MIT-Tsinghua Joint Beijing Studio

Since the late 1990s , transit-systems have become an important measure to overcome urban congestion and lead to a rational urban development in the major Chinese cities. Consequently many new urban design issues have emerged as the transit-system is introduced to the city including the reorganization of urban spaces, functions, circulations, and more generally a social and cultural restructuring. Tsinghua-MIT Urban Design Studio 2004 chose one of the most problematic site along Beijing’s newly built suburban rail line No.13 as the studio project site in order to stimulate students from different background to contribute ideas for solutions. Rethinking the mixing of uses through the Beijing courtyard house system. Using layering and connections to create a more sustainable urban living an working environment. This model then became the basis for rethinking the urban landscape as a whole which is increasingly subdivided into functional areas.

China Planning Network (CPN) was initiated by groups of professors, scholars and students from two American universities: MIT and Harvard University, which have devoted substantial resources to the development of china's cities and its urbanization process. Over the years, CPN has grown into an influential communication platform between the East and West in urban development and planning fields and a significant ligament for the world to focus on China's urbanization process.

Events (organized by CPN) have become a significant way for Western academia and practitioners to engage with the rapid changing development scene in China.