Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 724 Site Selection

Mayor Mi asked, "Do you have a clear goal?"

Xiao Wei shook his head and said, "No, after looking around, I found that the places that meet the requirements in terms of location, representativeness, and historical significance are all schools and organizations. I'll have to rely on your recommendations for those."

Chen Hui said with a smile, "I actually like the whole area around the Imperial Garden, but it's impossible to ask the hospital to move or the Municipal Public Security Bureau to relocate, right?"

Mayor Mi stroked his chin and said, "It's not impossible, but the resettlement work is a bit troublesome, after all, a unit is that big. Relocation and new construction will take a considerable amount of time."

Xiao Wei said to Chen Hui, "This place is different from Fengtian. Have you noticed that most of the old buildings in Fengtian were built by private individuals or companies, and they are all located on the street or at intersections? Most of the old buildings here were built by the government in the past, and most of them have a large courtyard and are not located on the street."

Chen Hui said, "It has nothing to do with who built it. The main thing is that there wasn't much space in Fengtian back then, so everyone was crammed together. Xidu, on the other hand, has a lot of space, so people can build and use it freely. Naturally, it's different."

Mayor Mi smiled and said, "What Xiao Chen said is right. At that time, Xidu was not comparable to Fengtian. There were fewer people and more land here, and the commerce was also worse. So the buildings were more scattered, with large land areas and small buildings. This was also a headache for us. If we wanted to preserve the old buildings completely, it would inevitably involve affecting the planning. There were too many old buildings, which occupied a lot of land in the city center. If we wanted to develop, we had to demolish them."

Chen Hui said, "That's also a characteristic of Xidu. Everyone says that Xidu is spring-like all year round, which is because of its abundant greenery and trees."

Xiao Wei said, "Everyone is talking about large-scale construction and modernization, but I don't think Xidu needs to do that at all. Xidu's specialty is that it has many trees, green spaces, and parks, so it can definitely follow a unique development path. Places like Fengtian and my hometown Beixi have very few trees left in the city, and it gets unbearably hot in the summer. I don't think that's a good thing."

An official from the China Merchants Group said, "This is a contradiction. The population is increasing, and there is a need for a large number of housing units. Economic development also requires construction, but construction requires land. There is no way around it, since the city center is only so big."

Xiao Wei said, "Let's not talk about that for now. We do have this need, but it's not in a rush. It's all for next year anyway. We just need to have a result before the end of the year. Let's look at the location of the branch office. After all, this is a big deal."

Mayor Mi glanced at the planning bureau officials.

An official from the planning bureau took out several documents from his bag and placed them on the table, saying, "The leadership attaches great importance to this investment from our brother group. This is a plan that several of our colleagues worked overtime for several days until midnight to complete. Chairman Zhang, you can take a look and see which one meets your requirements."

Xiao Wei took the plan documents and looked them over. A total of four plots of land were prepared, located in front of the station, on Xi'an Road, Hongqi Street, and Qima Road.

The plots of land varied in size, but they were all quite regular, neatly square, which was Xiaowei's specific request.

Back in 91, Xidu City wasn't as big as it is now. From the train station, heading south to Nanhu, past Jilin University campus, you'd be pretty much there. To the east, you wouldn't cross the Yitong River, and to the west, you'd reach the railway line.

Hongqi Street was the commercial area of ​​Xidu at that time, but the area was a bit small. Xiaowei looked around for a long time and compared it with the map. In the end, he felt that Qima Road was better. It was closer to the station and was the real center of Xidu. In those days, the most prosperous places in every city were not far from the train station.

After carefully reviewing the information about Qima Road and studying the map for a while, Xiaowei looked up and asked, "Are there many residents in this area? What do the buildings look like now?"

An official from the planning bureau said, "There are quite a few; that's considered a relatively concentrated area. The buildings along the street are all old, three- or four-story buildings, very densely packed. There are also a few clusters of single-story houses, and many houses built spontaneously by local residents. Chairman Zhang, you've taken a liking to this place? Actually, Hongqi Street might be more suitable for you."

Xiao Wei said, "That area is too small. I've already used 25 mu of land in Xingcheng. As the largest city in northern Jilin, Xidu can't be stingy; it's not good for future development. Let's go with this area on Qima Road. I'd like to take over both plots together. Is that possible?" Xiao Wei looked up at the planning bureau official.

Mayor Mi took the map and data, compared them, and after considering it, said, "Okay, I agree in principle, but Xiao Zhang, you need to explain the specific details. For example, will the large size of the plot cause financial pressure? How do you plan to build it? How tall will it be? What are its main functions and the jobs it can create?"

The planning bureau official, his face twitching, took the documents from Mayor Mi's hand, inwardly cursing, "Does he know how long it will take us to complete this with just a casual remark from him? Do he know how many things are involved in expanding the land area? Do he know how many residents we'll have to relocate? Do he know how much criticism we'll receive?"

In fact, there has never been a clear definition of urban land and housing property rights in China. Some of the current solutions were actually developed during that decade. They were unreasonable and authoritarian policies, but they were very effective and have been used ever since.

The 82 Constitution contained only eleven words regarding urban land: "Land within cities belongs to the state."

The reason for these eleven characters is that during demolition and construction, complex problems are always encountered, so the problem is simply slammed down.

In those days, there was no room for negotiation regarding demolitions, and there was little to no compensation. However, the government would usually provide unified resettlement, regardless of the conditions or comfort.

Xiao Wei said, "There is a street in the middle, so the building will be built in two parts, connecting the two sides on the second or third floor. Both sides will adopt the same structure: an underground part, a five- or seven-story shopping mall above ground, and then residential and office buildings on the upper floors."

The floors won't be exactly the same, but there will be a main building of at least 33 floors on each side, which will reach about 130 meters. We will use these two buildings ourselves, and there will also be some residential buildings and other office buildings.

Once the entire complex is completed, the bottom five or seven floors will be developed for commercial purposes through both leasing and investment, creating two large shopping malls covering all aspects of people's lives. It is estimated that there will be more than 7,000 stalls, half of which will be rented to ordinary citizens, which is close to 4,000 families.

Then there will be various facilities such as restaurants, entertainment venues, and hotels, and a large shopping mall will be introduced. Creating another 1,500 jobs shouldn't be a problem. This doesn't even include the companies moving into the office buildings, which will create another batch of jobs. Financially, we basically have no problems.

(End of this chapter)