Are builders making way or making waves?
Yesterday's report that the Summer Olympics have uprooted more than 2 million people over the past two decades touches a nerve with Beijing, which reportedly will have moved out nearly that many to prepare for next year's Games.
"It is shocking and entirely unacceptable that 1.25 million people have already been displaced," said Jean du Plessis , executive director of the Geneva-based Center on Housing Rights and Evictions, which studied the effect that seven past and future Olympics have on residents.
Urban renewal isn't just an inevitable byproduct of hosting the Games, it's one of the main reasons cities bid for them to get long-delayed projects off the ground. Barcelona's waterfront makeover for the 1992 Olympics was a huge part of the city's renaissance, and Beijing's massive construction works have brought the booming capital into the 21st century. The downside, though, is undeniable, especially for poorer residents who are evicted to make room for Olympic venues.
Chinese officials, who dismissed the 1.25 million figure as "groundless," insist that everyone who has been relocated was paid and suitably resettled.
"Not one single household has been forced to move out of Beijing," said foreign ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu.
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