EIGHT Chinese academicians are participating in the construction of the Changzhen housing project, the city’s largest affordable housing complex, which is currently under construction, according to the Shenzhen Economic Daily.

The project, with an overall construction area of 1.09 million square meters, is located on the east side of the intersection of Guangqiao Road and Keyu Road in Guangming District. It will offer 9,672 apartments upon completion in 2021.

“I believe that residents will enjoy the apartments,” said Liu Ruopeng, deputy to the National People’s Congress and president of Kuang-chi Institute, when visiting the project recently in Guangming along with a delegation led by Luo Wenzhi, director of the Standing Committee of Shenzhen Municipal People’s Congress.

The project has become an “Internet sensation” given the string of scientific research results that have been introduced to it by the eight academicians.

A mitigation and isolation technique developed by Zhou Fulin, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), can reduce the impact of a magnitude 7 earthquake to magnitude 4 or 5. A frame technology conceived by Zhou Xuhong, another member of the academy, can effectively decrease the weight of the building by over 20 percent and reduce 90 percent of scaffolds and building templates.

CAE academician Meng Jianmin’s design idea ensures the building serves the people living in it. Other advanced concepts include a construction technique invented by Nie Jianguo that combines steel and concrete, an intelligence and safety construction technology by Ding Lieyun and shock-mitigating techniques by Ou Jinping, according to Zhang Xuefan, director with the Shenzhen Municipal Housing and Construction Bureau.

Another highlight of the project is that the ground area of the entire complex will be built with a long corridor so that residents no longer have to worry about rain when they get off of nearby buses and the Metro.

“Advanced technologies should be used to improve people’s happiness and let them enjoy the benefits,” said Meng.

“People hold a stereotype that affordable housing has to be a low type of home. We hope that the Changzhen project will uproot this idea and become a model for other projects in the future,” said Zhang.

(Wang Jingli)