Shanty towns are no place to call home

For 30 years, Wang Chaoqiong, her brother, their two families and their mother have lived in a 30-square-metre shanty in Shibati, a slum in the heart of Chongqing. It is a dark and malodorous place with no windows or toilet. It is the lower half of one of about 7,000 two-storey brick shacks built in Shibati, in the city's Yuzhong district, more than 50 years ago.

'It's peaceful around here during the day, but once it gets dark thieves come out and they don't spare anyone,' Wang said. 'We are poor, but this doesn't stop thieves from forcing their way in and taking away loose change and even leftover food. We've already changed the padlock six times, but it's no use.'

In summer, the temperature can rise to 40 degrees Celsius. 'We can't stand the stink and heat so we stay outdoors until midnight and the house cools,' she said. 'Even the rats and cockroaches come out to take a breath of fresh air.'

Wang and her family are one of an estimated 10 million on the mainland that are deprived of decent housing.

Beijing has pledged to build up to three million housing units for the poor this year, but Wang, 46, has nearly given up hope of seeing an improvement in her family's living conditions any time soon.

For decades, the central government has encouraged rapid urbanisation. But as millions poured into mainland cities, subsidised housing construction did not keep up. Demand far outstripped supply, especially as builders, uninterested in the low profit margins of public housing, focused on the private market. Many migrants could not afford even the low-cost housing and, because of the restrictions of the hukou residence requirements, could not qualify for public housing. As a result, they, like the Wang family, were forced into shanty towns.