A Sino-Danish renovation project has big plans to rejuvenate and reform ancient homes in the city's Qinglong Hutong neighborhood. It launched alongside Beijing Design Week and will take advantage of the opportunities emerging from the event.

The City of Copenhagen is participating in an urban renewal and renovation project in Qinglong Hutong, Dongcheng district.

They will offer solutions and alternatives to some of the problems facing Beijing's highly urban environment and set up a new Sino-Danish innovation center for future creative exchange.

"Qinglong Hutong is very unique, with bungalows on one side and office spaces on the other. Some 11,000 people live in and around the area. So it's difficult to balance the community and business aspects," said Li Danyang, Deputy Director of Beijing Design Week Organizing Committee.

"We're very pleased to work with architects from Denmark who have made great contributions to this renovation project. Urban context is the collective memory of the city. Urban culture is the soul and the old urban areas are the core of this context. And what we did is to preserve that culture while making the space more functional," Li added.

Upon the completion of the project in 2020, people will find it easier to commute from different parts of the city to and from the area.

Meanwhile, this exhibition entitled "Urban Exchange PEK-CPH" is uniting architects from both countries, where they conduct field research and possible solutions for Beijing's aging hutong areas.

Professor Deane Simpson and his team hope to bring in the Danish perspectives of livability to the city's iconic alleyways, with their focus on the development of local heritage and create better public spaces.

Professor Simpson added that the design will also reflect the reality of how people live in this hutong area in Beijing.

The cooperation also extends beyond Beijing Design Week with both short- and long-term projects that will hopefully leave a more lasting impact on Beijing.