BDA provides ideal balance in quality of life

The Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area is exploring a sustainable development path which melds industrial growth and urban development, overturning the conventional stereotype of an industrial park whose business is booming but is an inconvenient place to live in due to a shortage of public amenities.

The area, also known as the BDA or Beijing E-Town, has expanded its transport network, added infrastructure and public amenities, and improved educational, medical and elder care services.

One of the latest moves is the opening of a new shopping complex, Longfor Paradise Walk, on Sept 16.

“It is a long-awaited project,” Zhang Shuang, a resident in Beijing E-Town, said with excitement. “With such a huge shopping mall in an international and fashionable style right on our doorstep, I feel an upgrade in convenient amenities and an improvement in life quality.”

Covering some 160,000 square meters in floor space, the five-story mall also has three floors underground. It has incorporated more than 300 premium brands from home and abroad, bringing in novel consumption experiences, Chinese media have reported.

“It has a more spacious shopping area and a richer variety of commodities,” Zhang said. “That not only satisfies my needs for one-stop shopping, but enables experiences of immersive services.”

The Longfor Paradise Walk has introduced many “first stores” to the area. From catering business brands and an IMAX cinema to designer studios, smart “new retail” outlets, and lifestyle experience centers, the Longfor Paradise Walk said it aims to meet the diverse demands of different consumer groups.

A combined population of 600,000 permanent residents and migrant workers live within its 5-kilometer reach. The combined population will expand to 1.03 million within a 25-minute drive. They will benefit from the new shopping complex and provide it with an enormous consumer base.

In the Beijing E-Town shopping landscape, Han’s Plaza and BHG Mall are among the key commercial areas. The addition of Paradise Walk will further improve the convenience for residents and boost Beijing’s efforts to build itself into an international consumption center, said a local official.

Landmark sports venue

Targeting the needs of both residents and those who work and live locally, Beijing E-Town has put emphasis on supportive facilities for residential communities, sports and leisure activities, and technological experiences in a bid to increase their sense of satisfaction and happiness, along with attracting and retaining high-quality human resources.

The Nanhaizi Sports and Leisure Industrial Park in Beijing E-Town is an example of the government’s resolve in this direction.

The 670,000-square-meter park is scheduled to start construction in 2023 and officially open its doors to the public in 2024. It is planned to incorporate multiple facilities for various outdoor activities, in a bid to satisfy the demand from southern Beijing for leisure sports.

“After the completion of the project, we will have one more site for fun and exercise,” said a Beijing E-Town resident surnamed Wang, who is a soccer enthusiast.

To date, the park has signed cooperation agreements with more than 10 sports brands, including Liverpool FC from the Premier League, People’s Daily reported.

Quality education

While Beijing E-Town has made dramatic changes over the past three decades, transforming farmlands into an emerging international industrial city, the area has also been going ahead with education reform.

Wang Zhifang, a physics teacher at the Beijing E-Town Academy, a middle school that is also called the Beijing E-Town campus of the Beijing National Day School, is among a multitude of educational experts attracted to Beijing E-Town from other regions.

Wang is from Shandong province and was drawn to Beijing E-Town in 2013 because of the area’s favorable policies on high-level human resources and its progress in education reform.

Beijing E-Town has made rapid progress in education reform and the Beijing E-Town Academy is a front-runner in this field. It provides students with diverse and personalized curricula and allows them to choose courses based on their interests, preferences and learning ability.

At school, teachers will adapt their teaching methods to the students who have different growth paths to enable every student to have their own track and find fulfillment in their studies. “Both the educational philosophy and model have deeply touched me,” Wang said.

The Beijing E-Town government has kept bringing in premium resources to advance high-quality development in education and provide support in policies, funds and services.

Introducing educational experts like Wang to local primary and middle schools led to overall improvements in the area’s teaching team. That team is becoming increasingly young and most of its members have postgraduate or doctorate diplomas.

Yang Dan, who is in charge of the primary schooling section of the Beijing E-Town branch of Beijing Jianhua Experimental School, said those that have a master’s or doctoral degree account for 96 percent of the full-time teachers in her school and many of them come from top institutions.

Yang attributed their joining to favorable policies on high-level human resources and fostering an appealing environment which includes improved transport and medical care facilities.

Zhou Xinyu, a master’s degree holder from Minzu University of China, joined the Beijing E-Town branch of Beijing Jianhua Experimental School to work as a teacher last year.

“It’s been more than a year since I came to Beijing E-Town, where it’s easy to notice the respect that locals show to experts and specialists,” Zhou said.

Zhou Haiyang, a Beijing E-Town resident whose children attend local schools, said: “We have full faith in the schools’ education philosophy and strengths. Having access to premium educational resources on our doorstep, I feel fulfilled living in Beijing E-Town.”