ABSTRACT
This research examines the complex nature of housing requisition and the extent of residents’ consultation and participation in a housing requisition project in Shanghai. Centered on a single case study, the chapter examines what roles the state and local authorities play in housing requisition, and how this is associated with urban redevelopment regimes under changing governance. Two reasons explained ineffective participation from the residents in housing requisition in Shanghai. First, the participation schemes acted as procedures, which did not meet the expectations of the relocated residents.
Second, the level of economic compensation played a more important role, however, the relationship between people and their home is also important in the housing requisition; the new compensation schemes sometimes neglected the important aspects of an effective participation mechanism.
The themes discussed above have important implications for the literature on citizen participation in China and the discussions of power relations in inner-city redevelopment. The significance of the existing structure of decision-making in housing requisition deserves further study.
