Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
change me as a Chongming person. In Shanghai, I will speak loudly to tell
friends that I am a Chongming person!”
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For some off -island Chongming locals, the island's ecological develop-
ment plans generated new identities as a source of pride. Many online forum
participants expressed this yearning for their hometown to gain long-denied
and deserved recognition. As one person wrote, “Although Chongming is
less developed . . . ten years later, we believe that there will be a splendid
Chongming in front of us.” Another argues that contemporary plans for
development are “more mature and more suitable to play international
games. If Chongming was chosen to be developed ten years ago, the result
would be like the development of the Shanghai city—a still forest and a con-
crete city—which did not have the consciousness of building an eco-city. So
I am very proud of being a Chongming person.” Most simply, one writes,
“Chongming is not only worth living in,
it is also a place that has a dream”
(emphasis added).
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In other words, ecological language has infi ltrated the
local discourse of “dreams” for some island residents. h e ecological devel-
opment ideology has become the normalized, everyday language since
Dongtan endorsed an imagined eco-future for Chongming island.
At the same time, this “dream” is not universally accepted. h e ambigu-
ity lies in the government's limited communication with locals about the
meaning and impact of ecological development on their lives. h e fi fty-four-
year-old former peasant Tai'an Ding moved into a new apartment in Chenjia
town after his land was confi scated for the development project. He was
confused by the concept of the “eco-city.” Although his new apartment is
classifi ed as an “eco-building,” his new home neither uses renewable energy
to provide electricity nor was constructed with any special eco-standards.
Ding said, “For us, ecology means living in a greener area, some places have
trees.”
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Another example is Shen, a peasant from the Tieta village of Chenjia
town whose land was confi scated in 2006. His household was one of the
thirteen hundred to be moved into an “eco-building.” He said, “h
is is just
