Urban Gentrification or Something

Jeremy and I live just up the road from 师范大学 (Yunnan Normal University) off of 建设路 (Jian4 She4 Lu4). Lately, a huge number of buildings being demolished along my walk to and from school. Days before a site is knocked down, you’ll see a big “拆” (chai, the character for demolish) inside a circle painted in red on the side of the building. Then guys come with sledgehammers and knock it down piece by piece, salvaging what they can, and hauling it all off in enormous dump trucks.

It’s very strange because they haven’t chosen empty buildings to get rid of. In fact, they targeted all kinds of thriving businesses — barbers, clothing boutiques, copy shops, and restaurants. Sadly, one of our favorite restaurants was among the casualties: Guo Zi Lou (锅子楼?), a three storey building that was almost always packed for lunch and dinner. They recently opened two other branches, probably in anticipation of this loss, but nevertheless it’s pretty upsetting.

The street vendors have also been getting harassed by the police, forced to clear from the sidewalk and streets. This started at the beginning of this semester when Jeremy arrived. So now, it seems that only certain times of day are acceptable. After 10 a.m. for example, almost all of the vendors that sell breakfast have disappeared from the stretch just before the school’s side gate. I don’t know. It seems stupid to arbitrarially enforce whatever laws exist against street vendors. I know the people that own the shop fronts aren’t always happy to have people selling stuff on the street, but it doesn’t seem fair to randomly crack down. Actually, one day the police were patrolling the shop fronts as well. Most shops use a fair amount of space just outside their entrances to display merchandise, and the police were asking them to remove freezers and shelving that had spilled onto the street. I watched them madly stuffing it all back in their shops.

Well, they’ve certainly succeeded in changing the face of 建设路 these days. Jeremy tells me that the University is under some kind of governmental evaluation right now and all of these nearby “improvements” are likely related.

I wonder if/what they’re going to rebuild on these demolition sites. Maybe they’re making way for “green spaces.” One of my teachers last semester was telling me that it’s been a trend to knock down buildings and replace them with gardens and trees. That’s kind of a nice idea I guess. Well, we’ll see what appears from the rubble over the next few weeks.