"I miss my old house, that was my father-in-law's legacy," she said. "I lived there for over 50 years. I thought I would die there."

Xiao's old house, which was located on Xinhua Lu, was one among a large area of shabby old houses. They were demolished in 1995 to make way for new residential buildings.

Xiao's family of five have been assigned two apartments - one with two bedrooms and one sitting room was given to her son, while another one-room apartment was given to the old couple.

Xiao doesn't like the quiet atmosphere of the new location, pointing out that in her old house, she could visit her neighbours freely. In the summer, when most people like to sit outside to have their dinner, people would stroll along the zigzagging lane and chat. Life was not so boring and lonely for retired people living there.

Now living on the fourth floor, Xiao has trouble managing the stairs and stays at home most of the day. "I worry about falling on the stairs," she said.

But she also confessed the new apartment brought her convenience. The new residence is in much better condition than the old one - the roof does not leak and she has an automatic toilet. Previously, her toilet was a wooden pail that she had to wash herself.

Shabby houses

The city's metamorphosis has changed the lives of many people.

From the autumn of 1991 to the end of 2001, a total of 719,136 families were relocated from their shabby houses or old buildings in downtown areas, which equals an area as big as four Luwan districts.

"The large-scale reconstruction of old residential areas started in about 1992," said He Yaozu, director of the housing dismantling and moving management office of the bureau.

The 3.65 million square metres of shabby houses dismantled over the last decade was a big task on the city government's agenda.

Now skyscrapers, greenlands and department stores stand in these places, giving the city a new profile.

This decade, the city government launched another reconstruction project, targeting over 20 million square metres of old lilong houses (two-or-three-story houses in lanes), according to He. Most of these houses are 60 to 70 years old and lack proper kitchen and toilet facilities.

"I think most people are willing and happy to leave their old houses," the director said. "But it's natural that some people will not want to co-operate with the work."

The reason is "complicated" according to He, who appeared reluctant to provide more details on the issue.

Marry in haste

Insiders said the biggest reason people are unwilling to move is the gap between residents' expectations and land developers' expectations.

The most common problem is a difference of views concerning the value of the old houses. Some residents feel the price offered by developers is too low, and remain even after all the other neighbours have gone. A solitary, occupied house standing among the ruins is a common sight in reconstruction zones. These families are referred to as "nail families", meaning they are as sturdy as a nail in a wall.

Xiao's family used to be a nail family. "It is unfair because some families, much smaller than ours, were allocated bigger apartments because they claimed more family members," said her son.

Before last year, compensation was calculated based on the number of family members.

"Such a method has shortcomings," He said. "Producing many strange things that you could never imagine."

For example, to add more people to the family, some people hastily get married. In some cases, the couple does not even know each other.

Garrulous guy

They have the common goal of gaining more living space. Some people divorce to add numbers to the parents' family.

After living in confined spaces for several generations, Shanghainese are eager to have more breathing room for the family, the compensation process gives them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve their standard of living.

Under the new policy, families are compensated according to the area where they live, not the number of people.

For those who do not receive enough compensation funds to buy a new house, other apartments are provided. But most of these houses are far away from downtown.

For nail families, if the deadline comes, the administration department has the right to force the family from the premises with the help of police.

But this is a last-resort move for both sides and no one want this to happen, insiders say.

In the famous novel "The Happy Life of Garrulous Guy Zhang Damin", there is a typical description of obligatory moving: Zhang was dissatisfied with the small apartment he was given. When workers came to demolish his old house, he stayed in a tree in his small garden to try to fight the action. He was taken into custody for two weeks.

In 1993 and 1994, such problems were more serious because of the big scale of reconstruction projects, and there were only a smaller number of houses to accommodate these migrants. But such situations are on the decline these days according to the official as the "whole environment improves".

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