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Cash or a flat
In Shanghai's redevelopment of old housing, households have generally been able to choose between cash compensation and a flat in exchange. Cash suits families who can buy or rent where they prefer, often near children; a flat suits those who want security and a home of their own, though the replacement flats are usually in outer districts, far from the old neighborhoods. For elderly residents, the choice often turns on family: whether to live with children, near them, or alone. Many families negotiate exactly as 顾阿婆's does — a ground-floor flat, an emergency button, a subway line to a daughter's home — balancing independence and safety. 顾阿婆's reason is the simplest: after sixty-eight years without one, a bathroom and a door of her own.