The use of satellites is merely a part of the process to measure pollution and air quality. (Photo : Reuters)
As part of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei regional integration plan, the Chinese capital is set to transfer some of its city administration to the eastern suburbs.
The plan was officially announced at a Saturday meeting of the Communist Party of China Beijing Municipal Committee.
The decision, which aims to build a municipal subsidiary administrative center in the 40-minute-drive Tongzhou, is part of Beijing's efforts to ease "urban ills" such as congestion.
According to a statement from the meeting, "remarkable progress" will be made in Tongzhou in two years' time.
Hu Gang, chief of the Urban Planning Society's South China Urban Planning Institute, said that the decision is a good beginning.
"After a subsidiary administrative center is established, state-owned enterprises and public services will move out as well," Hu remarked.
However, others have noted that simply shifting the city admin won't address Beijing's bigger problems.
Liu Zhiyan, a research fellow affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Urban and Environmental Studies, said that "administrative and residential regulations are far from enough."
"Only after concerns for public services, such as education and medical care, are addressed in these areas will be people be willing to move out [of the city center]," he furthered.
Beijing's population explosion during the urbanization drive has led to a number of issues, including air pollution and traffic congestion. Now, the Chinese capital aims to move 15 percent of its population to maintain a 23-million populace by 2020.
For the past decades, the expansion model of Beijing has centered on establishing urban sprawl from the city outward. However, the model no longer applies as the city witnesses rapid growth.
"The construction of the subsidiary administrative center should avoid the previous expansion model to prevent the repetition of urban problems," Liu enthused.
The city admin shift is also eyed to benefit the neighboring areas of Tongzhou in the Tianjin municipality and the Hebei Province. Two hundred thousand residents of Yanjiao, Hebei, are currently working in Beijing.
