s Republic of China, which was “The Draft Plan of Redeveloping and Expanding the City of Beijing”. In 1957, “The Preliminary Plan of Urban Construction of Beijing” was proposed, targeting to redevelop the old city proper within 10 years. However, starting from 1966 to 1976, the Great Cultural Revolution halted the operation of plans, resulting in serious damage of Urban planning and Housing management system. In 1967, the master plan halted, and the next year, Beijing’s municipal Bureau of Urban Planning ceased to operate until it reopened in 1972.
In 1979, the People’s Republic of China initiated “reform and opening up” policy which transformed planned economy to market economy, and Beijing has entered the stage of rapid urban development. In 1981, the municipal government of the city began “The Plan of Urban Construction of Beijing” which identified Beijing to be a political center as well as a cultural center. The State approved this plan in 1983. The biggest difference between erstwhile plans and 1981 plan is that it did not emphasize an industrial production base in Beijing any more. The municipal government produced “The Master Plan of Beijing (1991-2010)” as a new plan for the city in 1991, which aimed at rebuilding Beijing to be a modern international city. The plan focused on the high-tech and tertiary industry, supporting suburbanization to decentralize the population of the city. Due to this focus of the plan, by 2003, tertiary industry comprised 62% of total GDP in Beijing, and it has been the leading industry. Moreover, after the PRC opened up its door to the global society, the global capital has flowed into the city, attracting investment into the city and thus resulting in large-scale urban development in Beijing. After, Beijing proposed another plan “The Master Plan of Beijing (2004-2020)”, which is to develop sub-urban area, emphasizing the polycentric structure in the city.
Under the planned economy, the land in China was owned by the State, which means that the country did not have land market. The State was the only power to handle the right to use the land, and the ownership was not able to be transferred from one to another. Also, at that time, Chinese government neglected tertiary industry, focusing only on primary and secondary industries. As a result, just like other cities in the PRC, industrial use of land outweighed commercial land use in Beijing. However, as the government adopted market economy in 1979, the urban land market was initiated. In 1988, the State approved the local governments to transfer the land to the private investors. From 1992, the opening of land market has affected the promulgation of new master plans in Beijing. In 1992, China established regulations for urban land-use with compensation, isolating the right to utilize the land from ownership of land, and assented alienation of the right to use the land with compensation. On the Coattails of marketization, private land market enabled Beijing to achieve rapid urban development.
In 1990, Beijing initiated “Old and Dilapidated Housing Redevelopment Project (ODHRP)” to expedite the Old City redevelopment. This plan included flattening of existing structures and reconstruction of them. During this period, real estate development flourished in Beijing, old houses were dismantled, and new houses were built. Beijing’s municipal government has designated Historic and Cultural Conservation Districts in 1990 to protect old residential districts, however, it has not taken effect during ODHRP of 1990’s, prompting demolition of great number of traditional residential districts. In late 2002, Beijing municipal government has proclaimed the Conservation Plan of 25 Historic and Cultural Conservation Districts in Beijing’s Old City, and the next year, Beijing added second batch of HCCD covering 22% of the total conservational HCCD in Old City of Beijing.
Along with the economic reform of China, economy of the nation went through rapid growth and urban housing reform took place. Prior to economic reform, housing system was under “Welfare-oriented Housing System (WHS)”, but the institutional reform changed its housing system to a market-oriented one. Rapid economic growth enabled its people to purchase their own houses from the housing market. In 1998, the PRC finally abolished WHS, and the housing reform inaugurated. Real estate company appeared in Beijing, and by 1995, the number of private-owned real estate company increased to 623, and by the late 2002, the number has quintupled (BMBS 2003). The living space per capita has increased along with the housing reform. In 1980, the living space per capita in Beijing was only 4.8 square meter, and by 2004, it increased to 19.1 square meter (BMBS 2005). Moreover, this fast-paced development of housing triggered growth of residential districts and suburbanization, and the built-up area of the city has expanded rapidly (Fig. 1). However, apart from accelerated housing development, Beijing also experienced inequality issue within residents of the city. Due to urban housing reform and land market, the gap between the rich and the poor increased, resulting in residential segregation and sustainability issue (Xiao, 2016).
Fig. 1. [The Urban Extent of Beijing in 1988 and 1999]
Beijing is one of a few cities with ring road system. Starting from 1980s, the municipality of Beijing started to build up ring road system after the first ring road. The first ring road used to be tram line in Beijing from 1920s to 1950s, which were removed in 1950s. The second ring road, which is the inner most ring road, loops around very central parts of the city. The third ring road, which was built in 1980s and completed in the 90s, penetrates the Central Business District (CBD) and the diplomatic neighbors in Beijing. As the city sprawled, the need for transportation expanded to sub-urban area. To serve peripheral areas in Beijing, the fourth ring road completed its construction in 2001. The fifth and sixth ring road were constructed in 2000s, 2003 and 2008, respectively. Recently, in August 2018, Beijing has completed its seventh ring road construction, which connects the city center of Beijing to Hebei province.