Former farmers enjoy beers at a bar built in their relocation housing estate in southern China’s Changsha city. Their village homes and farmland has been razed by the communist government.
China is pushing ahead with a dramatic, history-making plan to move 100 million rural residents into towns and cities over the next six years — but without a clear idea of how to pay for the gargantuan undertaking or whether the farmers involved want to move.
Moving farmers to urban areas is touted as a way of changing China’s economic structure, with growth based on domestic demand for products instead of exporting them. In theory, new urbanites mean vast new opportunities for construction firms, public transportation, utilities and appliance makers, and a break from the cycle of farmers consuming only what they produce.