What are your thoughts on this? Should the government have a right to do this, or do people have a right to live where they want too?
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/10/03/china-is-demolishing-villages-and-forcing-people-into-bigger-ones
Sunday, October 4, 2020
China is demolishing villages and forcing people into bigger ones
For the last 30 years, Chinese farmers have moved to cities to work. Although this has been great for Chinese cities, villages have become hollowed out and are mostly comprised of the elderly and children. Houses are empty and many rural schools have closed forcing kids to walk miles to attend state run boarding schools. To combat this, many Chinese provinces have begun to knock down Chinese villages and build new, bigger ones, to accomadate these residents. However, experiments with what is being called "village consolidation" has been shown to be flawed. Those who order it are often motivated by greed and political advancement, and not for the well-being of its citizens. Local governments have an incentive to destroy rural villages as it would allow them to create more arable land that they can sell greenfield sites near cities to developers without reducing farmland. Although this promotes economic growth, powerless villagers become victims and millions of people have been turfed from their homes.
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2 comments:
The United States has a similar policy called Eminent domain, where they are able to seize land for the betterment of the citizens of the country. Although it is unfortunate that some people are made worse-off through the process it is a benefit for those who will have better access to education and better living conditions. China has been in a strong growth economy for a while now and it seems understandable for them to invest in their citizens to continue to promote growth and make their country better off.
I think it is very interesting that they are doing this. I beleive that people should have the right where they live and something like this should not be done as this takes away from their balanced lifestyles. However, this is the way of the world and money hungry politicians etc try different ways to further their cause and this is an example of effecient ways they can generate money. Even if villages are emptier than before it doesnt mean they should be dealt with like this. Perhaps the people in power know what they are doing but this is my obvservation Overall, very interesting read!
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