An employee from Chengdu Construction Committee told the reporter that all the arrangements in the community are based on a people-oriented philosophy and comply strictly with the standards and requirements of the Ministry of Construction.
"The intention is that the transitional community will have all the functions of a mature community," the staff said.
On May 22, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Construction issued "Guidelines for the Construction of Transitional Houses in Quake-ravaged Areas", defining clear requirements in terms of construction process and choice of location. The Ministry requires that all transitional houses should be built close to each other, each site should contain at least 50 apartments, the houses should be built in rows and each row should contain four to ten apartments based on the condition of the site, the space between rows should be four to five meters, the path for emergency vehicles should be at least 4 meters wide, and public bathrooms should stand at the appropriate distance from the houses.
Concerning auxiliary service facilities, the ministry requires that every 50 apartments should be equipped with one water-supply point, one set of public bathrooms, one garbage collecting point and one fire-fighting unit. The water-supply point should have a rain-proof shelter to protect residents while cooking, bathing, or doing laundry. The public bathrooms should be disability-friendly facilities of around 40 square meters and contain both bathing space and lavatories, and a cesspit. The garbage collection point should have all necessary garbage collection, cleaning and transport equipment. Also, every 1,000 apartments should be provided with one elementary school.
