Shanghai turning its back on poor

Two new regulations made public in Shanghai this week could be best interpreted as an effort to make the country's biggest metropolis less welcome to the underprivileged and less affluent.

The draft law on group rental housing, posted online by the government for public deliberation, requires each tenant to have a minimum living space of 7 sq m. If passed and enforced, it would render many migrant workers and recent college graduates homeless.

The government argument - to reduce safety and health hazards in group rental accommodations and ease complaints from neighbors - seems to be based on good rationale. Yet, by resorting to a total ban, it disregards the dire economic situation of those cramped up in group rental apartments, where two bedrooms are often divided into six or more sections.