Citizens enjoy green life in Olympic Forest Park
This year, more greenery will cover the city’s mountainous and plain areas. According to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry, in 2013, the city will complete 350,000 mu of afforestation on the plains, 100,000 mu in mountainous regions, and add 1,000 hectares of new urban green space. It is expected that by the end of this year, the city’s forest coverage rate will rise from the current 38.6% to 40%, an increase of 1.4 percentage points.
Public green spaces
Per capita to exceed 15 square meters
This year marks the second year of the city’s Million Mu Plain Afforestation Project. Following the completion of 250,000 mu of plain afforestation last year, this year’s task has increased to 350,000 mu, mainly in the five urban development areas of Daxing, Tongzhou, Shunyi, Fangshan, and Changping, as well as along major urban corridors.
The plain afforestation project this year focuses on landscape ecological forests and greenway construction, while also initiating wetland restoration projects and infrastructure such as forest fire prevention. Key afforestation areas include the Eastern Suburbs Forest Park, the 50 key villages in urban-rural fringe areas undergoing demolition and redevelopment, and areas along major highways and rivers. Currently, the forest landscapes in key areas such as the Eastern Suburbs Forest Park, abandoned sand and gravel pits in Changping and Huairou, Zhongguancun Forest Park, Caijia River in Yanqing, the Jingping Expressway, and the Yongding River are beginning to take shape, becoming essential “backyard gardens” for leisure. Once the 350,000 mu of plain afforestation is completed, forest coverage in the city’s plains areas will increase by 3.7 percentage points, and ten large forested areas exceeding 10,000 mu each will be formed.
In the mountainous areas of Beijing, focusing on national ecological projects such as the Beijing-Tianjin Sandstorm Source Control, Taihang Mountain Greening, and the Three-North Shelterbelt Program, this year 100,000 mu of barren hills will be afforested, along with 545,000 mu of closed mountain forest conservation and 600,000 mu of forest health management. The city will also complete 12,000 mu of key greenway greening, 20,000 mu of colorful foliage tree planting, and 300 kilometers of highway and river greening. In cooperation with Hebei Province, Beijing will also build 100,000 mu of ecological water source protection forests in the Zhangjiakou and Chengde areas upstream of the Miyun and Guanting reservoirs to purify water quality at the source.
By the end of this year, the per capita public green space in the city is expected to reach 15.7 square meters, allowing residents to enjoy an increasing amount of green space.
City-Level Greenways
Slowing Down Life
In foreign movies, we often see joggers lightly treading along tree-lined paths covered with fallen leaves, or cyclists riding from one suburban park to another through tree-shaded roads. Cycling by the water, strolling among flowers — this kind of lifestyle is making its way from the silver screen into our lives. Starting this year, Beijing is embarking on large-scale construction of “greenways,” with the first urban greenway already established in Muxidi, Xicheng District. It has a very pleasant name: the “Yingcheng Jiandu Riverside Greenway.”
“Slowing down our pace” is the true purpose of greenway construction. Yang Zhihua, head of Urban Greening at the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry, told reporters that a greenway is a type of urban slow traffic system, which became popular abroad around the 1860s and is still a new concept in China. Yang said, “As people’s living standards improve and life becomes faster-paced, their minds become more burdened. What can help people slow down physically and mentally, enjoy nature, and enjoy life? That’s what greenways are for.”
Chen Chen, who lives on Baiyun Road, is a loyal fan of Beijing’s first greenway. He said, “The greenway not only has rich plantings with flowers blooming in three seasons, but the ground also has distance markers. Starting from Muxidi, you know how many meters you’ve walked, giving you a sense of progress. There will also be 24-hour Wi-Fi, and this year, a café and a book bar will be built.” Chen said he walks and sits along the greenway every day, and his favorite sight is elderly people flying kites, which makes him feel relaxed and refreshed.
According to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry, the “Overall Plan for Beijing’s City-Level Greenway Construction (2013–2017)” has been released. Based on the plan, over 200 kilometers of greenways are under construction, including the Second Ring Road Riverside Greenway, the Haidian Three Hills and Five Gardens Greenway, the Fengtai Garden Expo Greenway, the Wenyu River Riverside Greenway, and the Eastern Suburbs Forest Park Greenway.
Central Urban Area
One Hundred Hutongs Turned into Flower Corridors
Hutongs and alleyways have become a focus of urban greening in Beijing for the first time this year. According to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry, in addition to routine greening projects such as building new parks, greening main roads, and landscaping new residential areas, this year will see the addition of greening for hutongs and alleyways. One hundred small streets and alleys in Beijing’s old city that lack trees and greenery will be transformed into lush flower corridors.
