Has urban resettlement in China become more peaceful?

Are violent clashes that were once inevitable consequences of any resettlement exercise in China diminishing in the bigger cities?

Perhaps, argued some as compensations have become better. A case in point of the apparent shift in dynamics can be found in Wangtan(望壇), a massive ramshackle area outside the southern second ring road of Beijing.

Home to 5,700 families, or more than 20,000 underprivileged Beijing natives, it is the last major scar in the city’s Dongcheng district that needed to be demolished to give way to urban high rises, public parks and shopping centres.

Beijing city’s master plan for 2016-2035 has designated Dongcheng and Xicheng districts to be the “core areas” as political and international exchange centres.

Zhang Limei, a 55-year-old woman, is one of the 20,000 to be relocated. She and her parents are crammed into a 30 square metre shack where they cooked besides the bed and share bathroom and lavatory with residents in the alleyway.

Zhang has three compensation options: cash, a flat in a nearby building, or a larger flat in the new Tuanhe development area 20 kilometres south of downtown Beijing.

While no resident opted for cash, Zhang and her neighbours had balked between the choice of a unit nearby and one that is remotely located.