NIMBYism Comes To China

Middle class residents of Shenzhen successful opposed plans for a new freeway, signaling a potential backlash to the country's rapid growth.

1 minute read

December 20, 2006, 5:00 AM PST

By Christian Madera @http://www.twitter.com/cpmadera

"When residents here in southern China's richest city learned of plans to build an expressway that would cut through the heart of their congested, middle-class neighborhood, they immediately organized a campaign to fight City Hall.

Over the next two years they managed to halt work on the most destructive segment of the highway and forced design changes to reduce pollution from the roadway. It became a landmark in citizen efforts to win concessions from a government that by tradition brooked no opposition."

"Academics and others who study the city's development say it is no surprise that Shenzhen is emerging as the cradle of movements like this. From the start, its proximity to Hong Kong has made it unusually open to outside influences. The city is also new, founded in 1980, and populated by migrants who contribute to a culture of greater individualism and risk-taking than anywhere else in China."

FULL STORY: In Chinese Boomtown, Middle Class Pushes Back

Monday, December 18, 2006 in The New York Times

Government / Politics Urban Development China

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