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Gentrification in Peking and Paris (III)

However, finance was also the reason for Haussmann’s dismissal in 1870, one year after failing to get parliament’s support for the fourth issuing of bonds. This was mostly due to the provinces’ opposition to using State resources for the sole benefit of Paris. It is interesting to note that financial costs had increased as a consequence of the June 6, 1860 ruling by the Supreme Court. This ruling not only increased compensation to landlords, but also granted protection to expropriated tenants. The prefect harshly opposed the ruling, as it would “dramatically increase expropriation costs and delay the works due to the multiplication of procedures”. It is notable that this was the first time expropriation was used to renovate the city of Paris: entire quarters were demolished. The Declaration of Universal Human Rights of 1789 consecrated the right to property, and the Law of June 3, 1841 set the regulations for expropriating land in cases of public utility, stressing the social significance. In 1852, however, the decision to expropriate in cases of public utility was transferred from the legislative branch to the Emperor, leaving parliament without control over the procedure.1

In the case of China, the expropriation procedure has undergone an important evolution over the last two decades, although a low level of compensation has remained its main feature. The declaration of public utility was vague until 2012, leaving local governments with discretionary powers to use land acquisitions for local finance. With reference to the meagre compensation fees, it is interesting to reflect on the report by Hyun Bang Shin about residential redevelopment in Beijing. He analysed a specific case involving two phases between 1999 and 2002 in downtown Beijing.  He noted that in 2002 compensation fees would just amount to the equivalent of eight years accumulation of annual income for a three-person household (Price to Income ratio of 8 to 1) whereas the average price for an apartment there would be the equivalent to a PIR of 20 to 1. The PIR was lower outside the second ring road, reaching 7.1 to 1 outside the fourth ring road. Finally, even though 4% of the residents were re-housed in the redeveloped neighbourhood, most of them were driven out later due to the increase in housing costs. On average this would amount to as much as 28.7% of their monthly income, whereas before it came to 11.6%. The municipal ordinances only calculated compensation for registered Beijing residents (ironically excluding those migrant workers who were working on the renovation of the city for the Olympics).

City expansion paves the way for “commuting” to work from home. In Paris, commuting began at the time of the Haussmann renovations, especially for the displaced working classes. In Beijing, it led to the disappearance of bicycles, which have gradually left their place to cars, traffic jams, and pollution.

Community, Elosua Miguel

The splendid film “Shower” (xizao – 洗澡), by Beijing director Zhang Yang (张杨), depicts the last days of a neighbourhood in Beijing through the family-run bath where residents not only go to wash, but also to relax and chat at the end of the day. The film presents a caricature of the modern urban lifestyle, where white-collar employees devote just seven minutes of their “optimized time” to shower in specially designed cabins located near their offices in a sea of glass and steel. The activity is carried out without any trace of human interaction and is in stark contrast with the humanity that reigns in the local bath that is about to be demolished. Although the film is an exaggeration, it seems evident that displaced residents are forced to make a new start far from everything they have grown familiar with during their whole life, and this necessarily implies a break in social ties, the loss of points of reference, and the eclipse of neighbourhoods whose sense of community can hardly ever be replaced.

  1. Michel Lacave (1980) Stratégie d’expropriation et haussmannisation: l’exemple de Montpellier. Economies, Societés, Civilisations, 35e année, 5 []

Miguel Elosua

Spanish qualified lawyer; PhD in Chinese Law. UrbaChina Research Officer. Has lived in China since 2006.

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Gentrification in Peking and Paris (II)

Haussmann2

In both cities, housing conditions were poor before the start of the renovation work. In Paris, some inhabitants of the time qualified living conditions as deplorable and cholera epidemics ravaged the city. In Beijing, housing was old and maintenance was inadequate. Living space per capita was 3.6 square meters in 1978 (the standard was set at 9 square meters, but this was not respected in most cases).1 In 1985, according to a nationwide survey, more than half of Beijing’s residents did not have private kitchens, nearly two-thirds had no access to private toilets and only half had running water in the house.2

It is interesting to note the similarities in the catalysts of the renovations. In Beijing, as well as in the other Chinese cities, liberalization of the land came about as a result of the abandon of central planning and the adoption of the market system. In France, the July Monarchy (1830) marked the advent of capitalism in France and the triumph of the bourgeoisie. Everyone was encouraged to get rich, disregarding hierarchies or social barriers.3 This drew many migrants into the city, where the population increased from 600,000 to almost one million between 1845 and 1848, thus worsening the living conditions.

In Beijing, residents didn’t have ownership rights as such, but benefited from a public rental system. Different schemes of housing redevelopment have been put into effect since the economic reform. At the outset, the municipal government was more sensitive to the social issues, partly because limited public funding was available and residents contributed to the renovation work.  Developers were attached to the relevant governmental departments.  The government tried to foster the return of the original residents to the newly renovated areas by selling properties at discounted prices. As no developer could make a profit out of this scheme, and because the real estate market started to pick up, the government decided to separate from the developers quickly embracing free market policies. Newly independent real estate companies would finance renovation work, with local authorities providing administrative support. This liberalized system was characterized by the very low compensation fees that were granted to displaced residents in order to maximize profits.

