In the past, the Lhasans had their houses built mainly around the Jokhang Monastery. Having stood for a great amount of time, these pillbox-like houses are old enough to retire. Since 1987, the Central Government has earmarked a total of 50.5 million yuan for urban construction in Lhasa, including the renovation of old housing, water supply facilities, and sewage. Statistics show that 130,000 square meters of old housing have been renovated, resulting in 2,000 families having moved into new houses and 400 others, previously without housing, having been allotted their own houses. The per-capita share of housing reaches 13 square meters. All the newly built or renovated houses retain Tibetan styles, but are augmented with modern facilities such as drinking water pipes and sewage. The Lhasans are satisfied with this. The road around the Jokhang Monastery has also been paved with granite slabs and lined with street lamps, better facilitating the ritual walks locals take around the monastery. Barkor Street, which used to be muddy, is now neat and clean and has become a "scenic spot" or a "shopping center" in the city, which domestic and foreign visitors cannot miss.
Along with the renovation of old housing, efforts were made to build new ones complete with modern toilets, cable television facilities, and telephones. Statistics show that 15 residential quarters have been built around downtown Lhasa. They are complete with all modern equipment, such as recreational and communication facilities. Houses there are modern or traditional, with construction areas totaling 1.2 million square meters. In 1995 alone, Lhasa built 200,000 square meters of housing for 2,900 households. In these residential quarters, each person enjoys a share of 22.5 square meters of living space, a figure greater than those from other parts of China.