The Flipside Of Progress On The Yangtze

Chongqing, one of the most important cities along the Yangtze River in southwestern China, is growing so fast that cartographers and local officials can't keep track of new developments. Its celebrity Communist Party boss, Bo Xi Lai, is already making international headlines for his storied crackdown on Chinese mobsters, an initiative likely to burnish his political credentials.

One street away from the flourishing city center, the "Shi Ba Ti" neighborhood consists of temporary street shelters filled with people left behind by the wave of prosperity crashing on Chongqing.

Since 2007, the government of Chongqing has invested $3 billion in the development of the city and has begun to resettle residents in the slum. I went to Shi Ba Ti several times to capture images of the neighborhood before it disappears under the debris of progress or is swarmed by crowds of the displaced.