| Since 1950s Beijing has built up a vast amount of residential communities. With the inventory of apartments built up, so did problems facing these old communities. The common problems include: 1) the out-of-date district road systems cannot meet local residents'needs; 2) the overcrowded public amenities lack of necessary maintenances; 3) a regulation and administration system deals poorly with current problems; and 4) the update funding is unavailable to the old communities.Using Beijing's Fang Cheng Yuan residential district as an example, this thesis surveys world-wide theories and practices of sustainable update in built-up residential communities in order to find the reasons behind the above problems. The result shows two main causes. Firstly, there is a lack of necessary regulation and administration system. The current Property Management Rules are not practically operational in terms of local improvements. There are no guides about how to initiate a local improvement project, thus the need and intention of undertaking such a project goes to nowhere. Secondly, the Modernist Urban Planning Theory has influenced our urban planning and construction practices for more than fifty years since the 1950s. From the residents'perspective, this theory simplified the planning and construction of urban residential communities. There were neither enough public amenities nor sufficient public spaces designed and built for local residents. As a result, from day one of completion in building a new residential community, the problems of renovation and update start to emerge.Comparing Beijing's current practices with the best practices internationally, this study suggests three new solutions in solving the problems in upgrading the built-up communities in Beijing. The first solution is to identify the initiator of local improvement projects. The initiator should be the local street government. In addition, the property owners'committee should be responsible in monitoring the process of the projects. The second solution is to levy property taxes to provide necessary funding sources for upgrading built-up residential communities. The third solution is to pass a City Bylaw for the sustainable update of built-up residential communities. |
