The bigger picture

Luo Yameng, a Beijing-based urbanization expert, said site for the airport was chosen in south Beijing, close to Hebei Province, with the specific goal of diverting population there.

"From experience around the world, we know that building airports pushes economic development in the area," he said. "So when the site is chosen close to Hebei and Tianjin, these governments will plan the arrangements of their industries and population accordingly."

The most apparent changes will be in the service industry, with many hotels springing up. Then tourism and entertainment industries will follow, he said.

The airport construction fits into the greater plan of developing south Beijing. Even though demolition of the houses around the airport site has yet to start, urbanization projects in the Daxing district as a whole have been developing for years and local residents have seen changes.

Starting from 15 years ago, development projects started at Huangcun township, the center of urbanization in Daxing, and gradually radiated to other villages around.

The demolition of Huangcun is now completed, with many new residential compounds built. Some of the surrounding villages were built to support projects from various industries. Residents from these areas, who once farmed for a living, have found jobs working for these projects.

Wang Lin, a resident from Daxing district, said the changes started in Daxing a long time ago. Commercial residential compounds sprang up, with many middle or high-end developments by big developers such as Vanke.

People like her started coming back home for jobs. Wang used to work and live in the city center, around the Chongwenmen area. Squeezing on the subway was the most difficult part of her day every day.

But after she heard about the projects in her hometown, she moved back and found a job there, cutting huge amounts of time from her commute every day.

The new development plan is also beneficial for Hebei Province, which relies on Beijing to power its development. The China Business News reported that the provincial government is planning an economic zone near the new airport that's five times the size of Beijing's city center.

The city of Langfang, which borders Beijing directly to the south, is a good example. It plans to build a new district 115 square kilometers in size to the east of the new airport, with two additional sub-centers to the south of the airport that are planned to be 105 square kilometers in size. The new districts are slated to hold one million people in total.

Drawbacks of development

The development isn't necessarily good news for everyone. Gong Jian, a resident who lives near the new airport, said he has seen a lot of construction near his home since 2008.

He enjoys the newly built shopping centers and other living facilities, and says more people travel to Daxing for vacations as well since a new ski slope was built. However, living there has started to be tiring. He says the roads are more traffic-jammed than before.

"There was a report last year saying the district with the most population is Chaoyang district, but the district with most cars is Daxing," he said.

Housing prices have risen crazily in just a couple of years, from a few thousand to almost 20,000 yuan per square meter.

The Party secretary of Daxing district, Li Changyou, said construction of the new airport needs coordination from Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province, according to the Beijing Morning Post.

He also said the government won't be pushing for real estate development around the new airport. It will only be to satisfy the workers in the area and local residents whose houses were demolished in the move.

"I don't recommend people inside the city come to the new airport area to buy houses, otherwise there'd be problems with traffic in the future as well," Li told the Beijing Morning Post.

Luo, the urbanization expert, is skeptical of the new airport as well.

"Beijing is already full and is running over its capacity," he said. "Building a new airport will only add to the pressure."

He recommends moving Beijing's industries to more suitable cities, such as those with better environment, and establish a new political center outside of Beijing. But he notes that's just an idea that may never be realized, because in reality the government still plans according to need.

Even though Luo notes the need for Beijing residents to have another airport, he thinks the government should take more into consideration when doing planning.

"There will always be the need for development, as Beijing is China's political center," he said. "But the scale of urban development depends on geographical conditions and capability. It can't be decided by need only."

But there is no stopping the development at this stage. Many are already rushing to buy houses before prices rise yet again, and many villagers, whose houses will be demolished to make way for the airport, believe that lives will get better.

"The demolition hasn't started, but we are ready," villagers told local media.