In Paris, private developers were also encouraged by administrative support in the form of subsidized prices for the acquisition of expropriated land. For instance, for the Louvre-Rivoli work, the well-known Pereire brothers were offered land for 380 F/m2, when the market price in the area was around 950 F/m2. As in the case of Beijing during the first years of the opening, developers were in charge of distributing compensation to landlords and carrying out demolition work. The city granted them a fixed subsidy, payable over six years, that was obtained by issuing Treasury Bonds. Haussmann used the theory of productive costs to win over his detractors. He claimed that “it was necessary to acknowledge that parallel to the costs was the creation of much greater wealth”4. The upcoming Universal Exhibition of 1855 was to prove his point, as it attracted more than five million visitors. This theory also served Beijing after it was elected to host the 2008 Olympic Games in 2001. The city increased renovation work and launched new infrastructure projects under the one world one dream slogan (projects included a new airport terminal, eight new subway lines, 252 new star-rated hotels and 83 kilometres of planted greenbelt).

(The third part of this article will be published next Friday)

  1. Kirkby, R. J. R. (1990) China in K. Mathéy (ed.) Housing Policies in the Socialist Third World, London; New York: Mansell []
  2. Fan Y. (1989) Beijing Chengshi Zhuzhai Wenti de Xiangzhuang he Renwu. Beijing Guihua Jianshe, 8 []
  3. Patrice de Moncan (2009) Le Paris d’Haussmann. Les Editions du Mécène, Paris []
  4. E.G. Haussmann, Mémoires, 1890-1893 []

Miguel Elosua

Spanish qualified lawyer; PhD in Chinese Law. UrbaChina Research Officer. Has lived in China since 2006.

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Gentrification in Peking and Paris (I)

Haussmann

“We sense that it is to no purpose to regret the old Paris now, the historical and thinking Paris, whose last exhalations we are now witnessing; the artistic and philosophical Paris (…) where there were once groups, neighbours, neighbourhoods, traditions; where expropriations did not constantly trouble old relationships and the most cherished habits, where the artisan, who is now barred from the city centre by a merciless system, used to live next to the financier (…) Our eyes are full of tears, crying for this old Paris, especially when we see the intolerable “hotellerie”, the expensive confusion, the triumphant vulgarity, the terrible materialism that we are to bequeath to our nephews (…)”

This is an extract from one of the articles written by the journalist Jules Ferry in “Les comptes fantastiques d’Haussmann”. He denounces the colossal work to renovate Paris that was undertaken by Baron Haussmann during his 17 years as prefect of the city (1853-1870). The rebuilding of the city continued well after the end of the Second Empire under the direction of Haussmann’s collaborators, as Haussmann himself was dismissed following the severe criticism he received from his contemporaries. This renovation of Paris was probably the most dramatic of all the transformations the city has undergone to date. Paris had hardly changed for almost three centuries. Modernization brought gas lighting, wide avenues, clean water, modern sewage treatment, trees, public parks, fountains, hospitals, to name but a few changes.

After reading this extract one cannot help but reflect on the disadvantages of the phenomenal transformations that Chinese cities have undergone during the last two decades, in particular the capital, Beijing. In terms that remind us of July Ferry, some of the residents who lived in the thousands of hutong that were once the heartbeat of the city, and are now disappearing, lament their displacement from their inner-city neighbourhoods: “Nowadays, people say that high-level cadres live around the second ring road, while paupers live around the sixth ring road (…).1 It has been calculated that by 2007, approximately 1.5 million Beijing residents had been relocated to suburban areas as a consequence of the rebuilding of the city.2 Many officials are offering words of warning regarding the destruction of the historic architectural heritage: “The traditional streets and ancient buildings are disappearing under the bulldozer”.3 Likewise, the NGO Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center is working to raise awareness and help protect the cultural heritage (http://en.bjchp.org).

Hutongs (Drum and Bell tower neighbourhood), Elosua Miguel

This zoning of social classes or sociospatial reorganization as a result of urban redevelopment is a common feature in both the case of 19th century Paris and modern Beijing. Insufficient compensation prevents residents from staying in central Beijing. Gated compounds where non-residents are excluded likewise proliferate downtown. In Paris, rising rents also drove workers out of the city. It has been said that Haussmann wanted to place populations that were likely to revolt in areas outside of Paris (the city had a turbulent history of revolts, the last one just a few years before the renovations began). The working classes were forced to move to areas ignored by the renovation work. In Beijing, on the contrary, displaced residents have generally seen their housing quality improved, because they have usually moved into newly-built residences which, although far from the city centre, are modern and comfortable.

Obviously, there is also much dissimilarity in the urbanization of 19th century Paris and that of Beijing. In particular, Beijing’s rate of urbanization was only 20% in 1986. It had an urban population of less than one million at that time. Rural counties that served as its food basket made up the greatest part of the city area.4 Paris renovation works, on the other hand, were mainly carried out in the heart of the city. The city’s expansion has always been restrained by its enclosures; it has pushed out beyond only six enclosures in eight centuries, all the while maintaining its circular shape.5

(The second part of the article will be published next Friday)

  1. Hyun Bang Shin (2008) Residential redevelopment and social impacts in Beijing, Wu Fulong, (ed.) China’s emerging cities: the making of new urbanism. Routledge contemporary China series. London, UK []
  2. Campanella, Thomas (2008) The Concrete Dragon. Princeton Architectural Press []
  3. Shan Jixiang, director of China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage, Xinhua News Agency. June 2, 2006 []
  4. Victor F. S. Sit (2009) Chinese City and Urbanism, Evolution and Development, World Scientific []
  5. Eric Hazan (2002), L’invention de Paris, Editions du Seuil, Paris []

Miguel Elosua

Spanish qualified lawyer; PhD in Chinese Law. UrbaChina Research Officer. Has lived in China since 2006.

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