Preparing for the 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing undertook a vast construction programme: a new Olympic Green along the central axis, the "Bird's Nest" stadium and "Water Cube", airport Terminal 3, new metro lines and ring roads. The drive involved large-scale demolition of old hutong neighbourhoods and the relocation of many residents. The Games served as a global showcase of the rebuilt capital and of state-led, architect-branded spectacle. Much of the city's contemporary monumental infrastructure dates from this push.
It was the showcase instance of event-led, spectacle urbanism in China, accelerating and concentrating the remaking of the capital.
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