The Massive Death of China's Urban Villages

Stefan Al — 2015-03-17T14:42:46Z

As expanding Chinese cities engulfed their hinterlands, chengzhoncun—villages within the city—became an affordable residential choice for migrants seeking jobs in burgeoning commercial and industrial centers, especially in the southeast of the country. Dense, chaotic and crowded, they are well-located and well-priced entry points for the workers at the heart of China's astounding growth. Now they are being torn down. Stefan Al argues that this leaves most of their former residents with a bleak

- From the Field / urban planning, urbanization, China, demolition, migrant workers, urban villages, Chinese urban planning

Mass-Producing the World's Factory

Stefan Al — 2015-02-09T05:50:00Z

The economic transformation of China into a global manufacturing mecca has emptied many rural areas, creating tens of thousands of migrant workers who float between their hometowns and the giant city-regions, where factory workers are in high demand. Stefan Al explores the architectural and town-planning aspects of this seismic shift, documenting factories, dormitories, “urban villages” and the lives of the individuals who populate them.
In 2008, when a British man discovered photos of what

- From the Field / China, migration, workers, factory towns, global supply chain, migrant workers

Metropolitics

The Massive Death of China's Urban Villages

Mass-Producing the World's Factory