In his keynote speech "Urbanization and Rights of the Poor" made yesterday at the Public Forum organized by the Nanfang Daily Qin Hui, a professor from Tsinghua University, asserted that Shenzhen should first build project housing for rural migrant workers on the outskirts of the city.

He said, "A city with project housing sites doesn't imply that it is inferior to other cities. Rather it denotes a kind of respect for rural migrant workers because this enables them to enjoy municipal welfare."

Qin further added, "Many city administers and citizens want to enjoy the services delivered by urban migrant workers. Yet they are trying every means to drive them out of the cities." Usually migrants are forced to return to the countryside after they are 35 years old. This common problem stems from China's urbanization and industrialization.

Every city resident has benefited greatly from urbanization. Rural migrants, a group that has contributed much toward urban progress, constitute the poorest municipal group: they have no permanent residences inside metropolitan areas. In some cities they are even not allowed to rent houses so they are forced to live in temporary factory dormitories.

Because of these conditions 140 million rural migrant workers in cities along with another 180 million left in the countryside have simultaneously lost their ability to live a normal family life.

In China housing construction funds are allocated to work units. Good work units may build superior domiciles while other units can only build ordinary structures. Every unit allocates housing to employees. However, those who do not belong to any work unit and/or rural migrants do not have any housing allocation rights. Furthermore, they are not allowed to build houses in the cities.

According to Qin in order to guarantee the rights of rural migrants, the government should grant them both the liberty to migrate to cities and to construct tenement housing there.

Faced with the doubt that Shenzhen still falls far behind cities in developed countries and the fact that Shenzhen still has no ability to build public project houses for migrants Qin stated that if these structures cost too much, then the government should at least guarantee their right to life by allowing migrants to construct tenements in specific areas on the outskirts of the city.

"I think Shenzhen should initiate public project housing initiatives for rural migrants within specific areas skirting the city," Qin said. Giving them rights to build affordable housing equals saying goodbye to an inglorious past during which "rural migrants neither had the liberty to build houses nor could enjoy city welfare".

(China.org.cn by Zhang Ming'ai, April 14, 2008)