Peasants push up shanghai disney cost
The cost of building Disney's theme park in Shanghai is being inflated by wily Chinese peasants, who have started a construction spree of their own on the site - after almost 20 years of negotiation, Disney won approval to build its new park in Shanghai this month. The entertainment group will spend between £2.4 billion to £3 billion on building a 3,000 acre park...
Disney hopes that the attraction, which should be finished by 2014, will serve as a toehold into mainland China. An estimated 300 million people live within a day's travel of the site.
Before construction can begin, however, thousands of local residents have to be relocated and some canny farmers have already launched a plan to cash in on Disney's largesse. A frenzy of building has begun because areas that have been built on fetch more compensation than open fields.
In Zhaohang village, huge newly-built white sheds stand every 20 feet along the main road. To the south of the village, a new pavilion has been hastily thrown up and a fake mountain has been erected. Cheap brick walls have been thrown up to partition off the land.
The villagers, who were interviewed by Chinese state television, said they expected to receive at least ten times more compensation. "This is causing a problem," said Kan Feng, a lawyer at the Xucan law firm. "It is relatively hard to tell whether these new buildings have a genuine agricultural use or have been put up to win more money."
In the past, the local government has paid around 120,000 yuan (£12,000) per acre of farmland, but 800,000 yuan for any estates that are built on. In the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, around 6,000 households were relocated and the owners were given an average of 700,000 yuan each.
Chinese officials currently estimate that it will cost 6 billion yuan to clear the site before construction can begin, but the efforts by the peasants may drive up the price significantly. Local officials have countered by forcing builders to stop work on some sites.
The Shanghai government, which will have a 57 per cent stake in the new park, is responsible for relocation and paying compensation.
Disney, meanwhile, declined to comment on whether it would face spiralling costs. "The deal is not complete so it is really too early to comment on this," said a spokesman. "The number is speculative".
Meanwhile, the properties around the Disney site have already rocketed in value. Just days after the announcement of Disney's arrival, the local government auctioned a neighbouring 14-acre residential site for 1.19 billion yuan, around 260 per cent higher than the opening bid. Apartment prices in the area have risen more than 40 per cent in the past year.
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk