A firsthand account of the Chinese capital's struggles to preserve its past in the face of rapid development and Olympic glory. With a gross floor area of 3,875,000 square feet, the project had already gone through 36 master plans by the time the district government enlisted SOHO in early 2006. In the end, the original grid of hutong and their names were retained. Still, the government wanted the entire area remade quickly—by October, 2007—a deadline SOHO pushed back to approximately 2010. Nearly a half-mile long, the main thoroughfare has already been converted to a pedestrian shopping mall, centered by trolleys

A firsthand account of the Chinese capital's struggles to preserve its past in the face of rapid development and Olympic glory. In 1988, national policy was changed to allow local governments to raise resources through the property market. The state still owned the land, but it could transfer usage rights. Municipalities put a parcel of land on the market; developers bid for its rights; the winning bidder paid for its long-term lease, usually 70 years. The developer could build on the land or apportion the property and sell off parcels. Given a lack of property taxes or municipal bonds, property