Pictures of the Future     Fall 2006

Beijing: Countdown to 2008

Zhu Wei always passes a big digital clock on his way home from school. The red display runs backwards, subtracting the seconds, minutes, hours and days remaining until the great moment that the 17-year-old Zhu and all of Beijing’s residents are anxiously awaiting: August 8, 2008, at 8:00 p.m. That’s when the Olympic Games will begin in the Chinese capital. "Eight is a lucky number that stands for happiness and wealth," says Zhu, "and that’s exactly what the Olympics means for China." There were still 2,000 days to go when the clock was set up five years ago. Now there are just hundreds.

It’s not just a countdown for the world’s greatest sports event and party, but also for a transformation of Beijing. For decades, the imperial city, which was originally planned on a drawing board, has struggled with its development. Every day, traffic and smog clog its arteries. What’s more, Beijing’s old cityscape, whose charms Marco Polo once described, is now dominated by apartment buildings. All of this is set to change by 2008, when Beijing presents itself as a modern metropolis with an efficient infrastructure, clean air, and a cosmopolitan mixture of ancient heritage and modern architecture.

Billions in Business. To achieve these ambitious goals, the Chinese government has set aside some $16 billion for infrastructure investment. Projects include construction of a third airport terminal, 150 km of new suburban rail and subway track, more than 700 additional kilometers of urban highways, a dozen stadiums, museums, convention centers, trade fair centers and administrative buildings. There’s also been a much higher level of private investment in hotels, shopping malls, office buildings and residential complexes than ever before. And even critics have to admit that Beijing’s urban planners have learned from past mistakes. For example, speed used to have priority over quality, but now officials are making use of state-of-the-art building concepts and technologies.

Anyone traveling to Beijing in 2008 will enter a world full of Siemens technology. Siemens is supplying a baggage transport system more than 50 km long for Beijing’s new airport, a dragon-shaped complex designed by star architect Norman Foster. It’s also delivering control, signaling and safety equipment for Beijing’s subway network, and intelligent road traffic management systems. High-speed trains based on the Siemens Velaro platform will ferry passengers 100 km to Tianjin, which will be the site of several Olympic events. Siemens is also responsible for stadium infrastructure at a number of sporting venues and for building technology for hotels. In addition, some of Beijing’s electricity is generated using Siemens technology, and water is purified by Siemens water treatment systems. "The Olympics is a very important project for us," says Dr. Richard Hausmann, president of Siemens China. "We’ve been very successful over the last two years and we expect to receive several new orders as well."

Beijing’s biggest construction site is located in the northern part of the city, where the 12-km² Olympic Park is being built. The park will also be the site of the most important stadiums and the Olympic Village. After the games are over, it will probably become the greenest and most beautiful residential area in Beijing. Many apartments have already been sold. In fact, today’s wealthy Chinese are prepared to pay high prices to later enjoy a view of what will be a trademark for the country. The most spectacular structure in architectural terms, and also the most technically sophisticated, is the National Aquatics Center, which will house swimming pools, high diving and water polo competitions. Instead of concrete walls, the building is supported by a filigree steel frame, spanned by two layers of transparent membrane. Air will be pumped in between the two layers, creating the illusion that the structure consists of transparent bubbles. To ensure that this spatial impression is properly experienced, architects at Australia’s PTW wanted the interior stadium technology to be completely discreet. Siemens will be making this possible by installing the alarm, safety, and security equipment, the public address and video transmission systems, the communication and event management infrastructure, and entry control and crowd guidance systems. "This is a very ambitious project," says Siemens project director Udo Wajs. "Our planning documents for the tender weighed 50 kg."

Rapid Pace. Siemens offered its client, the Beijing State Asset Management Company (BSAM), an all-around package called the "Fully Integrated Stadium Solution." As part of the package, Siemens is planning and installing the so-called extra low-voltage area (under 50 V), which will also have to incorporate systems from outside companies. "Planning such a complex facility requires expertise that construction companies generally don’t have," says Siemens project manager Duan Yimin. "It’s easy to make a mistake, and even one little error can result in skyrocketing costs and big delays later on." The customer awarded Siemens the contract because the company had already implemented similar solutions in many stadiums.

"The Fully Integrated Stadium concept optimally combines state-of-the-art technology, complex installation and the integration of different systems," says BSAM managing director Kang Wei. "It’s important that we can rely on a partner like Siemens, which has so much experience and can meet all our requirements and stick to the project’s tight schedule." And the timeframe is tight. For example, test operations are scheduled to begin at the end of 2007—at a site still covered by scaffolding and where installation of wiring and cables has only just begun. "The schedule is good for us," says Olympic projects coordinator Michaela Stolz-Schmitz, who is backed by a 30-strong team. "We’re convinced that only the best can maintain such a pace."

