Resettlement for China's Three Gorges Dam: socio-economic impact and institutional tensions

Large dams have been an important component of infrastructure development i n capitalist and communist countries alike. In 1998, changing world attitud es on large darns led to a two-year World Commission on Dams and new global standards may soon insist that future projects pay fair compensation so th at resettlement becomes voluntary. Now, 10 years after introduction of econ omic reforms, China is mobilizing its resources to build the world's larges t dam. This fulfils a longstanding ambition to impound the Yangtze River in Central China at the Three Gorges and use the hydropower, improved navigat ion and flood control to develop the economy. This paper examines the socio-economic impact of Three Gorges Dam on over 1 .3 million people to be displaced while China is in transition to a market economy. We consider resettlement in terms of the decision-making structure , property rights and incentives to move, and how the project exacerbates p roblems created by market reforms, especially rising unemployment and deter iorating public health. We conclude the project is boosting economic expect ations while adversely affecting large sections of the population, and this could provoke widespread social unrest and eventual changes in political i nstitutions. (C) 2000 The Regents of the University of California. Publishe d by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.