In Wuhan, Hubei Province, Jianghan District, Huaan Village is one of the largest urban villages in Wuhan, with a peak population of 100,000 migrant workers. At the end of June this year, the local government issued a notice about the relocation and compensation plan, but the low compensation standard and the use of “housing vouchers” as compensation led to resistance from all villagers.
According to mainland Chinese media reports, on June 30, the Jianghan District of Wuhan officially released the “Jianghan District Huaan Village Urban Village Transformation Land Acquisition Compensation and Resettlement Plan.” The acquisition area is located in Hejiadun Village, Hanxing Street, Jianghan District, with a total land area of 1.6274 hectares.
This resettlement plan caused a strong reaction among the villagers, as the compensation was low and in the form of housing vouchers, leading to a protest by the villagers.
Mr. Wang, a villager, told reporters that the villagers protested for several days in early July, but with no results. Those who participated in the protests were warned by the local police station, and some villagers were even detained. The property owners in the protest group are now hesitant to get involved.
On July 4, the protests peaked as hundreds of villagers staged a demonstration, blocking roads and protesting on-site, leading to a clash with the police.
Mr. Wang said, “At the beginning, we protested under the command building. On the first day of the protest, many police and some security personnel came. We protested for several days more, sometimes under the command building, sometimes under the bridge at the community exit, and some villagers were warned by the police station over the phone and two were taken away.”
He mentioned that currently, no one dares to protest, but some are organizing all property owners to sign a petition expressing dissatisfaction with the current compensation plan and demanding a public hearing by the command center to redefine the compensation plan.
One of the compensation measures in the plan is housing vouchers, where the land acquisition implementing unit quantifies the compensation interests of the property rights holders after land acquisition as currency, and issues them in the form of housing vouchers.
The housing voucher settlement stipulates that it can be used to offset the payment for designated new commercial housing and housing sources in the Jianghan District. A policy incentive of 5% of the purchase amount is given for purchasing designated new commercial housing within the voucher validity period; no policy incentives are given for purchasing housing sources from the housing market. The housing voucher becomes effective from the date of issuance, with a usage period of 18 months.
Furthermore, property owners who purchase designated commercial housing in Jianghan District within the voucher usage period may settle the remaining balance in currency within 12 months. If the property owners do not use the housing voucher within the usage period, after relevant procedures are audited, a currency settlement is made based on the original value of the housing voucher.
Mr. Wang expressed, “The reason why villagers resist housing vouchers is simple – the vouchers can only be used to purchase properties in undesirable locations that are overpriced compared to the market rates.”
He added, “If you don’t use the vouchers, you have to wait for a review after 18 months to convert them to cash. It’s uncertain how long the review process will take; your house is demolished, and you are given a piece of paper; whether you can convert it to cash later is unknown. Who would be willing to accept this?”
Mr. Wang also revealed another unreasonable compensation plan where a building with multiple households was forced to register with only one person. He believes this is to reduce the number of compensations because more names mean more money to pay.
According to mainland media reports, since November 30, 2020, Wuhan Metro Line 12 has been under construction for over four years, but due to various reasons, many stations or sections along the line have not completed land acquisition or relocation.
Mr. Wang mentioned that in 2022, the metro project in their area also involved relocation, but the compensation conditions for this project were twice as favorable compared to the current situation. He estimated that for a 700 square meter property, they would only receive around 3 million yuan in compensation under the current policy. However, for the same area under the 2022 metro project, they could receive 6 million yuan in cash, which is double the amount, and with better housing options rather than vouchers.
“People are not just disgruntled with the use of vouchers; the main property valuation is not even disclosed. The designated properties in the voucher program are priced 1,000-2,000 yuan per square meter higher than market rates,” Mr. Wang added angrily.
He stated that almost every household in the village has four to seven-story buildings constructed in the 1990s, approved by the government. The villagers mainly rely on renting out properties for income. If they agree to relocation now, they will lose their source of livelihood.
“More demolitions mean more poverty; no one is willing to accept this,” he explained.
“In accordance with the current policies of the command center, if we want to buy houses in surrounding areas, we must exchange three square meters for one. In other remote areas, the relocation compensation policies are better than ours.”
Mr. Wang expressed that despite the government’s claims of improving living conditions, villagers would rather use their rental income to move elsewhere and improve their living conditions.
“This is a matter of dragging people to their death,” Mr. Wang believed that if the forced relocation policy is implemented, there will undoubtedly be fatalities. He bluntly told the reporters that two villagers have already died due to the relocation policy, although the specifics are unclear.
The villagers stated that relocation requires over 90% of the villagers’ consent to proceed. Currently, the relocation command center is having residents fill out forms, which seems to be just a formality. Whether filling out these forms will have any effect remains uncertain, but the command center is pressuring them and reluctant to hold a public hearing.
Attempts to contact the local street office and the relocation command center were unsuccessful, as no one answered the calls.