If all goes according to plan, the latest move could help avoid such woes in the future, according to Zhao Hong, vice president of the Beijing Municipal Academy of Social Sciences.
Over the past few decades, the Beijing expansion model has focused on developing urban sprawl from the city center outward. But with the rapid growth of the city, this model is no longer effective due to overcrowding.
"The construction of the subsidiary administrative center should avoid the previous expansion model to prevent the repetition of urban problems," he said.
Another concern is housing prices.
As more people move into Tongzhou, the cost of living there is also increasing.
Statistics from the Tongzhou district government showed the number of permanent residents grew from 880,000 in 2005 to 1.3 million at the end of 2013. The annual increase rate was 6.23 percent, higher than Beijing's average of 4.69 percent.
A salesman with a real estate agent in Tongzhou told Xinhua that housing prices have been rising in Tongzhou since late April.
The price of some apartment buildings has increased by 2,000 yuan or more per square meter, forcing groups of people to purchase apartments before the prices rise too high, he said.
The construction of a new city administration center in Tongzhou is expected to further increase the price of real estate.
"This is very good news for us," said the salesman.
VANGUARD OF INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT
The move is also designed to benefit Tongzhou's neighboring areas in Hebei Province and Tianjin Municipality.
Currently, more than 200,000 people live in Yanjiao, Hebei, but work in Beijing.
Tongzhou's development could be a pioneering step in the national plan for coordinated development between Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, helping create long-term urban planning solutions, Zhao said.
If development in Tongzhou goes well, it can absorb a portion of the commuting population from Hebei and help reduce pressure on Beijing's city center.
A guideline for coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region was approved by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in late April.
The primary goal for the project, which has not been made public yet, stresses adjustment of the economic structure to create new growth sectors and control Beijing's population.
Traffic infrastructure, environmental protection and industrial upgrading are the top priorities as Beijing looks to move some industries to Hebei.
On Friday, an intercity rail line linking Beijing with Jixian county in Tianjin started operation, following the start of passenger trains between the capital and Yanjiao in Hebei in January.
More intercity rails between Beijing and areas nearby are under construction.
In the past two years, air quality in the region has seen improvement with the joint treatment efforts of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei as well as nearby provinces.
