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Thursday 23 May 2013

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'Nail House' in middle of road is finally demolished

Authorities have demolished a five-story home that stood incongruously in the middle of a new main road and had become the latest symbol of resistance by Chinese homeowners against officials accused of offering unfair compensation. Xiayangzhang village chief Chen Xuecai said the house was bulldozed after its owners, duck farmer Luo Baogen and his wife, agreed to accept compensation of 260,000 yuan (€32,000).
Photo: AP
The couple had been the lone holdouts from a neighborhood that was demolished to make way for the main thoroughfare heading to a newly built railway station on the outskirts of the city of Wenling in Zhejiang province
Photo: AP
The razing comes a week after images of the house circulated widely online in China, triggering a flurry of domestic and foreign media reports about the latest nail house, as buildings that remain standing as their owners resist development are called. Above, Luo Baogen looks down from his house which stands alone in the middle of a newly built road in Wenling, Zhejiang province.
Photo: Reuters
Luo Baogen, 67, looks at his surroundings from the balcony in his house. Photo: Reuters
Furniture covered with cloths in the house which stood alone in the middle of a newly built road at Wenling, Zhejiang province. Photo: Reuters
The house is seen in the middle of a newly built road shortly before it was demolished by Chinese authorities. Photo: Reuters
Luo, 67, had just completed his house at a cost of about 600,000 yuan (€74,000) when the government approached him with their standard offer of 220,000 (€27,000) to move out - which he refused, Chen has previously said. The offer then went up to 260,000 yuan (€32,000) last week.
Photo: AP
Authorities commonly pressure residents to agree to make way for development with sometimes extreme measures, such as cutting off utilities or moving in to demolish when residents are out for the day.
Photo: AP
People moving out things from the so-called 'Nail house' standing in the middle of an avenue under construction in Wenling
Real estate is one of the big drivers of China's runaway growth in recent decades. But the rapid development has run into objections from many of the hundreds of thousands of residents who have been forced out to make way for new housing, factories and other business ventures, creating a major source of unrest
Bulldozers and cranes demolish the house standing in the middle of a highway under construction in Wenling in east China's Zhejiang province.
Bulldozers and cranes demolish the house standing in the middle of a highway under construction in Wenling in east China's Zhejiang province.
Photo: Reuters
Bulldozers and cranes demolish the house standing in the middle of a highway under construction in Wenling in east China's Zhejiang province

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