Relocation plans fail to ease concerns

Hutong dwellers on the brink of relocation say they still face major problems, after authorities released the latest guidelines concerning their move.

In a bid to speed up the relocation of residents as part of a multi-billion-yuan revamp of older parts of downtown Beijing, the municipal construction authority has distributed relocation quotas among five well-developed districts - Shunyi, Fengtai, Daxing, Changping and Chaoyang - and is relying on the governments of these districts to build housing for residents reluctant to move out of hutong slated for demolition, local media reported on Thursday.

A large number of residents in the old city don't want to move because they fear the relocated apartments will be far away from their old neighborhoods in central Beijing and lack adequate education and medical facilities.