The vanishing slums of Urumqi
- Source: Global Times
- [01:05 July 29 2010]
- Comments
A Uyghur man walks through the Hejiashan slum in Tianshan district of Urumqi.
By Lin Meilian in Urumqi
Seen from above, the Hejiashan slum is a labyrinth of muddy roads that run helter-skelter through a village, of squalid brick shacks that breed some of the worst poverty in China.
The slum in the Tianshan district of Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, is home to about 34,000 people, mostly Uyghur. It is on the official map of shantytowns that will be razed under the city government's plan to relocate more than 200,000 people.
However, the transformation of Hejiashan involves more than compensation. The demolition and reconstruction effort is also seen as a problem of public safety.
A place to disappear
As demolition continues in Heijiashan, a bunch of Uyghur boys are playing soccer between an overstuffed trash bin and smelly public toilets.
Amina Dawuti, 37, a Uyghur woman, has been living here with her husband and two sons for 10 years, along with nine relatives, in a 600-square-meter dwelling that has no gas, running water or heating.
According to the government's plan, 1,855 similar households in Heijiashan will be relocated. Thus far, around 168 families have been resettled.
Amina's family is in no rush to move out. They are waiting for community workers to negotiate their compensation contract.
"Honestly, moving into a decent house is a good idea, yet we are negotiating for a better price," she told the Global Times.
Amina works as a cleaning lady. She earns 1, 060 yuan ($156) a month and she is the sole breadwinner in her family. Her husband stays at home as a baby sitter for their three-year-old son.
