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Olympic Park to Become Heart of "Second Capital" to Beijing
Beijing Olympic Park will, according to plan, be made the largest comprehensive community of Beijing after the 2008 Olympic Games conclude. Multi-functional, combining business and trade, office, exhibition, sports, exposition and entertainment in one, the park will become a city part in token of Beijing's urban construction in the new century.
How will Beijing map out its Olympic Park? How will it be made on blueprint heart of Beijing's "second capital"? All of these have called worldwide attention.
Extension of ancient cultural vein
Beijing Olympic Park will sit at the north end of the axis of the metropolis. The axis, the most important cultural vein of the city, masterly presents a blend of urban artificial sights with natural scenery.
The axis of the ancient city starts from Yongdingmen in the south and ends at the Bell Tower in the north over a distance of 7.8 kilometers. It takes the Forbidden City as the axle center and passes through the whole ancient city south to north. The buildings and space along the axis are invariably symmetrical, mapping the fluctuant contour of the city. It is the cream of urban architectural construction and urban planning of Beijing in the history of architectural art at all times and in all countries.
The Olympic Park as planned is to be an expansion on the basis of an extension from the axis to the north during the 11th Asian Games in 1990. It will play an important role in completing the construction of the northern part of the axis. Being at an end of the axis, it will form an imposing sight of urban construction during the expansion, with the World Trade Center projected as the centerpiece of architecture gracing the ground.
Annotations on "New Olympics"
To build the Olympic Park on the axis with the most cultural characteristics of the city, beyond doubt, is another reflection of "Humanistic Olympics". Besides, some events such as "marathon", "Iron man" and "beach volleyball" will be held in the inner city for a large attendance of people. Especially the marathon race will start from the Forbidden City and ends at the National Stadium in the Olympic Park. One is Oriental and of great antiquity, and the other Occidental, wholly modern. It is another integration of ancient oriental culture with modern Olympics Games sports and a spectacular scene of harmony of Chinese with Western cultures.
The Olympic Park will undoubtedly become the model of "Green Olympics". The concept of "green" of the Park has far exceeded the category of "growing trees, grass" and "landscaping". The Park will also pay attention to economizing on use of energy and water, wind and solar energy, and use of environment-friendly building materials.
Besides, the Olympic Park will give a full play to high and sophisticated technology. Digital wide-band network communication, wireless transmit, electronic information technology, Internet technology, intelligent technology, etc, will be widely used in the Park.
Concentrated representation of "New Beijing"
If a city is likened to a symphonic music piece, with each urban establishment as bobbing music note, every architectural complex will be part of a melody. As the theme of the music piece of the city, the Olympic Park, thanks to its large scale and important geographic location, will exert a tremendous influence on the overall view of the city.
Beijing positions the Olympic Park on its Olympic plan as follows: carry forward the traditional axial style of Beijing, meanwhile, show the urban features and styles of "New Beijing" in the 21st Century through neoteric and careful design of every venue or Games site.
In recent years, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stresses the utilization of sports facilities after the Games conclude. It addresses clearly that "the multi-functions and utilization of the sports facilities after the Games conclude should be taken into consideration at the very start". IOC asks the countries which bid for the Olympic Games to "submit the plan of utilization and reuse of related facilities and buildings during and after the Games".
Grand sports facilities are now under construction in the park and other venues newly constructed and rebuilt will provide Beijing residents with many new places for exercises and entertainment after the 2008 Olympic Games. In addition, they will also provide more high-level hardware to China and Beijing for handling other domestic and international events and with these Beijing will be helped on the way to be built into a world metropolis.
A floorspace of 360,000 square meters of apartment buildings is to be built in the Olympic Village and with these a total of 17,600 athletes and team officials will be accommodated. After the Olympic Games conclude in 2008, the Village will be offered for sale in the way of commercial housing. No doubt, it will be a model for future communal construction in Beijing in the new century.
| Under an overall plan to ease pressure on Beijing, the "Second Capital" is to be built mainly to share some functions of downtown area seen already in a massive untidy jumble. It aims to serve as a bridge to link up downtown area with branch centers around. The whole scale of the "Second Capital" is to be run with a population of 800,000 to 1,000,000. Experts suggest it can be sited in suburban countiess like Shunyi or Changping or such areas as Zhuozhou and Langfang in Hebei Province. |
By PD Online Staff Du Minghua
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