China's urban transformation in a short span of 13 years is "amazing," said Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) Anaclaudia Rossbach in an exclusive interview with China Media Group in Nairobi, Kenya, which was released on Friday. Rossbach compared her visit to Beijing around 2012 with her latest trip to the city, painting two drastically different pictures of the Chinese capital from memory. Rossbach said she was particularly impressed by how Beijing has promoted its Olympic legacies, including by making full use of the Olympic venues, which she said is a very important part of the UN-Habitat's work. She cited the successful repurposing of the iconic National Stadium, nicknamed the Bird's Nest, which hosted both the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Games and the 2022 Winter Games. The stadium now is regularly used for large-scale sports competitions and entertainment events, and the sprawling Beijing Olympic Museum has also been drawing visitors from both home and aboard since it fully opened in late 2019. Shotlist: Nairobi, Kenya - Released on July 18, 2025: FILE: Beijing, China - June 2025 1. Aerial shot of cityscape; FILE: Beijing, China - Date Unknown 2. Aerial shot of traffic on Chang'an Avenue, Tian'anmen Rostrum; Nairobi, Kenya - Released on July 18, 2025 3. SOUNDBITE (English) Anaclaudia Rossbach, executive director, United Nations Human Settlements Program (starting with shot 2/partially overlaid with shots 4-5): "The Chinese transformation is really amazing, I like to talk about Chinese cities because I went there last year and before [that], I was there around 2012. It struck me totally arriving in Beijing 13 years after and seeing all this transformation. I almost couldn't recognize the city. The first time I went there, it was noisy, it was kind of gray and foggy. I couldn't even realize the green spaces. But I had a quite different idea of the city. And this time I saw a very vibrant, clean city, lots of public spaces. The noise disappeared because of the electric vehicles."; [SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] 4. Various of Rossbach in interview; FILE: Beijing, China - Date Unknown 5. Various of city skyline, traffic; [SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] FILE: Beijing, China - August 2024 6. Beijing Olympic Museum; 7. Various of people looking at pictures capturing moments of 2008 Summer Olympics; 8. People at National Stadium; Nairobi, Kenya - Released on July 18, 2025 9. SOUNDBITE (English) Anaclaudia Rossbach, executive director, United Nations Human Settlements Program (partially overlaid with shots 10-11): "I went to the Olympic site, the Bird's Nest, and I saw the legacy of it, which is a critical aspect of our work, too. We do work with cities that are hosting big events, major events. So, for me it was very important to see how Beijing was able to utilize this space that was completely transformed during the Olympic Games. So, today I saw elderly people living there but also enjoying the public spaces. Families with young kids playing around. I was in a normal weekday and I really could see people using the public spaces and enjoying [themselves]. I was really impressed."; [SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] 10. Various of Rossbach in interview; FILE: Beijing, China - August 2024 11. People playing teqball; [SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] 12. Various of Olympic rings statue, flags, Beijing Winter Olympic Games snowflake statue; 13. Various of statues of Beijing Summer, Winter Games mascots. [Restriction - No access Chinese mainland]