Abstract
With rapid urbanization in China, settlement patterns are changing dramatically. While there is a large body of research on changes in Chinese cities, we know relatively little about the countryside despite the profound transformation that is taking place in rural China. At the turn of the 21st century, the traditional rural Chinese settlement—natural villages—are being systematically demolished, and villagers are being resettled into apartments and urban communities at an astonishing scale and speed. Unprecedented forced urbanization with profound socioeconomic and spatial transformation is taking place in much of rural China. This chapter aims to understand the dynamics and impact of the rapid urbanization of rural China by taking rural Jiangsu Province as a case study. The author argues that local governments’ thirst for more construction land for economic development under the strict land use management system and land-based revenue system is the root cause for this forced urbanization in rural China, which is further driven by the central government’s call for developing the socialist new countryside. While villagers may benefit from the improved housing conditions, they suffer serious social and economic consequences. This forced urbanization is especially detrimental to the elderly and the poor, which overshadows the campaign for a modern countryside and a harmonious society.
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Notes
- 1.
“Mu” is a measure commonly used in China. 1 mu is 1/15 ha.
- 2.
This was also included in National Committee of Development and Reform (NCDR), 2006.
- 3.
According to State Council, land unused within 2 years will be taken back with no compensation, land unused within 1 year will be charged 20% of the land transaction fee as land fallow fee.
- 4.
If VCL housing is built by the local government, no profit should be made; if it is built by developers, profit should not be more than 3%.
- 5.
WVCLO is headed by the director of Wuxi Bureau of Construction (WBC), together with vice-directors of WBC, Municipal Development and Reform Committee, Bureau of Financial Affair, Bureau of Civil Affair, Planning Bureau, and Land Bureau in Wuxi.
- 6.
They are Binhu District, Wuxi New District, Xishan District and Huishan District.
- 7.
For example, in the annual work summary for 2006 by JMG, it claimed Jiangyin has accomplished 133% of the goal by demolishing 120 villages, resettling 6650 households, completing farmer apartments 1,615,000 m2, and saving land 4320.38 mu.
- 8.
Interview. Shenggang is a typical town in Southern Jiangsu province with about two thirds of its economy in industry and about one third in service. More than a quarter of all local households were resettled during 2005–2006, and about 50% of all population lived in villager apartments. According to its town planning completed in 2007, only 3 out of 10 administrative villages will be kept, and the rest will be demolished (JPI 2007).
- 9.
Interview. For example, in Shenggang town, the land conveyance fee increased from less than 200,000 yuan/mu in 2006 to 1–2 million yuan/mu in 2010.
- 10.
According to my interview, 60% of the profit belongs to the town government, 20% to the municipal government, and another 20% to the provincial government. According to a study in another city in Jiangsu Province, more than 56% of gains from development goes to municipal government, 14% goes to village collective, 26% for villagers, and 1.55% for central government, 1.2% for provincial government (Zhu and Qu 2006).
- 11.
For example, in one village, half of the village has already been resettled, while households living along the river have not. Villagers have been told about the plan of widening the river for more than three years, yet, the project has not started. It appears there is a disagreement between the town government and the Municipal Bureau of Water and Irrigation regarding who should pay for the resettlement.
- 12.
Interview.
- 13.
Interview. The price was 350 yuan/m2 in Wuxi.
- 14.
For example, in Jiangyin, the subsidized price for resettlement housing was 550 yuan/ m2 in 2005, which was about one third of the market price (JMBC 2005C).
- 15.
For example, floors, ceilings, walls, doors, windows, built-in furniture, bathroom and kitchen facilities, lights and faucets, flower bed, fence, wells, and trees/bushes. There are also different prices for the same item that is made of different materials.
- 16.
Each household receives 600 yuan as moving subsidies. If the resettlement housing has not been completed, each household receives 3 yuan/m2 per month for the qualified amount of floor space of its demolished housing for up to 12 months. If the waiting period exceeds 12 months, the compensation rate is 6 yuan/m2 per month. Households may also receive 200 yuan per day for up to 60 days if they sign the resettlement contract before the deadline, or 15–50 yuan/m2 if they complete their move before the deadline.
- 17.
In places where the land is still collectively owned, households are constrained to sell their apartments, while in places where the land is urban land, villagers receive the deed for both housing and land such that they can sell their farmer apartments on the market with no constraints.
- 18.
Having someone die in the house is often considered a bad luck, due to superstition.
- 19.
In XHT, all houses have been demolished except one, which stands at the end of a road between two new resettlement buildings.
- 20.
Interview.
- 21.
They are qualified to purchase an apartment of 250 m2 with subsidized price. But with two children away from home, they do not think they need that much space.
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Huang, Y. (2017). Farewell to Villages: Forced Urbanization in Rural China. In: Tang, Z. (eds) China’s Urbanization and Socioeconomic Impact . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4831-9_12
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