Dawangjing follow-up 1: the village demolished

konjaku: in “Beijing: unification of urban and rural 1.Beiwu and Dawangjing” posted here in May 2012, Dawangjing village was given as one of the two models, along with Beiwu village, by which the Beijing government was signaling a new approach to urban development on its periphery. ” The Dawangjing model is to increase compensation to the villagers being relocated, and to explore the possibility of giving them a share of the future profits for ground rents in the redevelopment. The Beiwu model is to allow the villagers to have a say in the urbanization process, and through control of village collective land, to partake of the gains of urbanization.” Although it is hard to see at first glance how these approaches really differ, the main point was to soften the blow of demolishing the village by giving the displaced villagers increased compensation and the possibility of regaining some of the future profits from development of the land, which had previously been the exclusive possession of the government. As we saw, demolishing Dawangjing left a great deal more land available for commercial development than Beiwu. The government was more confident of attaining large profits from the project, therefore its terms to the villagers were more generous. From the beginning it was willing to give all the villagers urban resident status, unlike Beiwu. As with Beiwu, in the following series I will try and glean everything I can about what has happened to Dawangjing villagers after the demolition of their village.

Beijing Dawangjing village, all the villagers move to new interim residences.

2009-04-17

http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2009-04-17/025717625389.shtml

Yesterday, at Dawangjing village, the businesses lined up along the street have all been torn down.

This newspaper reported, after Beiwu village in Haidian district, the second stage of the Beijing pilot project of urban rural unification moved to Chaoyang district Dwangjing. As opposed to Haidian, the Dawangjing residents all became urban residents when they moved out of their previous residences. 50000 square meters of business real estate was slated to the villagers to be a source of future income and a social security fund.

Dawangjing village is located in the northeast corner of Wangjing, near the Airport Expressway, in the 5th Ring. It is a typical example of the area undergoing urban and rural unification.

After 7-30 of this year, the natural village of Dawangjing will no longer exist, except in name. In its place there will be a green belt and new buildings. The various existing organizations will continue for a time, and gradually fade into the establishment of a community management committee. The rural economic co-op will continue to function as a collective.

Since the demolition started at the beginning of this month, the parties involved in 81 of the 99 non -residential buildings have signed agreements and moved out. 51 of the buildings have been torn down. By the end of this month (4th month) they will all be gone. The demolition of the residences will begin in the 5th month.

At present. the process of measuring and estimating the value of the villagers’ homes is in progress. The specifics of the evacuation of the village and transfer to new residences will be announced at the end of the month.

As for replacement residences, the villagers can opt for a cash compensation and a one-time housing placement, or they can select to live in the targeted housing in the new development, Nangao  Zutuan, which is in a new residential area south of the nearby Dongying village.

In the urban rural unification plan, the targeted housing is meant to be the preferred option. It will be similar  to the Beijing Olympic village. Originally the village was inside the 5th ring, but after demolition and relocation the villagers will live outside the 5th ring.

After the demolition and relocation method is fully formulated by the relevant departments, discussed with the villagers, and approved by the Beijing city government, the standard of compensation will be announced. It will not be less than the 1:1 ratio implemented in Beiwu.

The Cuigezhuangxiang administration has set aside 1000 apartments for the villagers to move into during the transition. The villagers will themselves pay the rent in the interim, and will be reimbursed by the government later. 1500 children will  be unconditionally received into schools in the township on a temporary basis, and tuition fees for the first half of the year will be waived.

Nangao Zutuan is a large residential development project of market priced housing in Cuigezhuangxiang. It  will be built in 3 to 4 stages, scheduled to be completed in 2015. Within it will be businesses, schools, hospital, and social service community centers, to form a complete set of facilities.

How do Dawangjing and Beiwu compare?

Cuigezhuangxiang township head Hu Zhenjian said, while the Dawangjing pilot project draws lessons from the experience of Beiwu, there are some differences. The majority of Dawangjing villagers will become urban residents, with only 78 peasants left over. The plan is for all the villagers to achieve all the safeguards urban residents have, they will receive access to the five types of insurance (old age insurance, medical insurance, unemployment insurance, industrial injury insurance, partuition insurance) and the public housing fund. Second, while the Beiwu villagers will relocate to a housing development at the original village site, the Dawangjing villagers are given a cash compensation with which to purchase their replacement residence. Some may choose to go into the new development, the Nangao Zutuan. This means the villagers will be unable to return to the land they have lived in for generations and generations.

250000 square meters of first floor commercial property –will the villagers, as shareholders, be able to generate income from it? It is difficult to evaluate —

Dawangjing village and Dawang New City are right next to each other. Yesterday, this reporter sought the opinion of a noted developer in Wangjing, this developer said that at present bottom floor commercial space in Wangjing retails for 20 to 30,000 yuan per square meter. The profits the village corporation could obtain from rents is difficult to estimate, as it all depends on location. It varies widely from 2 to 3 yuan per square meter a day in less desirable areas,to 8-15 yuan in better areas.Because there are many business proprietors who do anything to make a name for themselves and over-expand, the rental income is entirely dependent on store management. In some cases income dwindles to zero, or even can become a net loss. It is entirely different from the market for residential property.

Reporter Li Liqiang, photo Xue Jun

Rendering of Nangao Zutuan