Resettlement in the Three Gorges Project

1 - Introduction

1 INTRODUCTION Research context Involuntary resettlement can be caused by wars, religious conflicts, political upheaval, natural disasters and infrastructure projects such as reservoirs and dams. While governments and private investors in developed countries now largely avoid constructing dams in preference to cheaper and less risky means of power generation, the construction of dams and reservoirs in developing countries has continued over the last half a century to meet the increased demands of consumption. Some 45,000 large dams (higher than 15 m) have been built during the past five decades in over 150 countries. Almost half of these dams are located in China (Bosshard 2001). Global estimates suggest that 40-80 million people have been displaced as a result of dam and reservoir projects over the last fifty years (WCD 2000). The majority of these persons (between 30 and 60 million) reside in the relatively poor rural areas of China. 'Displacement' includes the expropriation of land and other assets and the movement of people. 'Involuntary resettlement' consists of two closely related social processes: the displacement of people and the reconstruction of their livelihoods (Cernea 1996a). Reconstruction is concerned with how the displaced people recover their capacity to maintain an adequate livelihood, and form a new community or integrate into existing communities. Invariably, major dam and reservoir projects are complicated by a myriad of issues, including scarce land resources, limited human-carrying capacity of the land, fragile environments with serious water issues and soil erosion, lagging socio-economic development, and low educational attainment levels of the labour force. The involuntary resettlement of predominantly poor, rural people will remain a contentious issue not only in the countries concerned, but also in the wider international community (Croll 1999; Picciotto et al. 2001; Chetham 2002; Heggelund 2004; Sutton 2004). 2 Resettlement in the Three Gorges Pr(lject Displacement and resettlement of people produced by major infrastructure projects is an important development issue, with concerns about the economic, social and environmental consequences for the displaced population (World Bank 200la). It is noted that 'the most widespread effect of involuntary displacement is the impoverishment of a considerable number of people ... such impoverishment, with its de facto lack of social justice and equity, is manifest in numerous countries throughout the developing world when involuntary resettlement occurs' (Cernea and McDowell 2000, p. 12). Understandably, research into involuntary displacement and resettlement has grown rapidly during the last two decades. Researchers from multiple disciplines have studied various displacement events (Scudder 1973, 1981; Kearney 1986; Cernea 1988, 1997, 1998; World Bank 1990, 2001 b; Li et al. 2001) and have generated theoretical frameworks to explain the complex and dynamic processes involved. The World Bank began conceptualising resettlement as a development opportunity in the early 1980s (OED 1998a) and advocates that resettlement activities be conceived of and executed as sustainable development programmes, whereby sufficient investment resources are provided to enable displaced persons to share in project benefits (World Bank 2001a). However, no definitive theory on migration has yet managed to adequately incorporate the total process ofdisplacement and resettlement, due largely to its complexity (Skeldon 1997). The Three Gorges Project (hereafter TGP) and associated involuntary resettlement, the urbanisation of Chinese society and the transition from a centrally planned economy to a market-oriented economy are among some of the socio-economic transformations that have profoundly shaped modern life in China. Although China has made significant progress in building the mechanisms necessary for a market economy, the TGP resettlement has been implemented, controlled and manipulated by the government. The Chinese government has formulated a 'developmental resettlement' (kaifaxing yimin) policy in dealing with involuntary migration and resettlement induced by hydro projects, as well as other infrastructure projects. However, the TGP has unique demographic, social, economic and political characteristics that differentiate its resettlement policy and approaches from many others (Salazar 2000; Jackson and Sleigh 2000). Evidently, the resettlement issue associated with the TGP represents a significant challenge, involving the relocation of over 1.2 million people over a 17-year period (CWRC 1997; Jing 1997). This book is a study of resettlement issues of the TGP, with particular attention to the rural resettlement of rural residents. In order to arrive at a new understanding of the patterns and processes involved, this research is based on both primary and secondary sources of information. It is expected that this will not only contribute to the understanding of the process in China but also to the understanding of involuntary displacement and resettlement in general. The study seeks to contribute...