stranded house in the middle of a newly built road in china

‘stranded house in the middle of a newly built road in china’ wenling, zhejiang provinceimage via

there are times when the city decides that it needs to clear space for an infrastructural redesign or for the construction of new buildings, and in these cases whatever unfortunate neighborhood that lies in the way may have to relocate. such is the case in zhejiang province, when a village of 500 families was demolished to make way for a new highway. residents luo baogen and his wife however, did not accept the retribution pay of 41,000 USD from the chinese government as it is not enough to pay for a new home. the authorities’ response wasto pave the new road anyway and feature the couple’s house as the centerpiece of a makeshift roundabout, in attempts to try to coax the pair to cede the property. four years later and the stand-off continues, with no signs of resolution from the owners that seem to be strong headed in keeping their home and hearth.

a car drives by on the new highwayimage via

owner luo baogen looks out onto his new asphalt back yardimage via

**update**

after having lived in the middle of a highway for over a year, the owner and government finally reached a settlement and the house was demolishedjust this last saturday, december 1st, in front of spectators. it was agreed that the state would pay luo 260,000 yuan (41,782 US dollars) and give himan empty plot of land to build a new home.

‘it was never a final solution for us to live in a lone house in the middle of the road. after the government’s explanations, I finally decided to move,” explains luo.

image © jin yunguo

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