The Friction of Everyday Life

Gangxia West Village was one of the 200 odd urban villages in Shenzhen and home to more than 60,000 residents, most of whom were migrants from the countryside.

In early 2009, it was officially announced by the local authority of Shenzhen that Gangxia West Village was to be demolished to make room for development of the Central Business District of Shenzhen. On March 15, 2009, the eviction of residents began.

Witnessing the eviction and demolition of the village was the perfect starting point for my first major project in China. From a balcony on an adjacent high-rise building, I took pictures of the changing site from April to October 2009.

In August 2010, I had a chance to revisit Gangxia West Village. It had not changed much since October 2009. A tenant who lived in the high-rise tower explained to me that the demolition had been on hold since the beginning of that year.

In 2009, the Gangxia West Village renewal project was an exciting topic in the Chinese media. By September 2010, a search on China’s leading search engine, Baidu, brought up almost nothing. Among the very few entries was one from June 2, 2010 in which the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported that the completion date for the Gangxia West Village had been pushed to 2015, marking a delay of three years from the initial schedule. Yet, the focal point of the development of Shenzhen had shifted to an area of virgin land called Qianhai located between Shenzhen Bay and the outlet of the Pearl River, reportedly another part of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone.