This is nuts! Check out these incredible photos of Chinese “nail houses” – properties with defiant owners who refuse to be bought out by new developments. Some remain in their homes for years on end without water or electricity as the world around them caves in and drives upward. Few homeowners are successful, but these last ditch efforts (so to speak) are powerful symbols of resistance to a force that would sooner steam roll over them. Check out more here, via The Atlantic.
A “nail house,” the last building in the area, sits in the middle of a road under construction in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, on April 10, 2015. According to local media, the owner of the house didn’t reach an agreement with the local authority about compensation of the demolition.
A partially demolished nail house at a construction site in Hefei, Anhui province, China, on February 2, 2010. The owner of the house was attempting to seek more compensation before agreeing to the demolition of their home, local media reported.
Zheng Meiju walks towards her partially demolished nail house in Rui’an, Zhejiang province, on July 17, 2013. Zhang, the owner of the house, refused to move due to dissatisfaction of the compensation since the demolition project began, making way for a new business plaza. She had been living in the house for nearly a year, even though the water and electricity supply were cut in early 2013, local media reported.
A six-floor villa sits alone in a construction site in the central business district of Shenzhen on April 17, 2007. Choi Chu Cheung, the owner of the villa, and his wife Zhang Lian-hao, refused to accept the compensation offered by the developer who plans to build a financial center on the site.
A platform has been built to allow a family tomb to be relocated, in Taiyuan, China, on December 13, 2012, after the owner of this “nail grave” reached an agreement with the construction consortium and would receive 800 yuan ($128) in compensation.
A car drives past next a partially demolished building in the middle of a street in Xi’an on August 14, 2013. A family of seven still lived in the three-story building without electricity and water after a demolition project in the region took place in 2010.
A half-demolished apartment building stands in the middle of a newly built road thanks to a Chinese couple that refused to move in Wenling, in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, on November 22, 2012. Luo Baogen, 67, and his 65-year-old wife waged a four-year battle to receive more compensation than was offered by the local government of Daxi, a Chinese newspaper said.
