Hundreds evicted, businesses shut down to clean up air near Shanghai Disney theme park

The authorities in Shanghai have evicted hundreds of residents and dozens of businesses to clean up the air and make way for the newest Disney theme park, which opens on Thursday.

Residents were paid for lost homes, but hundreds of employees of closed factories say they do not know where their next jobs will be.

“You can find low-paying work, but jobs that pay better you can’t get,” said a 50-year-old equipment inspector at China Xingyue Group, which makes small utility vehicles and motorbikes. He would give only his surname, Chen.

The story has been repeated thousands of times across China over the past two decades as the communist government removed farmers and small businesses for construction of factories, office towers, hydroelectric dams and other projects.

The authorities who used to turn out residents with little compensation have got more sophisticated about smoothing the transition, but the outcome is the same: a community uprooted to make way for economic development.

In the district near the Disney site, at least 153 factories have been ordered to close this year to cut pollution, according to the local government. Most are workshops that employ 10 to 20 people producing goods ranging from clothing to chemicals.