The Olympic Forest Park in Beijing is standing out as one of the rare Olympics-related projects to remain in use after the 2008 event. Hu Jie, the park's designer, talks about its planning and the role of public space in Beijing.
"For residents of Beijing, the legacy of those games are still being felt in the form of the Olympic Forest Park - a green area located to the north of the city. The park was opened last July and has become popular among Beijing residents. The park also served as sport stadiums for tennis and hockey competitions during the Olympic Games."
"As the park was to be used as a civilian space and public park after the games, the Beijing government earmarked 2.2 billion Chinese yuan, or 11.6 billion baht for the project. Such an amount of money for a public park seems staggering. But Beijing - the ancient city with breathtaking gardens like the Summer Palace or Beihai Park near the Forbidden City - has a soft spot for parks and gardens."
"For Hu Jie, the trend of landscape design and public space will become famous in the future as more people move to live in the city. Public space is an essential tool to enhance the quality of life of the people, he said."
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