100 Million People Adrift The Ripples of China's Urban Upheaval

In 2014, under the "new type of urbanization" plan, a nationwide urban village renovation program was rolled out, affecting about 100 million people. At the same time, the residency permit policy, which is seen as a transitional means of "household registration reform," began to be fully implemented, claiming that it would give migrant workers benefits almost equal to those enjoyed by the urban household population, but the migrant workers, who are supposed to be the beneficiaries, were not convinced. For them, the massive demolition and relocation have destroyed their only cheap living environment in the city, and the price they need to pay to "become a city dweller" is too high for them to afford, so they prefer to wander without a home.