of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University, who was elected deputy of the 12th National People's Congress in 2004. Li presented the municipal government with a formal bill in February, requesting the suspension of the destruction plans and preservation of the buildings as part of an Olympic-caliber cultural center. Professors from architecture schools such as Beijing's Central Academy of Fine Arts and the Southern California Institute of Architecture have proposed various development plans for the area that involve preserving the buildings, although those do not appear especially profitable financially. Meanwhile, attempts have been made to appeal to the developers' sense of economics by pointing out similarities with New York's Greenwich Village and SoHo, where the high profitability of real estate is due partly to the presence of former post-industrial artists' dwellings. Those arguments have so far been ignored. In 2004, Seven-Star Group froze the rental of new spaces and prohibited all renewals. Tenants resorted to subdividing and subleasing their spaces, to which the Group responded by attempting to forbid subleasing to cultural organizations or to foreigners, hoping to drive out the artists. Tenants, despite some of them having leases still valid for several years, were given the ultimatum of December 31, 2005 to vacate the premises. By 2006, public outcry was relentless, and prominent cultural organizations from around the world spoke up. An unlikely duo including SevenStar, a government-led consortium acting as stewards of a pension fund for former factory workers, and Guy Ullens, a Belgian philanthropist who had amassed the world's largest collection of contemporary Chinese art, commissioned Boston-based design firm Sasaki Associates to produce a vision plan which sought to re-purpose the district into a stable source of revenue while providing a much-needed destination for China's burgeoning arts scene. The plan needed to inspire multiple stakeholders with often divergent interests. First, the city government in Beijing wanted to ensure that the district would a visible and acclaimed destination. Second, the land-holder, SevenStar Group, needed to generate a sustainable revenue stream to endow the pension fund of former factory workers. Third, international and Chinese non-profit cultural institutions investing in 798 such as the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art wanted to focus on culture and protecting the district's distinctive character. Finally, residents of adjacent neighborhoods were vocal about the need for community parks, recreation, and job opportunities. Considering these voices equally, the Sasaki Associates master plan for 798 endeavored to