Initiated by a state-owned enterprise, the project offers a set of strategies for the regeneration of the Baitasi historic neighborhood in the west downtown district of Beijing. Questioning the outcome of normative urbanization processes in China, which often rely on the eviction of local populations and the replacement of existing buildings by new construction, the proposed scheme empowers local stakeholders and vulnerable on-site residents to upgrade infrastructure and public services, while encouraging them to improve their housing and workshop units themselves. A so-called “max-min” concept is pursued that promotes the implementation of minimal means for maximum effect. New low-rise, courtyard housing will be added within the built fabric via pilot programs to increase densification without high-rise construction.

The jury appreciated the client’s aim to support low-income populations in their effort to remain on site, and this within an economic context marked by rampant gentrification. Valued were the methods used to identify the needs of inhabitants through door-to-door interviews, formal registration, and participatory meetings – needs that were then translated in comprehensive upgrading proposals for the improvement of infrastructure, public services, and living spaces. Viewed with great esteem was the idea that all physical construction, generally based on micro-scale and decentralized interventions, will be undertaken in such a way as to respect the historical fabric, without turning the neighborhood into an outdoor museum or a tourist attraction. Instead, the project aims at the regeneration of the existing social and physical fabric to create a living community by and for the people.