Grandma Sun Guixia, a resident of Courtyard 27, Beihuoshan Hutong in Xicheng District, has a truly beautiful home this year. Crabapple, forsythia, and flowering plum … her small courtyard is as flowery as a garden, filled with birdsong and fresh air. This is one of the few remaining siheyuan (courtyard homes) in the Dashilan area and is Grandma Sun’s private property, covering over half a mu with 15 rooms. Grandma Sun said although it is private property, the flowers were a gift from the government. In April this year, Xicheng District launched the “Little Sapling” initiative, where landscape bureau staff brought three saplings into her yard. “Grandma, if you plant these three trees in your yard, it’ll be like a paradise on earth. We wouldn’t trade it for any amount of money.”
In the old city, the government encourages citizens to “make use of every gap” and “bring greenery close to home.” The Xicheng District government purchased over 5,000 lilac, crabapple, rose glory bower, forsythia, pomegranate, peach blossom, flowering plum, and crape myrtle trees to give away for free to residents. Those interested can apply online to receive their preferred saplings. The Dongcheng District government launched the “Thousand Big Trees” and “One Hundred Thousand Climbing Plants” initiatives to enhance greenery density in communities. With limited ground space, they turned to the sky — schools such as No. 179 Middle School, Guangqumen Middle School, Shijia Hutong Primary School, and Chongwenmen Primary School underwent rooftop greening projects, transforming unused rooftops into lush green lawns. The greening of Global Tower goes beyond just laying green space, aiming to create a beautiful and pleasant “rooftop garden.” Meanwhile, the National Museum’s rooftop greening project will help alleviate the heat island effect around the square.
A relevant official from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry explained that unlike the uniform greening along urban roads, hutong greening emphasizes flexibility and adapting to local conditions. For example, planting ivy at the base of walls is called “vertical greening”; planting hedges in the limited soil around hutong power boxes is called “filling gaps with greenery”; and demolishing abandoned coal sheds and replacing them with flower beds is called “turning violations into greenery.”
It was reported that the 100 hutongs targeted for greening this year are mainly located in Dongcheng and Xicheng districts, featuring plants such as roses, hibiscus, lilac, pomegranate, crabapple, iris, daylily, and others, striving to preserve the traditions of old Beijing.
Urban Parks
15 More to Be Built This Year
This year, Beijing residents will gain access to 15 additional urban leisure parks. These parks will primarily be located in the six urban districts and are free to visit.
Dongguantou Leisure Park, located near Fengyi Bridge on the Southwest Third Ring Road, is one of the newly completed urban leisure parks this year. The site was previously a wasteland covered in construction debris and weeds. This spring, the Fengtai District Bureau of Landscape and Forestry transformed the area by planting various flowers and plants, constructing pavilions, and building pathways for nearby residents to enjoy.
This year, the city will build 15 such urban leisure parks, distributed across central urban areas such as Haidian, Chaoyang, and Fengtai, covering a total area of no less than 200 hectares.
Urban land in Beijing’s central districts is extremely valuable. Where did these parks and green spaces come from? According to staff from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry, the construction of urban parks mainly utilizes land from demolished urban villages and requisitioned green spaces. For example, there are approximately 8,000 hectares of requisitioned green spaces across the city. In the past, due to various reasons, many of these spaces were occupied by developers and failed to serve their intended ecological functions. In recent years, the city has intensified efforts to reclaim these requisitioned green spaces, striving to provide residents with more green leisure areas.
Urban leisure parks are not only aesthetically pleasing but also quite “resource-efficient.” At the Lanhua Deting Leisure Park in Haidian District, the reporter found that all the pavement is made of “sand-based permeable bricks.” “When rain falls, it’s quickly absorbed,” explained a Haidian District landscape official. These “sand-based permeable bricks,” produced by a high-tech company in Zhongguancun, allow most rainwater to be retained within the park. Additionally, the park features a unique leisure pergola with a 20-square-meter solar panel installed on top. During the day, the panel absorbs sunlight to generate electricity, and at night, the lights on the pergola automatically turn on.
As more parks are built, it has become increasingly convenient for residents to enjoy leisure activities. In the next two years, the city will add another 1,000 hectares of urban green space each year. By 2015, the coverage rate of having accessible green space within 500 meters of any location in the city will increase from 50% at the end of the 11th Five-Year Plan period to 80%.