Chengdu Area Pays Price for Fast Urbanization

Old and new are blending at a model site for China's urban future in Dayi County, a section of Chengdu where a resort-residential complex confidently called Evergrande Scenic Garden is now taking shape.

Sprawled across some 6.7 square kilometers, Scenic Garden is the brainchild of Evergrande Real Estate Group, one of China's largest developers. Construction got under way in late 2009 for the first phase of a complex that will house 1,217 families.

Scenic Garden has risen high and fast thanks to a formula for development in second- and third-tier cities championed by Hong Kong-listed Evergrande. But the formula has come with social costs as farmers lose land, displaced residents protest and local governments ignore land-use laws.