Beijing's sub-center Tongzhou District will start the rebuilding of shanty areas in the first half of 2018, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-rural Development and the Tongzhou District government.
The authorities plan to move the relocated households into 35 newly built apartment buildings by the end of 2020.
The project to rebuild shanty areas will cover an area of 1,028 hectares, with a total cost of 50.9 billion yuan (US$7.8 billion). Altogether 2,966 households and 12,205 people will benefit from this project.
Located in the Xiaoshengmiao Village (near the western side of Beijing's 6th Ring Road), 35 apartment buildings, with a combined area of 690,000 square meters, will be built for the relocated villagers in Tongzhou District.
According to the plan, the apartment buildings will form an open community with no fences around the area. Construction will also include efforts to give the community a green and livable environment with plenty of trees and other vegetation.
Through communications with the relocated households, authorities discovered a high demand for one-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments, and reduced the planned number of two-bedroom apartments from 60 percent to 50 percent of the total.
Meanwhile, to improve local infrastructure and public service, authorities are also planning to build facilities such as kindergartens, schools, and commercial and office buildings around the community. In addition, the community is built near an intercity railway that connects to the Beijing New Airport and the Beijing Capital International Airport.