Op-Ed Contributors

Easing pains of urbanization

By Li Yang (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-12-02 07:59

Urbanization seems to be robbing people of their sense of belonging, says Chen Kai, associate professor of communication studies at the Communication University of China.

To illustrate her point, she reads out from the blog of one of her students: "The house in which my family had lived for 23 years was bulldozed two years ago. Today, a flashy residential complex stands in its place, awaiting rich homebuyers. Whenever I pass the luxurious marbled gate of the complex, I feel a slice of my soul hanging there. The new residential complex represents a loss of a way of life, of the happy times we spent there with our neighbors."

Community has a special meaning for Chinese people. Traditionally, a community is built around regular meetings and exchange of views with neighbors, the eagerness to help each other and share good and bad times with neighbors. These give rise to fellow feeling and a sense of belonging and camaraderie, something we see in the few hutongs left in Beijing and the old neighborhoods in other Chinese cities.

By breaking down old neighborhoods, urbanization is also breaking down such values, Chen says. Many families uprooted from old neighborhoods lose track of their neighbors. Even if they are rehabilitated in the same building or residential complex, their relations are never the same.

For such people, especially senior citizens, improved living conditions are no compensation for the social and emotional loss they suffer by being forced to move to new (and, most often than not, alien) environments.

"People who lose their homes become violent at times because they cannot bear to see their social existence being blown away with the dust rising from their demolished houses."

Chen has just returned from the Journalism School of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was visiting scholar for a year. She says: "There are palpable differences between communities in the United States and China. Contrary to popular belief, modern Chinese residential complexes are less interconnected than their counterparts in the US ... Banks, newspapers and churches are regarded as basic components of a community in North America. And a community newspaper reflects the spirit of a community and plays the role of a forum."

Some would argue that many modern residential complexes in China do have community forums. But given the existing digital gap, many senior citizens cannot take part in such forums. A community newspaper overcomes these obstacles. It provides stable advertising revenue for the publishers, too.

A community newspaper is one of the media that can reduce senior citizens' sense of loss, help them understand their new surroundings better and express their feelings. Chen says that the attention a community newspaper pays to community affairs and the priority it accords to its members can in some ways lessen the loss of senior citizens' sense of belonging.

"The easiest way to turn a loose residential complex into an organized and well-knit community is to give its residents a platform to communicate with each other and encourage them to turn their verbal interactions into concrete activities. The spirit of helping fellow residents voluntarily and of being dedicated to and responsible for the common cause are defined as ideal characteristics of a community."

A community newspaper helps people understand their fellow residents and encourages them to interact with each other, thus building a community bond. Besides, community newspapers can help organize "a series of interactive community activities, which can serve as a chain connecting people's verbal and physical spheres".

Chen says participation in such activities is an effective way of breaking the wall of strangeness and promoting a sense of belonging.

More importantly, shared experiences and interests, especially teamwork, can consolidate mutual trust and closeness. Governments can lend a helping hand by encouraging property owners, residential committees, sub-district offices and newspaper groups to start community newspapers.

Chen says community newspapers not only connect households within a community, but also promote interaction between civil society and governments. Community newspapers provide resident-oriented public and commercial information and function as platforms for discussions on concerns shared by readers.

"It is easier for local governments to understand the opinion of a community by reading its newspaper. Community residents can exert pressure on local authorities, too, by using their newspaper to air their views and call for public debates on certain topics", she says.

With the development of the economy, communities will play a bigger role between individuals and governments in China. And community newspapers, as social bonds, can play a positive role in the country's urbanization process.