Phase one is complete and includes an MIT-affiliated campus, pictured above. More pics here.

Phase one is complete and includes an MIT-affiliated campus, pictured above. More pics here.

From an interview with Jiang Kejun, senior researcher at the National Development and Reform Commission's Energy Research Institute:

You can describe [China's] current approach to city building as entirely mistaken. Look at Beijing – it's all wrong, from the buildings to the roads to the planning of zones. We build huge buildings but use little of the space. From the 1990s to 2005, Beijing encouraged car use. "Transportation development" just meant increasing average traffic speeds, for example from 14 kilometres per hour to 15 kilometres per hour. Another target is road surface area: officials are judged on how much the area devoted to roads has increased, and the more that happens, the less space there is for bikes and pedestrians.

But Beijing's city leaders still say that having more cars is a sign of modernity. Beijing once demolished its city walls. Now it's knocking down the 798 art district [an artist community in decommissioned factory buildings in Beijing's Chaoyang district]. It is making the same mistake all over again. But this approach represents the way of thinking of most Chinese people.