Returning wealthy individuals develop their hometowns and become rich in the 1980s

"Secretary Zhou, even if we just demolished that area around the small park, it would be a hundred times better than your current land reclamation project!"

Zhou Haimin on the other end of the phone was speechless after Chen Dong's words. After a long pause, Zhou Haimin finally said, "Zai Dong, the municipal party committee and government have considered demolishing the Xiaogongyuan area, as the property rights there are simply too fragmented!"

The Tuocheng City government had long considered demolishing the old houses in the Xiaogongyuan area, but there were two hurdles that it could not overcome. The first hurdle was that the property rights of the houses in the Xiaogongyuan area were extremely complicated, including private houses, public houses and company houses. In addition, some overseas Chinese returned to claim their houses based on past property ownership certificates after the policy benefits.

The entire Xiaogongyuan area covers 2984 acres, of which private housing accounts for 74.98%, housing owned by work units accounts for 16.74%, public housing accounts for 4.4%, and overseas housing accounts for 3.88%. On this large area of ​​nearly 1989600 square meters of land, there are nearly 30,000 households and more than 100,000 residents.

With the current financial resources of the Tuocheng municipal government, it is absolutely impossible to provide demolition compensation. In addition, the locals have excessively high expectations for the demolition compensation, hoping to improve their lives or obtain housing, which has led to the delay in completing the demolition compensation negotiations. With inflation year by year, the costs have risen, exceeding the economic affordability of Tuocheng and the developers.

Tuocheng, this old city center, also missed a great opportunity for improvement. The second obstacle is that some people advocate that Tuocheng is a century-old commercial port, and that the arcade buildings from the Republic of China era in the small park and surrounding area are symbols of past glory. They are running around trying to prevent the Tuocheng City Government from demolishing these old and dilapidated buildings.

"It's not that we don't want to demolish the area further east, but the costs and the strong public backlash are simply too great," Zhou Haimin said. "And now, land in our city is becoming increasingly scarce; land reclamation is the only way out!"

Instead of going through endless wrangling with those people over demolition compensation and getting criticized by those with "nostalgic" ideas for destroying history, which is a thankless task, the Tuocheng City government simply reclaimed land to build a new district.

"Secretary Zhou, the Xiaogongyuan area is part of the old city. Demolishing it all at once is definitely not feasible. We can only proceed gradually, like boiling a frog in warm water. As for your suggestion of land reclamation, my advice is that it's best not to!"

"Zai Dong, you said that land reclamation would block the bombs. Can you explain in more detail?" Zhou Haimin asked in a deep voice.

"Secretary Zhou, the inner bay that our Tuocheng possesses is a natural, sheltered harbor—a gift from heaven," Chen Dong explained to Secretary Zhou Haimin. "Large-scale land reclamation will gradually shrink the bay's water area, reduce tidal volume, weaken hydrodynamics, and exacerbate port siltation!"

Chen Dong sighed, his tone tinged with helplessness, "Secretary Zhou, let me put it this way, what size ships can Tuogang Port handle right now?"

Zhou Haimin thought for a moment, "Five thousand tons, that's the condition of our inner bay's shipping lanes."

"Do you know what the largest cargo ship in the world is in tons?"

Zhou Haimin on the other end of the phone was taken aback for a moment, "This... I really haven't looked into it."

"Starting at 100,000 tons!"

Chen Dong continued, "The major ports in America, Japan, and Europe can all accommodate ships of 100,000 tons or more. Our Tuocheng can only accommodate ships of 5,000 tons, so we are already lagging behind."

"Now you want to reclaim land next to the waterway, which is to further narrow the waterway. In addition, the tidal force will be weakened and the silt will be used to block the waterway. In the future, not to mention ships of 100,000 tons, even ships of 10,000 tons will not be able to get in."

Chen Dong was not exaggerating; this was a lesson learned from the painful experience of the people of Tuocheng in later generations. Chen Dong knew that land reclamation would cause Shantou Port to gradually be surpassed by other ports from its former excellent seaport. Eventually, large ships of 10,000 tons or more would not stop at Tuo Port, which was a major reason for the economic stagnation of Tuocheng, a special economic zone.

Zhou Haimin on the other end of the phone frowned. "Zaidong, but we don't need such a big ship right now. Besides, domestic cargo ships are all around 5,000 tons!"

"If we don't need it now, what about later?" Chen Dong countered. "Secretary Zhou, the times are constantly moving forward. As the Party Secretary of the city, you can't just think about the next three or five years; you have to look at the next ten or twenty years with a developmental perspective!"

"Tuocheng depends on the sea for its livelihood; the port is our lifeline. If you block our lifeline now, our future generations will curse you!"

Zhou Haimin was once again silenced by Chen Dong's words. He had been the secretary of the Tuocheng Municipal Party Committee for so many years, and he had been praised and criticized, but this was the first time someone had used such serious words to wake him up!

Although Zhou Haimin didn't find the phrase "your descendants will curse you" pleasant, he wasn't angry. Instead, he felt that Chen Dong was truly thinking about the future of Tuocheng.

"Secretary Zhou, it is said that if you want to get rich, you must first build roads. Our Tuocheng is a special economic zone and is destined to develop into a maritime trade city. The waterway is Tuocheng's 'road'. We must not cut off our own path to survival. If I may say something unpleasant, please don't mind me, Secretary Zhou," Chen Dong continued.

"If my Snapdragon cars are ever produced and sold overseas, and they want to dock at the port of Tuo, even 100,000-ton cargo ships won't be able to get through. They'll have to be transported to Xiamen or Shenzhen. That wouldn't just be a slap in the face for me, Chen Zaidong, but for the entire Tuo City Party Committee and Government!"

"Zai Dong, stop talking, I understand," Zhou Haimin lit a cigarette. "Do you have any suggestions regarding the demolition and redevelopment of the Xiaogongyuan area?"

"My suggestion is for the government to take the lead and conduct a nationwide open tender. We can't try to do everything at once; that's unrealistic," Chen Dong explained. "The Municipal Construction Bureau can divide the Xiaogongyuan area into zones, assess the priority of demolition, and prioritize areas with a large number of unit-owned and public housing units for demolition and reconstruction demonstration projects."

"As for the amount of compensation, as long as it's within a reasonable range, we can discuss it. Secretary Zhou, now is the perfect time for reform and opening up, a time for bold and decisive action. Going forward, as costs accumulate year by year, reconstruction will only become more and more difficult, and then the Xiaogongyuan area will become a complete abandoned project!"

"Most of the houses in the Xiaogongyuan area were built during the Republic of China era. Now the plaster is peeling off, the beams are rotten, and the electrical wires are strung like spider webs. It's unsafe to live there, and it doesn't look respectable," Chen Dong continued. "The key point is that the location is excellent, right next to the port. Once it's redeveloped and a commercial district is established, the land prices will skyrocket!"

"If you demolish those old houses and build new ones, how many housing problems can you solve? Moreover, demolishing the old and building the new can generate tax revenue, without occupying farmland or blocking waterways. It's killing two birds with one stone and is a hundred times better than reclaiming land from the sea."

"Secretary Zhou, no metropolis can develop without experiencing growing pains. The key is to understand that a short, sharp pain is worse than a long, drawn-out one!"