Reservoir resettlement in China: past experience and the Three Gorges Dam

Abstract

This paper reviews involuntary resettlement resulting from dam-building, which has been ignored relative to the dominant focus of migration research in China, rural to urban migration. Reservoir resettlement in China has a long history, often of misery and hardship for those displaced. Relocatees affected by the Three Gorges Project (1994-2009) on the Yangtze River face a similar situation. In China priority has been given to building the dam to provide electricity, flood control and navigation. Less attention has been paid to the problems of the people affected by the reservoir inundation. The rural population forced to relocate and rural-urban migrants in general have been discriminated against by national policies.

Who defines 'whole': an urban political ecology of flood control and community relocation in Houston, Texas

“…Numerous dams have been built around the world, and large ones typically require relocating people from areas to be inundated with water from dam-related reservoir construction (Heming et al 2001). Such relocation efforts often lead to hardship for those who were relocated involuntarily (Cernea 2006;Colchester 1993;Heming et al 2001;McElwee 2006;Scudder 1993).…”

“…Those who are relocated to rural areas are often granted land that is unsuitable for agriculture, due to steepness, difficulty of access, or lack of topsoil. In these instances, migrants have harvested lumber and firewood from forests (Heming et al 2001). For these and other reasons, in many cases, relocated people make illegal attempts to move back to their original homelands even when their former homes are occupied, partially developed, or underwater.…”

“…Longitudinal research has shown that after a while, people involuntarily relocated in the developing world display robust coping mechanisms and adapt to their new surroundings, alter agricultural and livelihood practices if necessary, and even perceive their mental and physical health to improve as time passes (Heming, Waley, and Rees 2001;McElwee 2006). In the developed world, and Kashmere Gardens appears to be an example, relocatees and those awaiting relocation speak more of deteriorating physical and mental health.…”

“…UPE has also investigated water as a destructive force in crises in Los Angeles (Davis 1998) and on the Mexican/US border (Collins 2010). Traditional political ecology (PE) research has looked at large-scale infrastructure projects that have involved relocating local peoples (Colchester 1993;Griffiths 2005;Heming et al 2001). Highways, ports, dams, airports, and other installations often require relocating communities involuntarily, and PE research has highlighted the resulting contention and protests against governments and other outsiders.…”

Proyectos hídricos y ecología política del desarrollo en Latinoamérica: Hacia un marco analítico

“…Algunos autores plantean que las represas son proyectos que solo pueden ser desarrolladas por gobiernos nacionales, debido a su alto costo, pero también debido a que solamente el Estado puede organizar la distribución de beneficios y costos entre los ciudadanos (Heming, Waley y Rees, 2001). El Estado ha jugado un rol central en la propuesta, construcción, negociación, mitigación y relocalización de las comunidades afectadas, y al mismo tiempo, ha sido el vínculo con instituciones internacionales y agencias multilaterales de financiamiento.…”