Displacement and Resettlement with Chinese Characteristics: An Editorial Introduction

  • Mark Wang The University of Melbourne,
  • Kevin Lo lokevin@hkbu.edu.hk
Keywords: Displacement, Resettlement, Resource Exploitation, Urban Renewal, Environmental Protection

Abstract

This special issue focuses on population displacement and resettlement in China and argues that many aspects of displacement and resettlement make China a unique case. From a wide variety of viewpoints, the contributors to this special issue provide readers with rich empirical evidence and insightful conceptual framework for understanding the causes, processes, and consequences of displacement and resettlement in China. Their contributions address varied types of displacement and resettlement, such as natural resource exploitation (e.g. dams and mining), urban renewal, and environmental protection, many of which have not received sufficient research attention. This special issue introduces the Chinese perspective to enrich the global discussion of population displacement and resettlement, opening up new possibilities for future research.

References

Cernea, M. (2006). Development-induced and conflict-induced IDPs: bridging the research divide. Forced Migration Review, 261:25-27.

Dickinson, D., and Webber, M. (2007). Environmental resettlement and development, on the Steppes of Inner Mongolia, PRC. Journal of Development Studies, 43(3):537-561.

Ding, C. (2007). Policy and praxis of land acquisition in China. Land Use Policy, 24(1):1-13.

Fratkin, E. (2014). Ethiopia's Pastoralist Policies: Development, Displacement and Resettlement. Nomadic Peoples, 18(1):94-114.

Heming, L., Waley, P., and Rees, P. (2001). Reservoir resettlement in China: past experience and the Three Gorges Dam. The Geographical Journal, 167(3):195-212.

Jing, J. (1997). Rural resettlement: past lessons for the Three Gorges Project. The China Journal, 38:65-92.

Lieberthal, K. G. (1992). Introduction: the "fragmented authoritarianism" model and its limitations. In K. G. Lieberthal & D. M. Lampton (Eds.), Bureaucracy, politics, and decision making in post-Mao China. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, pp. 1-30.

Lo, K. (2014). China's low-carbon city initiatives: The implementation gap and the limits of the target responsibility system. Habitat International, 42:236-244.

McDowell, C. (1996). Understanding Impoverishment: The Consequences of Development-induced Displacement. Oxford: Berghahn books.

Milgroom, J., and Spierenburg, M. (2008). Induced volition: Resettlement from the Limpopo National Park, Mozambique. Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 26(4):435-448.

Morris-Jung, J., and Roth, R. (2010). The blurred boundaries of voluntary resettlement: a case of Cat Tien National Park in Vietnam. Journal of Sustainable Forestry, 29(2-4):202-220.

Mulugeta, M., and Woldesemait, B. (2011). The impact of resettlement schemes on land-use/land-cover changes in Ethiopia: a case study from Nonno resettlement sites, central Ethiopia. Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa, 13:269-293.

Rogers, S., and Wang, M. (2006). Environmental resettlement and social dis/re-articulation in Inner Mongolia, China. Population and Environment, 28(1):41-68.

Shami, S. (1993). The social implications of population displacement and resettlement: An overview with a focus on the Arab Middle East. International Migration Review, 27(1):4-33.

Shi, G., Chen, X., and Yu, Q. (2009). Post-resettlement support: Policy aimed at poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Advances in Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering. New York: Springer, pp. 1446-1455.

Tan, Y., Hugo, G., and Potter, L. (2003). Government-organized distant resettlement and the Three Gorges Project, China. Asia-Pacific Population Journal, 18(3):5-26.

Wilmsen, B. and Webber, M. (2015).What can we learn from the practice of development-forced displacement and resettlement for organised resettlements in response to climate change? Geoforum 58(1):76-85.

Wilmsen, B., Webber, M., and Yuefang, D. (2011). Development for whom? Rural to urban resettlement at the Three Gorges Dam, China. Asian Studies Review, 35(1):21-42.

Wu, F. (2009). Land development, inequality and urban villages in China. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 33(4):885-889.

Xue, L., Wang, M. Y., and Xue, T. (2013). ‘Voluntary' poverty alleviation resettlement in China. Development and Change, 44(5):1159-1180.

Yuefang, D., and Steil, S. (2003). China Three Gorges project resettlement: Policy, planning and implementation. Journal of Refugee Studies, 16(4):422-443.

Zheng, Y. (2007). De Facto Federalism in China: Reforms and Dynamics of Central-local Relations. Hackensack, NJ: World Scientific Publishing Company.

Zhu, K., and Prosterman, R. (2007). Securing Land Rights for Chinese Farmers: A Leap Forward for Stability and Growth. Washington, DC: The Cato Institute.