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Right to the city and critical reflections on property rights activism in China’s urban renewal contexts

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  • Shin, Hyun Bang

Abstract

The rapid transformation of urban socio-spatial landscape in China has resulted in an increasing degree of frustration and discontent among local residents who face threats of demolition and eviction. This has given rise to sporadic protests by local residents who are often known as ‘nail households’, that is, persistent protesters who are fixed to the land and hold onto their dwellings in protest against unwilling eviction and demolition of their dwellings. The presence of these protesters provides an effective example of local residents’ out cry in China. This paper is an attempt to critically re-visit the existing debates on local residents’ property rights activism in urban redevelopment processes, and to discuss the extent to which it can be an effective strategy. The paper refers to the right-to-the-city debate to examine whose right counts in China’s urban renewal contexts. It also makes use of empirical findings, both quantitative and qualitative, to examine how nail houses are received among local residents and migrants, and discusses the extent to which migrants can fit into local residents’ struggle against the top-down imposition of neighbourhood transformation. The paper ultimately calls for the need to form a place-based alliance that enables urbanites including migrants to come together to launch an effective claim on their right to the city

Suggested Citation

  • Shin, Hyun Bang, 2011. "Right to the city and critical reflections on property rights activism in China’s urban renewal contexts," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 41898, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
  • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:41898
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/41898/
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anne Haila, 1999. "Why is Shanghai Building a Giant Speculative Property Bubble?," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 583-588, September.
    2. Peter Marcuse, 2009. "From critical urban theory to the right to the city," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2-3), pages 185-197, June.
    3. David Harvey, 2003. "The right to the city," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 939-941, December.
    4. Laurence Ma, 2010. "The Great Urban Transformation. Politics of Land and Property in China," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(8), pages 1099-1100.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Bingqin Li & Hyun Bang Shin, 2012. "Migrants, Landlords and their Uneven Experiences of the Beijing Olympic Games," CASE Papers case163, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    2. repec:cep:sticas:/163 is not listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    right to the city; property rights; urban renewal; nail houses; displacement; Chin;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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