Urban villages are some of the most unique, vibrant neighborhoods in the Pearl River Delta. Narrow alleyways and mom-and-pop shops provide both young graduates and working-class migrants with housing, food and entertainment at affordable prices. Unfortunately, urban villages are also prime targets for redevelopment.
To give an in-depth look at daily life in the 'villages within the city,' we explored three spots in Shenzhen and talked to residents. Here's what we found out.
Read more about urban villages (and watch a cool drone video of Xiasha Village, Shenzhen) in our May cover story.
To learn about two Guangzhou urban villages — one of which will soon be demolished — see our related article here.
Baishizhou, Shenzhen
On a weekday afternoon, we come across a group chatting in the space between two low-lying row houses, remnants of late 50s construction. It turns out that all 10 – seven women and three men – are relatives who hail from Bazhong, Sichuan.
One member of the family came to Shenzhen a decade ago, and the others trickled in afterwards. Many of them took up residence in Tangtou, one of the five villages that make up the Baishizhou area.
The atmosphere is friendly, as if we’d stepped into a neighbor’s living room on a social visit.
Do they like living in an urban village? Would they prefer somewhere else?
The answers come in bits and pieces as multiple family members join in.
A gated xiaoqu neighborhood would “definitely be more comfortable,” but the “low prices” of the urban villages still win out.
One of the women, 28, says her work situation is “not steady.” She considers her current home, which costs RMB1,000 a month, “expensive.”
It’s not easy living in Shenzhen, she tells us. A fellow migrant recently died on the job while working for a soldering company. It’s unclear whether his employer will compensate the family.
She knows this area of Baishizhou will be torn down, but not when. Her family has no set plan for that day; they’ll deal with it as it comes, she tells us.
Apartments start at: RMB500 (studio)
Gangxia (East and West), Shenzhen
After more than a decade of planning and negotiations, in 2013 high-rise office buildings and apartment complexes were raised on what used to be the Western half of Gangxia Village.
The smaller, eastern part of Gangxia still stands, a tall ring of buildings surrounding a dense collage of low-lying roofs. Here, we find a few middle-aged men hanging out in front of a small liquor and smoke shop.
One of them is a Gangxia villager. The other two are migrants; one owns the dry goods store next door. The other, who hails from Fujian and has lived here for 20 years, points out his home across the street.
During the day, he tells us, he’s most often found sitting in front of the smoke shop.
How does he like Gangxia?
“It’s okay here,” he tells us between puffs of a cigarette. The area is familiar to him, as are nearby shop owners and residents. He does business for a living, although he doesn’t specify what kind.
He estimates East Gangxia will be torn down as well in around 20 years. But for now, he doesn’t seem particularly worried about the prospect: “If we want to leave, we’ll leave.”
Apartments start at: RMB1,100 (studio)
Hubei Village, Shenzhen
A canopy hangs above Hubei Village’s street market, coloring the sunlight that lands on slabs of meat spread across wood tables. Vendors swat flies while calling out to passing friends in Hakka or the Chaozhou dialect – in Mandarin-speaking Shenzhen, this is an outpost of eastern Guangdong migrants.
“Some say ‘knock it down,’ others say ‘save cultural relics,’” says nine-year-resident Ding Jian Wei, 35. “This is a question for the government.”
But recently others have taken to answering: “preserve it.”
Dating from 1466, Hubei’s alleys are laid out in the traditional pattern of three-by-eight, causing preservationists, photographers and the general public to weigh in on the side of saving the area, or at least part of it.
The smell of garbage mixes with incense as 20-year-resident Chen Bao, 67, stands in his shop and explains how Hubei survived Shenzhen modernization.
“There are a hundred families that own houses in the area. But they've gone to England, America, all those places.”
Developers want to buy out the current owners – none of whom live in Hubei, according to Chen – but have been hamstrung by squabbles over compensation.
Though, for Chen, most of Hubei can go without fuss: “If they do knock it down, I can go live with my daughter. I just won’t be able to see my old neighbors again.”
But he sees a red line.
“It's impossible to tear down the ancestral temple,” he says. “If they do? Well, I wish them luck!”
Apartments start at: RMB1,000
Read about more urban villages in the PRD here.
[Photos via Daniel MH Chun, Bailey Hu, Sky Thomas Gidge]
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