Shenzhen: Constructing the City, Reconstructing Subjects

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Reading and Film Response
Shenzhen: Constructing the City, Reconstructing Subjects
The article is based on the decision of the ministry of housing and urban in 2009 to have Shenzhen as the pilot city for urban renewal. The city is, however, facing the challenge of integration of rural and urban settings and lifestyles. The development of Shenzhen resulted in high migrant workers in the city, most of them being unauthorized. The population of the city is therefore very diverse, most of them being lawful migrants from other cities, while the smallest group is the former villagers who are the locals (Bach). Presumably, this is a typical scenario in any developing city. It attracts people from other towns who come looking for employment while others set up businesses with the expectation that the city will grow.
The rural-urban fuse was initiated by the permission for rural villages to maintain their agricultural legal status. When factories were set on the village land, villages expanded outwards to house the migrants. Therefore, when the urban city developed, its outskirts were villages that created the problem of who should be considered as urban. The city hopes to end the village setting and the informal settlements and create urban economic citizenship for the villagers and the migrants.
However, the aspect may be faced by opposition from the residents, especially those that want to continue their farming activities. The article points out that the aim is to make the entire city urbanized by selling land from farmers and selling it to investors. Presumably, this is likely to cause environmental issues, especially in a setting where the plantation is completely cut down. The development might have to consider the ecological impact it will create on the environment and maybe allow a certain...