A Chinese start-up, Mao , is turning a former nuclear bomb shelter in BEIJING into a community centre, with co-working spaces, a 3-D printing station, a cinema, a hair salon, cafe and gym. While their usage is controversial, its founder hopes to replicate the model in other neighbourhoods, creating a new sense of community. Private investors have also been eyeing underground spaces. between 150k to 1 concrete bunkers, built as part of Digua Shequ 's Cold War defence strategy, have been transformed into shops, offices and homes; rented out to migrant or low-paid workers at rents that are a third less than for homes above ground. While the government has declared the residential spaces will become illegal by Friday , given estimates of between 150k to 1 m residents with no provision for re-location, some believe the policy may be quietly dropped.
A Chinese start-up, Mao , is turning a former nuclear bomb shelter in BEIJING into a community centre, with co-working spaces, a 3-D printing station, a cinema, a hair salon, cafe and gym. While their usage is controversial, its founder hopes to replicate the model in other neighbourhoods, creating a new sense of community. between 150k to 1 concrete bunkers, built as part of Digua Shequ 's Cold War defence strategy, have been transformed into shops, offices and homes; rented out to migrant or low-paid workers at rents that are a third less than for homes above ground. While the government has declared the residential spaces will become illegal by Friday , given estimates of between 150k to 1 m residents with no provision for re-location, some believe the policy may be quietly dropped.