Beijing is conducting a public survey on 28 upcoming city projects through the official website of the municipal government.
Since Jan. 12, people can go online at www.beijing.gov.cn to vote whether or not they agree with the projects covering basic public services, living conditions, life quality, public transportation, environmental protection, public safety and social security. According to the website, public opinion will play an important role in determining the city's course of action regarding these projects.
Building new kindergartens and expanding existing ones is one of the 28 projects, aiming at accommodating 30,000 additional children. The city also proposed to set up 150 old age care centers in urban and rural communities, and support no less than 150 brick-and-mortar bookstores.
To improve people's living conditions, the city plans to collect and construct 50,000 apartments of government-subsidized housing, allocate 15,000 apartments (houses) of public rental housing (including market housing subsidies), and renovate 23,000 houses in shanty areas. In addition, Beijing will also conduct risk assessment on 3,000 old elevators, equip 200 units of apartments across the city with elevators or universal facilities to offer more convenience to people in need, and renovate the heating network of 100 old communities.
In terms of public transportation, the city will release two million new multi-functional metro cards, while experimenting with card-free commuting by bus and subway and hospital registration using a mobile app. The city also aims to provide online maps with more details, and promote the maps on Weibo, WeChat and other mobile platforms. Moreover, Beijing will accelerate the construction of subways so that the west extension of Line 6 and the third and fourth phase of Line 8 will begin pilot operation in 2018.
In addition, the city looks to make full use of the underground space to provide 10,000 parking spaces and 500 public service sites. Finally, it plans to improve 615 alleyways into green and culture-rich public spaces.