Beijing undergoing biggest changes for Olympics
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-09-03 09:39

Beijing is in the midst of a dizzying architectural transformation aimed at creating a modern, high-tech metropolis by 2008 when the Chinese capital will have its moment in the Olympic spotlight.

A painting shows the National Stadium nicknamed "Bird Nest." [newsphoto]

As the breeze shimmers through the tall grass, the 405-hectare (1,000-acre) plot of almost pristine land earmarked for the Olympic Green in north Beijing seems an unlikely place to attract world attention.

But this piece of Beijing real estate is the scene for some of the most ambitious urban planning ever seen in China.

A Modle of the the 17,000-seat National Swimming Center, which will resemble a cube of water miraculously suspended in thin air. [newsphoto]

It is where the city is preparing to erect the 80,000-seat, 360-million-dollar National Stadium, nicknamed "bird's nest" because of its spectacular giant lattice-work structure of irregularly angled metal girders.

It is also the location of the 17,000-seat National Swimming Center, which will resemble a cube of water miraculously suspended in thin air, as if by some mysterious magnetic force.

Architecture that is both massive in scale and bold in conception will form the physical surroundings of the 2008 Olympics, designed to wow thousands visiting China for the first time and billions watching on television.

Eighteen sports facilities are being built to reinforce existing stadia for the sporting showcase.

"We will create masterpieces of sports facilities that reflect the integration of construction technologies, architectural art and environmental protection," Beijing's Olympic action plan promises.

Given the unprecedented change the Chinese capital is already experiencing courtesy of an Olympic construction boom, experts believe Beijing will live up to the hype.

The capital is undergoing the kind of fundamental transformation that big cities usually experience only once in their history -- like the creation of modern Paris with its broad boulevards in the early 19th century.

"This dwarves everything," said Laurence Brahm, a US lawyer and expert on the archictectural heritage of China's ancient capital.

"Since (Mongolian ruler) Kubilai Khan set up the city in the 13th century, this is by far the most excessive overhaul," he said.

No expense is being spared as Beijing has promised to deliver "the best-ever Olympic Games" without the last-minute headaches that dogged the build-up to this summer's games in Athens.

The Chinese were so determined to avoid the last-minute Greek scramble to have venues ready that IOC president Jacques Rogge admitted he had to ask Beijing to slow down to ensure the venues did not sit idle for too long.

Beijing International Airport, to be connected to the city center with a fast-speed railway, is adding a new terminal, enabling the capital to handle an expected 42 million passengers in 2008, up from 25 million in 2003.

To make downtown traffic more smooth in 2008, planners are adding 148.5 kilometers (93 miles) of new subways and urban railways.

"There's no question they are going to throw a huge amount of resources at this," said Brahm. "It has a far greater domestic significance than in other countries. It marks China's coming of age."

The Olympic construction fever is just the most prominent part of a sweeping transformation of the once drab city.

Gone are the days when the height of architectural boldness was the neo-classical Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square which was built to suit the Stalinist aesthetics of the 1950s.

Right next to the Great Hall, construction workers are busy completing the 325-million-dollar bubble-shaped Beijing National Theater, nicknamed -- not always lovingly -- the "duck egg" by the local population.

Other imaginative projects include the new headquarters for China Central Television, which is still on the drawing-board and looks like three giant Ls cobbled together.

The ambitious projects for Beijing -- a city undergoing huge cultural and economic change -- will come at a cost.

According to Brahm, the destruction of old buildings will far exceed previous radical changes such as Communist founding father Mao Zedong's decision to tear down the ancient city wall half a century ago.

While few welcome this devastation, many experts argue it is an inevitable side effect for a city that wishes to renew itself.

"Some traditional buildings will disappear," said Wu Huanjia, an architecture professor at Beijing's Tsinghua University. "But it's impossible to just keep everything in its place for ever. Cities will change."

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