Why vote?

The renewal project covers an area of 420,000 square meters and will affect 5,473 families in the old buildings that were mostly built in the 1950s. Those building were also called "Tongzilou" in Chinese because of their tube-shaped structure and dwellers shared toilets and kitchens with other families. The project will be the largest reconstruction project of this kind in Beijing. These old-style buildings are considered dangerous because they are rundown, and so maintaining them is also a challenge for the municipal government.

A voter [R] changes the choice under the guidance of a worker at the venue for a vote on demolition and reconstruction of old buildings in Juixiaqiao Sub-district in Beijing, June 9, 2007. Local government and the real estate developer jointly organize the vote on Saturday to see if majority residents of over 5000 families accept the new compensation policy after failed attempts to reach an agreement through other ways. Both notary officials and supervisors are invited to monitor the vote that runs from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at six ballot booths. [Sun Yuqing/chinadaily.com.cn]

In 2003, the real estate developer, Beijing Electronics Holding and Sunshine Real Estate Co. Ltd. planned to build high-end residential buildings in Jiuxianqiao by the end of 2008 at 8,000 yuan per square meter. However, the residents refused to move.

Ba Changrui, deputy leader for the Jiuxianqiao Sub-district Office, equivalent to the people's government, has been directly responsible for the housing renewal project since early 2007. Under his coordination, the residents' representatives and real estate company negotiated over 20 times without reaching an agreement.

Finally the developer and local government decided to let the residents vote to have their final say. Ba also said that local government will discuss the issue again when the results are released and might delay the project if there's strong opposition.

Key differences

The complicated situation of property rights ownership has made the renewal project hard to continue. Among the 5,473 families, 707 have property rights over their houses. Other residents only have the right to live there, and their property rights belong to the state-owned enterprise where they work. Therefore, solving the issue of property rights would be difficult. Reports say the 707 families were the strongest opponents to the demolition since they already had property rights and couldn't afford to buy new houses.

On May 31, the company released a supplemental notice for housing renewal and promised to increase the cost of moving to a new place and renting it from 5,000 yuan per family to 20,000 yuan or 35,000 yuan. The notice also promised to offer larger housing space for those who choose to come back and live in the new buildings. However, the new policy still falls behind expectation of some residents.

Kong Lingguo, general manger of Beijing Electronics Holding and Sunshine Real Estate Co. Ltd., said if the residents veto the renewal project, the company will temporarily stop the project. Kong added that the new compensation measures will cost the company an additional 100 million yuan, which will be shared by the government and the company, which is unprecedented in this kind of procedures. The regional government hopes to move everyone at once to save time and money.

Is voting the answer?

A voter said that problems around this urban renewal project couldn't be solved by referendum, while another thought the vote was only a formality because the developer couldn't afford to wait and want to retreat in a face-saving way.

Zhang Qianfan, a professor from Peking University and deputy chairman of the Association of Constitutional Law in China, said that the majority voters have no right to force the minority to accept certain choices, and even the vote supports the project, the minority still can ask for rightful compensation.

Beijing municipal government has different regulations on the removal and rebuilding of the old houses. In an interview with 21st Century Business Herald, expert Qiu Feng said the government should find better solutions to this complicated problem. Many elderly residents have lived in the houses for dozens of years but don't have the property rights due to the planned economy decades ago. Qiu said they should have the proper rights without paying much.

But others look at the positive side. Han Han, a media worker in Beijing, said the vote is a good try to empower the people and get to understand their thinking. In China, the word renewal is often linked with lack of consideration since private property protection is still undeveloped.

When residents are removed from the premises, the government often gives priorities to developers rather than individuals. But earlier this year, top legislators passed a law to protect people's property rights, making a significant step forward. Which is why some experts think with the law in place, property issues should be resolved through the legal process instead of a voting one.

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