A rare vote by residents of a dilapidated neighborhood has thrown the largest demolition project in Beijing in decades into doubt, a result state media yesterday described as an embarrassment for the developers.
State media hailed the "referendum" as significant in a country with a lucrative urban development business where arbitrary settlement terms, forced eviction and even "brutal demolition" are more common.
But some are more guarded, saying it was more of a survey than a meaningful vote.
Residents in the Jiuxianqiao area of northeastern Beijing cast their votes on Saturday to decide if the demolition of their neighborhood should go ahead on the developer's compensation terms, the People's Daily said.
Jiuxianqiao is dotted by collective dormitories built in the 1950s and 1960s by now struggling state-owned electronics factories. The government says 70 percent of the housing is too old and dangerous and residents do not oppose the reconstruction.
"We can't bear to live in these shabby houses any longer. We have to share a toilet, and it's a dirty and hard life. I'm old, and I want to move into a new house before I die," the China Daily quoted a resident as saying.
Inhabitants could move back to the new apartments at a cost much lower than Beijing's soaring market price, but that's what the complaints are about -- with the compensation on offer, many say they still cannot afford the new accommodation, the People's Daily said.
Only 2,451 households, or 45 percent of the total number of 5,473, agreed with the demolition plan, while 1,228 cast a no vote and most of those who did not vote were against it, the newspaper said, calling the results embarrassing.
"It is unknown whether the demolition will start, or whether it will take place at all," the China Daily said.
Meanwhile, the China Daily quoted Vice Minister of Construction Qiu Baoxing (
"Senseless actions" by local officials in their pursuit of renovation and modernization have "devastated'' the sites," Qiu said, similar to what happened during the Great Leap Forward in the late 1950s and during the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976.
The deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage accused some local governments of pulling down valuable historical sites in need of repair and replacing them with fakes.
He said a 1 billion yuan (US$130 million), five-year nationwide survey on cultural relics has been launched to get a clearer picture of their status.
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