Beijing issues the Special Plan for the Garden City (Part 2)

▲ The photo shows the new look with ancient charm and beautiful scenery of North Canal. [Beijing Daily/Tang Jian]

4. Refining the Spatial Pattern.

4.1 Constructing a spatial pattern of "One Screen, Five Corridors, Two Axes, Three Rings, Nine Wedges, and Fifteen Zones".

One Screen refers to the natural ecological forest barrier formed by the Taihang Mountains in the western part of the city and the Yanshan Mountains in the northern part.

Five Corridors are the green corridors based on the river and lake systems of the Yongding River, Chaobai River, North Canal, Juma River, and Ju River.

Two Axes are the central axis and its extension, and Chang'an Street and its extension, serving as garden axes linking ancient and modern times across the entire region.

Three Rings consists of the first green isolation belt of urban parks, the second green isolation belt of suburban parks, and the forest and wetland park ring around the capital. These form large-scale green spaces with superior ecological functions and intertwined blue and green spaces.

Nine Wedges are nine wedge-shaped ecological spaces connecting the central city, new towns, and cross-border urban clusters, forming multiple large ecological corridors linking the northwestern mountainous area and the southeastern plain.

Fifteen Zones are prime areas that vividly reflect the distinctive features of North China, the majestic capital style, and the charming ancient capital. These include the old city, the Olympic Center, Nanyuan, the sub-center of the city, the new Shougang Park, the Xiaoxishan-Three Hills and Five Gardens, the Badaling Great Wall, the Ming Tombs, the Zhoukoudian Site, Yanqi Lake International Convention Center, Yanqing Leisure Resort Business District, Capital International Airport, Daxing International Airport, Future Science City, and Huairou Science City.

4.2 Optimizing natural element management strategies.

(1) Building a large-scale green barrier with forests as the base. 

Leveraging the enhancement of the national forest city to improve the garden city forest construction system, which centers on capital forest towns and is based on forest villages and garden-style workplaces. By 2035, the forest coverage rate of the city will exceed 45%.

(2) Improving the landscape of the countryside with farmland as the foundation.

Firmly implementing the strictest farmland protection system, strictly adhering to the permanent farmland protection red line, and maintaining a "trinity" approach to protecting farmland quantity, quality, and ecology. This includes orderly advancing reclamation and cultivation to protect 110.67 thousand hectares of farmland. 

(3) Constructing an integrated water-green ecological network with water as the lifeline. 

Strengthening Beijing's water spatial pattern of "two mountains gathering water, five rivers running through the city, three rings surrounding the city, and multiple branches forming a network." This involves building a blue network system composed of water bodies, waterfront green corridors, and waterfront spaces. By 2035, the shoreline length of the central city's landscape water system length will reach 500 kilometers.

(4) Perfecting the green network for leisure with green spaces integrated as a whole.

Enhancing the protection and management of urban green lines, optimizing the layout of urban green spaces, and combining sports, cultural, and other multifunctional facilities to improve the green network for leisure. By 2035, the built-up area will achieve a per capita park green space area of over 17 square meters, with a 95% coverage rate within a 500-meter service radius of park green spaces.

(5) Strengthening ecological red line management with the bottom line strictly held. 

Strictly controlling the ecological red line system to prevent the spread of construction land and maintain a suitable ecological environment. By 2035, the area under the ecosystem-protecting red line will account for no less than 27.5% of the municipal area, and the ecological control area will reach over 75%.

5. Showcasing the Majestic Charm of the Capital.

5.1 Reinforcing the characteristic features.

(1) Shaping a distinctive landscape of "scenic mountains and rivers, fusion of ancient and modern, and forests embracing gardens"

Deeply exploring the cultural essence of Chinese landscape, adapting to the climate characteristics of North China, and creating landscapes that highlight the scenic beauty of China, the fusion of ancient and modern in the capital, and a picture of life with forests and gardens. This will showcase Beijing with majestic scenery, beautiful landscape, and harmonious living environment.

(2) Constructing a landscape structure of "two mountains and one bay; two axes, five rings, and multiple corridors".

Two mountains and one bay: Beijing is located at the northwest corner of the North China Plain, surrounded by the Taihang Mountains to the west and the Yanshan Mountains to the north, with a flat southeastern area resembling a bay, referred to as the Beijing Bay.

Two Axes: The garden city's landscape pattern is led by Chang'an Street and the central axis with their extensions.

Five Rings: The structure for the garden city's construction includes the ancient city wall ring, urban park ring, suburban park ring, hill ring, and forest and wetland park ring.

Multiple Corridors: Utilizing the city's radial transportation lines to form multiple green corridors, connecting urban development groups and green spaces.

Source:

<https://www.beijing.gov.cn/zhengce/zfwj/zfwj2016/szfwj/202404/W020240425644820814901.pdf>

<https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/FYjubt4oVGI-0xW5O5oCSQ>

Edited and Translated by Guo Xinxin