A Study on the Impact of Land Acquisition and Relocation on the Quality of Life of Fishermen—Take Dongyu Village in Haicang District, Xiamen City as an Example

Abstract

Land acquisition and relocation is one of the key topics of sociological research today. Some researchers have found that land acquisition and relocation will bring a series of livelihood security problems to the dispossessed farmers. However, there is still a research gap on the impact on the quality of life of the indigenous people, especially the dispossessed fishermen. Therefore, based on a qualitative research method, this paper studied the indigenous fishermen of Dongyu Village through interviews. It collected and collated interview data, and analysed the impact of land acquisition and eviction on the quality of life of the fishermen. It is found that the quality of life of fishermen has not been substantially improved after the demolition and relocation, which can be reflected in two aspects: economic quality of life and spiritual quality of life. The economic quality of life is improved for a short period of time, but the fishermen are unable to maintain a high quality of economic lifestyle in the long term due to their low educational level, inability to manage the available compensation for eviction and inability to create wealth through other means than fishing. The mental quality of life will be reduced by the disruption to the rhythm and routine of life due to eviction.