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| A scene in Dongsiwenli, one of the city's largest and oldest shikumen-style communities, is seen yesterday.(Photo/Shanghai Daily) |
Relocation for the residents of Dongsiwenli, one of the largest and oldest downtown Shikumen communities in the city, has arrived even though some still haven't agreed to compensation terms.
The nearly 100-year-old community will be demolished to make way for a new office tower.
"Now you Shanghai people will get rich after all this," said a couple from out-of-town to a local man living next door.
The Shanghai man just smiled.
The man's three-member family live in a 21-square-meter apartment in Dongsiwenli, Jing'an District. After they are relocated they will own two larger apartments, which they received as compensation, in the Pudong New Area's Sanlin area.
90 billion yuan
Dongsiwenli was first built in 1914 and the demolishment of the community is part of a broad blueprint to increase the pace of urban renovation and so-called slum removal.
Shanghai plans this year to replace 700,000 square meters of dilapidated housing and relocate 30,000 households to new apartments to improve the living conditions of low-income locals.
The government is expected to pay a total of 90 billion yuan (US$14.6 billion) in relocation compensation this year.
Some Dongsiwenli residents, knowing their lives will change, harbor fears that the compensation they received wasn't enough while a minority still haven't agreed on a settlement.
The west part of the community, Xisiwenli, was demolished more than 10 years ago. Office buildings are now being built on the land. Now the bulldozers and wrecking balls are coming to the rest of the community, home to more than 3,000 households, several factories, dozens of stalls, and a senior's home.
Some residents are happy to move out from cramped quarters and into modern apartments with plumbing and other amenities. Others worried about a variety of things.
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