Redevelopment, Displacement, Housing Conditions, and Residential Satisfaction: A Study of Shanghai

[[abstract]]Chinese cities are undergoing massive transformation. One after another, inner city neighbourhoods of pre-1949 origin and work-unit compounds built in the socialist period have been torn apart, giving way to glossy office towers and luxurious condominiums. Millions of people have been uprooted and forced to be relocated. The mass media and research based on case studies generally convey a message of widespread grievance among the displaced residents. Based on a survey of 1200 households conducted in Shanghai in 2006, the present study provides a systematic account of the profiles of the displacement residents, juxtaposed against other residents of the city classified according to migratory status. The major conclusion is that irrespective of all the criticisms concerning unregulated demolitions and forced evictions, the housing conditions of the displaced residents are somewhat better off than other Shanghai residents, both objectively and in terms of subjective evaluations