The Sprawling Metropolis

Office buildings, shopping centers, apartments, schools, ancient temples, traditional courtyard homes, freeways, subways, railroads, parks, public squares…

The city just keeps spreading out in all directions. With the 2008 Olympics coming up, there are thousands of construction cranes all over the city building apartments, hotels, shopping centers, restaurants, subway lines, and of course, the Olympic park complex.

It is really exciting to be here at this point in history, and I’m excited to see all of the changes as they develop over the next year and a half. The city will certainly not be the same after the Olympics, but one thing is for sure…the urban sprawl will only continue…
Traffic backs up under an urban rail (subway) station in the Haidian District during the evening rush hourMost of the buildings are apartment complexes to house the city's 15 million people