The Development of Economy in Beijing

In order to meet the demands for a burgeoning economy, Beijing had to specialise areas to fulfil different economic functions. In the interest of attracting and utilising outside capital, Development Zone planning were increasingly prominent in Beijing during this period (Gaubatz). These zones served as new foci for economic activities in that they are conceived with an intention to specialise in certain commercial activities. The zones also share preferential economic and legal environments and potential for future infrastructural development. Three of these zones were built by 1990.

Shangdi Development Zone in the north-west is a new-town style manufacturing centre outside of the centre while Fengtai Park Development Zone in the south-west is a centre for high-technology manufacturing and also serves as a rail entrepot among the development zones (Gaubatz). A concrete example would be the Zhongguancun Science Park in Haidian Development Zone.

The Science Park was designed as the Development Zone for research and development in high-technology fields like computer technologies in the 1980s. Housing no fewer than the thirty-eight higher education institutions in the district, the highly-skilled relatively-cheaper labour from these universities germinated computer stores and university-related research institutes (Gaubatz). The rate of development of Zhongguancun was far from slowing down since its conception.

In 1985, the Beijing government established the Zhongguancun Electric Street, providing an economic incentive for retail ventures (Gaubatz). Consequently, in 1988, Zhongguancun was declared a special zone for high-technology-oriented industries, with tax exemptions and other treatment, like import-export licenses for joint ventures between the Chinese and foreigners (Gaubatz). While special development zones were indicative of a clear intention to attract foreign investment, the developments in Beijing to cater to an international populace is perhaps the most obvious indicator of the economic openness that it sought to embody.

Curiously, in this period, the foreign business community is relatively small, with an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 persons, although the impact of the landscape of Beijing is substantial (Gaubatz). This seems to underscore the commitment of opening up. The bifurcation of the central city is evident, providing an eastern half devoted to international activities from embassies to housing and services for the foreign business community and a western half more devoted to domestic functions (Hu, 1993). Prior to 1979, there had been no facilities for foreign business population, apart from hotels built in the 1950s for Soviet advisors. The three main type of foreigner-oriented developments were office towers, commercial-residential complexes and apartments and single-family houses, generally located on the east of Beijing (Gaubatz, 91).

The World Trade Centre in Dongzhimen, filling in tenants from 1989, is a striking example of a multipurpose centre, with a shopping centre, two office towers, two hotels, two apartment buildings and even, a health club. Gradually, it is worth noting that the division of Beijing has begun to weaken, as developments arise in the western part of Beijing. Greater economic freedom significantly altered the perception of Beijing as a consumer city, rather than being a mere producer. The three large commercial areas of the pre-1949 era- Wangfujing, Qianmen and Xidan- underwent restoration and revitalisation as premier shopping districts during the period (Gan). Among these, Wangfujing serves an international clientele, while Qianmen caters to domestic tourists and locals alike. Xidan offers local residents trendy shopping options, on top of entertainment (Gaubatz).

Similarly, there was a change in the nature of stores found around Beijing, with more specialisation of stores and a greater international profile. In the early phases of reforms in the 1970s, free markets with simple stalls for the sale of produce and durable goods by private entrepreneurs began to appear. However, these private entrepreneurs began moving from free-market stalls to substantial specialty stalls that are constructed throughout the city. These private entrepreneurs include an interesting series of Sino-foreign joint ventures, indicative of the more open outlook that China boasted during this period.

A few examples include the Friendship Store, east of the Second Ring Road, that opened in 1973 and the Great Wall Hotel in the northeast of the Third Ring Road (Gaubatz). In particular, in the Friendship Store, Yaohan is a Japanese-style department store with a grocery outlet in the basement, showing a willingness to engage with states and cultures that were previously viewed with suspicion. Foreign fast-food chains, like Pizza Hut, had been allowed in end 1989 to set up along its street front, a sign of capitalism that would previously have been scathingly dealt with in China. The rapid transformation of Beijing in response to the driving economic forces is remarkably indicative of the historical context in terms of the change in vision, the desire to pragmatically boost the Chinese economy.

Social Dynamics

The shift of development to the cities naturally brought more people in cities like Beijing. In Beijing, between 1978 and 1990, there was a staggering 24.6% growth in the population (Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics). With this steep population growth, there was a severe housing shortage, with little housing have been constructed since the 1960s (Kirkby) as part of an effort to discourage urban population growth in Beijing. Since 1979, Beijing has experienced a major housing-construction boom, with more than fifteen million m2 of housing built between 1979 and 1982 (Duan).

Intending to meet growing demands for housing, dilapidated neighbourhoods are slated for redevelopment. 75% of these neighbourhoods, which do not have basic infrastructure, are found in the four central districts (Cao). Replacing the poor-quality housing with low-rise projects has been the primary approach taken. For instance, in Xiaohoucang, dilapidated courtyard housing was the norm in 1949. However, in 1979, redevelopment allowed for 347 new apartments, each with their own kitchen and toilet, which was an improvement from the absence of basic facilities (Gaubatz). In fact, the design included varied designs in terms of different-sized windows, balconies and overhangs, and even, small private gardens for ground-floor units (Gaubatz). Apart from catering to the needs of the population in the growing city, these changes in terms of variations and private spaces reflected the ideological shift encapsulated by the reforms, especially from a context in Maoist Beijing, where apartments were highly standardised and geometrically repetitive working-house units.

A shift from socialism also allowed for greater district specialisation in terms of an increased separation of housing areas from commercial and manufacturing districts. The declining importance of proximity of housing and workplace lead to the gradual distinction in land-use spaces. This is a distinct move from Maoist Beijing, where most individuals lived in work-housing units and did not leave these compounds because their work and lives revolved around there (Schneider and Mertes) .For example, the Fangzhuang district is a 148-hectare new town planned for a mixture of structures from two-storey town houses to thirty-storey high rises (Gaubatz). The district reflected a fundamental change in planning philosophy because the employment and housing were no longer combined. Fangzhuang is laid in a grid pattern, with schools, playgrounds, a community centre, with no industry or large centres of employment (Gaubatz).

In line with making Beijing more habitable for its citizens, there is also a reduced share of industrial enterprises in the central-city area. There is an increase in industrial activity from the core area to the outer suburbs, with the central city seeing a 20% fall in industrial location between 1985 and 1989 (Hu, 41). With the rural-urban development shift, Beijing had to become liveable with more housing, but also housing that was no longer based in the close merger of a work-life philosophy under the new reforms.