*5.3. A Radical Scenario of Densification*

The third option proposes a radical impact in quantity and quality: the renewal and densification of all the resettlement communities. The transformation of all the resettlement communities requires a general citywide plan of interventions with priorities and phases. It implies social, environmental, and economic costs, but if all the resettlement villages in Suzhou were densified, for example, by duplicating the floor area ratio, it would accommodate 1 million people, which is a very relevant contribution to the existing stock considering that the growth of the population of the city over the past 5 years was 2.16 million people. In a strategic approach, the new FAR is advisable to be higher than double the existing one, as in the Nanhuan New Village case, which was increased by three times. In fact, replacing the existing buildings, which were modern when the first inhabitants arrived, but today are, or soon will be, middle-class, goes along with the challenge of the definition and implementation of a new standard of residential environment promoted by the state. What was good enough for just resettled people was decided when the resettlement operations started, so it should not be repeated when new conditions emerge.

The large investment needed for the replacement must increase the number of people in the same area but also:

