Beijing Speeding Up UrbanizationBeijing's urbanization is growing by leaps and bounds with its urban area expanding by 20 percent in the past 10 years, show the statistics from Beijing Statistical Bureau.The urban area in Beijing has expanded from 395.4 square kilometers in 1990 to 490.1 square kilometers in 1999, an increase of 94.7 square kilometers. Beijing is impressing people deeply with magic changes like rapidly emerging skyscrapers and cloverleafs, growing greenbelts and extended transit routes. An elderly Beijing citizen said, "You may hardly recognize the changing city if you stay home for several weeks." In 1999, the floor space completed totaled 15.20 million square meters with an average floor space per person of 15.44 square meters, while the figures 10 years ago were 10 million and 8 square meters respectively. The area of greenbelts in Beijing has also grown from 12,868 hectares to 19,071 hectares in 10 years, with a 7.3 percent increase in coverage. In the newly built residential areas, the coverage ranges from 30 to 80 percent. Experts with the Beijing Bureau of Parks and Trees said that there are 134 parks, including amusement parks and zoos, covering a total area of 3,800 hectares in Beijing, compared with 71 parks with a total area of 2,800 hectares in 1990. A total of 125 bridges, including 103 overpasses and cloverleafs, have been built during the 10-year period, making the bridge total at 787. During the same period, Beijing's public transit routes have increased 63 percent in number and 113 percent in total length, extending from 39,719 kilometers to 74,749 kilometers. Meanwhile, 14 satellite cities around Beijing, covering 202 square kilometers have developed rapidly with both modern amenities and idyllic flavors. Statistics indicate that the investment in Beijing's infrastructure mounts up year by year. About 30.27 billion yuan (3.65 billion U.S. dollars) was invested on 67 major construction projects. The map of Beijing has to change frequently to catch up with the dazzling improvement. The China map publishing house has published five new editions of a map of Beijing since this July. On average, a new edition comes out in less than 20 days. The frequency was one year in the early 1990s. Experts said that Beijing will keep its swift steps of urbanization. As the light railway and new subway line open, and the development of southern Beijing continues, the urban areas in Beijing will go on expanding. |
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