随着中国城市化进程的推进，社会用工已发生了巨大的变化：东部沿海开发区劳动密集产业的衰退，加之中西部城市开发建设的兴起，促使大批劳动力从沿海开发区迁徙回归。一些长期从事某一行业并掌握相关技能的工人，开始转变为独立工作的个体。他们的出现适应了新的劳动市场的需要，逐渐形成了一个特殊的劳动群体。

　　2011年6月，一个偶然的机会，我在湖南省长沙市人民路立交桥下的劳动力市场，结识了一些来自湖南益阳市南县和娄底市新化的民工，他们多数人是有着十年以上的打工经历“走穿了中国南北”的老民工。如今，他们选择相对自由独立、工价较高的建筑装修、机械修理的钟点工或承包工。报酬按天计算，或整体承包支付。

　　为了方便工作，他们集体租住在离立交桥300米远的人民中路790号出租楼里。这栋老楼房楼高17米，共4 层，隶属XX局南方实业公司。建于上世纪八十年代末，一楼为商业门面，2到4楼为出租公寓，建筑面积1680平米，原有独立的房间63套。2006年对外承包，承包商将2到4楼的房间用五合板等建材分割成190间，每间仅有4平方米左右的使用面积。这栋出租房位于长沙火车站和高桥建材市场旁，每天来往列车多、噪音大。出租房间狭小阴暗、潮湿闷热，并存在不少消防安全隐患。单间出租价格一直停留在每月260元左右。由于它位居城市中心，每天来往人流量大，交通方便，加上低廉的房价，自然成为了从事装修、风炮、泥工、保洁、搬运、修理等工作人群居住安家的首选。

　　这些租住在长沙市人民中路790号出租楼里的民工，已经脱离了中国传统的农耕生活，成为城市开发建设不可缺少的一员。但他们的土地、房产，户籍、妻儿又大都在原籍老家，使其难以彻底脱离故土成为一个纯粹的城市人。这种交错两栖的尴尬身份和日渐壮大的零工队伍给社会发展带来了很多新的问题与矛盾：家庭安置、劳动纠纷、工伤理赔、医疗保险、养老婚丧、子女教育、人口老化、农田闲置等一系列重要问题不断涌现，他们急需重视但又被我们长期忽视。

　　2012年1月，当我将要完成“人民路四平方”摄影专题的拍摄时，这栋已经存在了7年的简陋出租楼，再次被一个投资人看中，被改建包装成了外表时尚的都市商务酒店。原来租住在这里的零工们，只能望“房”兴叹。被迫去找寻下一个“四平方”。

　　Four Square Meters on People’s Road

　　Ouyang Xingkai

　　There have been tremendous changes in the role of workers in society as a result of the urbanization process in China. With the decline in labor-intensive industries in Eastern coastal development areas and the rise of central and western cities, many workers have returned from the coastal development zones. Some workers who have worked in the same industry for a long time and mastered certain skills have become individuals working independently. Their emergence suits the needs of the labor market, and they have gradually formed a unique labor group.

　　In June 2011, I had the chance opportunity to find the labor market under the People’s Road overpass in Changsha, Hunan. There I met a number of workers from Yiyangnan County and Loudi Xinhua in Hunan. The majority of them had more than ten years of experience working away from home. They were old migrant workers who had traveled China north to south. Nowadays, they choose independent and relatively high-paying hourly or contract work for renovations or machine repairs. They are paid by the day or contract.

　　Because it is convenient, they all rent rooms in a building that is about 300 meters from the overpass, at No. 790 People’s Middle Road. This old building is 17 meters high, with 4 stories, which is attached to China Railway Department No. 25 Southern Industry Company. Built at the end of the 1980s, the ground floor contains commercial shop fronts, but the second to fourth floors are rented as apartments, with a construction area of 1,680 square meters. Originally there were 57 stand-alone rooms. In 2006, it was contracted out, and the contractor split the rooms on the second to fourth floors into 190 rooms using plywood and other building materials. Every room only has about four square meters of usable space. This rented building is located near the Changsha train station and the Gaoqiao Building Materials Market. Every day, many trains come and go, making a lot of noise. The rented rooms are small, dark, damp, and muggy, with many safety and fire hazards. The rent for a single room has always been around 260 RMB per month. Due to the building’s location in the city center, many people come and go every day. Transport is convenient; add to that the cheap rent, and it has naturally become the first choice for migrant workers, such as construction workers, jackhammer operators, bricklayers, cleaning personnel, movers, and repairmen.

　　These migrant workers renting at No. 790 People’s Middle Road in Changsha have already left behind China’s traditional agricultural life, becoming an indispensible part of urban development and construction. However, their lands, houses, registrations, and families are for the most part in their hometowns, making it difficult to completely leave behind their hometowns to become pure urbanites. These two intersecting and awkward identities and stronger workers give rise to many new issues and contradictions in the development of society. A series of problems have surfaced, including family settlement, labor disputes, work injury payments, health insurance, retirement, weddings, funerals, children’s education, population aging, and idle farmland. These issues need urgent attention, but we have ignored them for a long time.

　　In January 2012, just as I was about to complete the Four Square Meters on People’s Road photography project, this simple seven year-old rental building once again caught an investor’s eye. It has since been rebuilt as a superficially fashionable business hotel. The day laborers who originally lived there could only sigh at their “homes.” They have been forced to find their next four square meters.