The results of many of these projects will never be seen by most of those who visit the Olympics—and that’s the way it’s supposed to be. For example, no one is likely to visit the Chinese Taiyuan Iron & Steel Company plant, which is 300 km from Beijing (Steel Industry). For years, an effort has been under way to dismantle all major industrial plants around the capital and move them to less densely populated areas, to improve Beijing’s air quality. This transfer has also been used to modernize facilities. The new steel plant in Taiyuan, for example, which provides most of the steel for Beijing construction sites, now meets the highest environmental standards—thanks to Siemens control technologies. The Beixiaohe water treatment plant will also operate inconspicuously behind the scenes as it supplies Olympic Park with swimming water and processed wastewater. In conjunction with the Beijing Drainage Group, Siemens is using state-of-the-art membrane filter technology to boost the facility’s capacity from 40,000 m³ per day to 100,000 m³, making it the world’s largest water treatment facility of its kind. It probably won’t have that distinction for long, however, because Beijing urban planners and their partners are looking well beyond 2008. "Many of the things now being planned for the Olympics only represent the foundation for Beijing’s further development," says Stolz-Schmitz. "The city’s infrastructure will be expanded even further in coming decades."

The suburban rail and subway networks are among the systems targeted for expansion. This city of 14 million currently has only three subway lines—although their numbering indicates just how far ahead planners have been thinking. Lines 1 and 2, which were opened in the early 1990s, were followed in 2004 by Line 13. Lines 4, 5 and 10 are scheduled to be completed by 2008, when a shuttle to Olympic Park and a rapid rail line to the airport 25 km away will also enter service. The subway lines corresponding to the missing numbers will be built after the Olympics. "The more the subway network grows, the more difficult it will be to synchronize the operation of the trains," says Siemens project manager Tim Chen. Siemens control technology, which is being installed in the new Line 5 subway, not only makes it possible to optimize train intervals but also to react flexibly to different network capacity loads.

"By expanding the system, we’ll be able to align train schedules with those of other modes of public transport," says Chen. Highly sophisticated solutions like the Sitraffic Concert platform could even help to link the public transport network with intelligent traffic guidance systems for cars. Sensors embedded in streets and onboard computers in buses could collect data on traffic flow, which would be used to regulate traffic lights in accordance with traffic volumes. That’s a prime solution that Beijing’s traffic planners are already getting excited about, but it’s not yet part of the development agenda.

Quicker Commutes. Nevertheless, the high level of investment required for such a solution would be money well spent. After all, some two million people now drive an hour every day from the city’s outskirts to the center, where administrative offices, international companies and shopping centers are concentrated. If intelligent traffic guidance systems were used to reduce the time needed for each trip by five minutes, the total gain would amount to 300,000 hours per day. Experience in other large cities, including Hong Kong, has shown that driving time could be cut by 30 to 50 % in this way.

Siemens is also helping to improve Beijing’s energy sector. For years, the power grid has been the Achilles heel of the Chinese infrastructure system. Power shortages are common, particularly in summer when many people run their air conditioners. Insufficient power plant capacity and inadequate tools for managing the grid are the main reasons for the failures. To improve things, the Gouhua Electric Power Corporation (GHEPC), one of China’s leading producers of electricity and the operator of Beijing’s Electric Power Plant No. 1, is using Siemens IT Solution control technology to link its power plants in a single platform located in GHEPC´s head office (see Pictures of the Future, Fall 2005, Networking).

"All information will be sent to this production and management center in Beijing," says Wang Baoli, managing director of Siemens Power Plant Automation Ltd. "From here, GHEPC will be able to control production and align it with market demand at any time. In addition to leading to an efficiency increase over the medium term, this will create the conditions GHEPC needs in order to profit from the planned liberalization of the Chinese electricity market." Three plants in the Beijing area have been connected since 2005, and initial experience has been so positive that GHEPC wants to network its remaining facilities as quickly as possible. "The Siemens platforms have enabled us to manage our power plants on a completely new level," says GHEPC president Qing Dingguo. In May 2006, GHEPC and Siemens signed an agreement to establish a strategic partnership—and such cooperation agreements represent much more than a formal expression of mutual trust in China. "Government agencies and companies often have to make far-reaching decisions very quickly," says He Ru, who is working on a Siemens "Picture of the Future" for China. "After all, the country is building enormous infrastructure. What’s more, things that would take 50 years elsewhere are often done in ten here." That’s why the Chinese expect international technology companies like Siemens to not only provide them with first-class solutions but also offer innovative business models. Trustworthy partners will have the best chance of experiencing the Beijing Olympic Games the way the Chinese government views them: as the initial spark for the next phase of Chinese economic development. The government wants Beijing to serve as a model for other major Chinese cities. "China is in an unprecedented situation," says He Kebin, a professor of Environmental Technology at Beijing’s Tsinghua University. In his search for innovative environmental concepts for Beijing, He has discovered that no other Olympic city has ever had to deal with problems as complex as those facing Beijing. "That’s why we’re developing our own unique solutions," says He, "and many Chinese cities are already waiting to try them out."

Still, there’s much to do in Beijing before that can happen. When a local radio station recently asked listeners to name a city location without a crane, the phone lines went dead. When someone finally did call, he suggested that people look for the location with the most cranes instead. Actually, there are more than 30 cranes in Olympia Park alone. However, plans call for all the cranes to disappear from the city by 2008. The big digital clock is a reminder that time will soon be running out.
                                                                                                        Bernhard Bartsch