Government warns developers about land hoarding

Apparently unaffected by the global economic recession, Beijing’s real estate prices have continued to rise this year after last year’s brief slump. Amidst complaints about the house price escalation, last week a government minister openly admitted to the media that he couldn’t afford a house in the city.

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Property Developers Emerge from Doldrums

This article by Caijing’s Ci Bing gives insight in the way property development in China is (already!) recovering from the downturn: “Real estate investment is rebounding thanks to an improved credit environment and state-owned companies with plenty of cash.” Read: Property Developers Emerge from Doldrums.

Waiting for people..

The city of Taiyuan (3 million inhabitants) wants to expand in the coming years with 1 million people. In the last week, we were more than once confronted with the enourmous impact these plans have on the urban condition. Some impressions:

Residential area under construction between Changfeng Jie and Nanzhonghuan Jie.

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A window to the future

On the west side of the river Fen in Taiyuan, a part of the city center will be realized: a culture island with 5 public buildings containing a diverse program. This is the current situation.

Zhengzhou, Central Business District

The Central Business District is designed by Japanese architect Kurukowa. This new urban area consists of a circular shopping mall of 2 km which is still under construction. The apartment buildings are finished and mostly sold, but still empty, due to speculations.  

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Evergreens

A development in the Northeast of the city of Zhengzhou was started in the nineties, to lift up the area. The buildings were hotels and spas. The area has known more active times in its existence than nowadays.