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Home » Opinion » Chinese Views
Villages demolished to make way for urban growth
By Bai Xu, Zheng Qian and Liu Huan |
November 16, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IT took Du Deqing, a farmer from the Damazi Village, Hebei Province, seven years to build his house, but the demolition took several minutes.
"It is a waste of money," said the 53-year-old resident of Yongqing County. The man started preparing for the house in 2000 when he sold the grain he grew to buy bricks. The next year he sold grain for beams. Construction was completed in 2004 as he saved for another three years so he could furnish the house.
However, while Du was happily living in his new house, he was told to move to an apartment in a six-story building constructed by the local government. His village was to be razed.
Damazi Village was not alone. According to the Hebei Daily, the province in north China planned to relocate people from 7,500 villages so around 33,333 hectares of farmland would become available for construction.
In fact, similar demolition is taking place across China in the drive for urbanization.
According to a regulation issued in 2008, local governments are not allowed to use arable land for urban construction, except in some pilot regions where plots of equal size must be restored for cultivation.
As a result, many farmers were given apartments in county or township seats so their old homes could be leveled to become arable land, and a plot of arable land of the same size could be taken by the local government for construction.
One example was found in the Zhucheng city of east China's Shandong Province, which became the first city in China to demolish all of its villages.
Some officials and experts believe these measures are reasonable.
"As many young people in the countryside flooded into cities to work, villages became empty, resulting in a waste of land," said Chen Yupeng, vice head of the Hanjiang District of Putian City, east China's Fujian Province.
On the other hand, he noted, cities are in dire need of land for development. Such measures not only ensure the size of arable land would not be reduced, but improved living conditions for farmers, the official added.
This view was shared by Hao Jinmin, a professor with the China Agricultural University. Abolishing villages is an option in urbanization, he said.
High housing prices and hukou, the household registration system, prevented many farmers from migrating to cities.
"This measure helps to transfer labor from the countryside to adjacent townships and counties," said Professor Hao.
Cause of conflicts
However, other experts pointed out that the measure, if not used properly, could cause problems, especially when forced demolition has become the focus of conflicts.
Yu Jianrong, a research fellow with the Rural Development Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), on his microblog quoted an official from Wanzai County of Jiangxi Province as asking "Without demolitions, what would you intellectuals eat?"
In Chongqing Municipality, some colleges required students to change their hukou from rural to urban to speed the demolition of villages. Those who failed to obey were removed from the posts of school cadres and their fellowships were revoked.
Chen Xiwen, director of the office for the Communist Party of China Central Committee's Leading Group on Rural Work, warned: "The will of farmers should be obeyed and force shouldn't be used.
"Otherwise, village demolitions will become a disaster."
Driven by profit
Premier Wen Jiabao said at a meeting last Wednesday that some local governments, driven by profit, applied the village demolition policies to areas that were not authorized as pilot regions.
"Some forced demolition was against the will of farmers and infringed on their interest," he said.
Wen stressed that the decision of demolition must be made by farmers or their organizations.
Zhang Zhenqiang, 42, moved in June to his 144-square-meter apartment in Renxian County, Hebei Province.
"We were willing to move," he said, adding that in the village there was no garage for his new car and the environment in the village was not good. But Zhang's father was already 86 years old and the new apartment, on the fourth floor, had too many stairs for him. As a result, he remained in the old building in the village.
Zhang also wondered where he would store his tractor and farming equipment, which were in the old house, as well.
Other villagers continued to keep livestock and cattle in the village.
Zhang was not sure when his old house would be leveled, nor did he have plans to solve the problem.
"I hope the government does not raze the house too soon," he said.
(The authors are writers at Xinhua news agency.)
"It is a waste of money," said the 53-year-old resident of Yongqing County. The man started preparing for the house in 2000 when he sold the grain he grew to buy bricks. The next year he sold grain for beams. Construction was completed in 2004 as he saved for another three years so he could furnish the house.
However, while Du was happily living in his new house, he was told to move to an apartment in a six-story building constructed by the local government. His village was to be razed.
Damazi Village was not alone. According to the Hebei Daily, the province in north China planned to relocate people from 7,500 villages so around 33,333 hectares of farmland would become available for construction.
In fact, similar demolition is taking place across China in the drive for urbanization.
According to a regulation issued in 2008, local governments are not allowed to use arable land for urban construction, except in some pilot regions where plots of equal size must be restored for cultivation.
As a result, many farmers were given apartments in county or township seats so their old homes could be leveled to become arable land, and a plot of arable land of the same size could be taken by the local government for construction.
One example was found in the Zhucheng city of east China's Shandong Province, which became the first city in China to demolish all of its villages.
Some officials and experts believe these measures are reasonable.
"As many young people in the countryside flooded into cities to work, villages became empty, resulting in a waste of land," said Chen Yupeng, vice head of the Hanjiang District of Putian City, east China's Fujian Province.
On the other hand, he noted, cities are in dire need of land for development. Such measures not only ensure the size of arable land would not be reduced, but improved living conditions for farmers, the official added.
This view was shared by Hao Jinmin, a professor with the China Agricultural University. Abolishing villages is an option in urbanization, he said.
High housing prices and hukou, the household registration system, prevented many farmers from migrating to cities.
"This measure helps to transfer labor from the countryside to adjacent townships and counties," said Professor Hao.
Cause of conflicts
However, other experts pointed out that the measure, if not used properly, could cause problems, especially when forced demolition has become the focus of conflicts.
Yu Jianrong, a research fellow with the Rural Development Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), on his microblog quoted an official from Wanzai County of Jiangxi Province as asking "Without demolitions, what would you intellectuals eat?"
In Chongqing Municipality, some colleges required students to change their hukou from rural to urban to speed the demolition of villages. Those who failed to obey were removed from the posts of school cadres and their fellowships were revoked.
Chen Xiwen, director of the office for the Communist Party of China Central Committee's Leading Group on Rural Work, warned: "The will of farmers should be obeyed and force shouldn't be used.
"Otherwise, village demolitions will become a disaster."
Driven by profit
Premier Wen Jiabao said at a meeting last Wednesday that some local governments, driven by profit, applied the village demolition policies to areas that were not authorized as pilot regions.
"Some forced demolition was against the will of farmers and infringed on their interest," he said.
Wen stressed that the decision of demolition must be made by farmers or their organizations.
Zhang Zhenqiang, 42, moved in June to his 144-square-meter apartment in Renxian County, Hebei Province.
"We were willing to move," he said, adding that in the village there was no garage for his new car and the environment in the village was not good. But Zhang's father was already 86 years old and the new apartment, on the fourth floor, had too many stairs for him. As a result, he remained in the old building in the village.
Zhang also wondered where he would store his tractor and farming equipment, which were in the old house, as well.
Other villagers continued to keep livestock and cattle in the village.
Zhang was not sure when his old house would be leveled, nor did he have plans to solve the problem.
"I hope the government does not raze the house too soon," he said.
(The authors are writers at Xinhua news agency.)
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