Building new lives: Renovate or demolish

The Drum and Bell Tower area is located in the middle of the Beijing central axes, which embodies huge historical and cultural value. Wang Shiren, an expert advisor to the Beijing Committee of Historical and Cultural City Protection, believes renovation of that area is necessary and development of the city is more important than protecting Beijing’s historic blocks. Meanwhile, Su Zengqin, a social and legal scholar, insists that historic blocks should be protected and preserved in their original style. The two scholars talk about their differing opinions in the final episode of Building New Lives.

Also see:

Building new lives: Zhang's memory

Building new lives: Rebuild and reuse

Building new lives: Liu's business

Special coverage: Drum and Bell towers: past, present, future

Video: Sun Peng
Subtitles: Yu Yichun & Chris Clark
Producer: Flora Yue