Chinese House in the Middle of a Road
Homeowner Luo Baogen, who lives in Wenling, China, refused to sell his house to allow the government to build a road through where it stood, so the government built the road anyway, leaving the house circled by tarmac. [atlantic.com]
But recently Luo Baogen finally agreed to sell, so the house is now being torn down.
This definitely isn't the first time standoffs between homeowners and governments have resulted in houses stranded in the middle of roads. Here on WU, we previously reported about a Japanese example of the phenomenon from 1964. But it seems to me this happens more often in Asia than anywhere else. I have no idea why.
But recently Luo Baogen finally agreed to sell, so the house is now being torn down.
This definitely isn't the first time standoffs between homeowners and governments have resulted in houses stranded in the middle of roads. Here on WU, we previously reported about a Japanese example of the phenomenon from 1964. But it seems to me this happens more often in Asia than anywhere else. I have no idea why.
Comments
In the US we reserve our houses for more important thoroughfares.
Listen here.
Listen here.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 12/05/12 at 10:29 AM
I believe that it involves ancestral ties to the land. The family has been there for generations and mobility of place is not part of the culture as it is here in the United States. Although that doesn't exactly explain Granny Clampett ...
Anyone have other opinions?
Anyone have other opinions?
Posted by KDP on 12/05/12 at 11:46 AM
Yep, here we call it "Eminent Domain" and the petty B's just take your land. Originally intended to allow the government to secure land for things like roads, BUT now they can use it to provide land for their favorite developer to build a mall and make more PAC donations.
Posted by steve-e on 12/05/12 at 11:50 AM
For a while there he had the World's Greatest Driveway!
Posted by tadchem on 12/05/12 at 02:51 PM
In China, land is often seized and given to corrupt developers with minimal compensation. It happened to my elderly mother-in-law. Her ancestral home was taken and she had to move far out of Beijing away from her family because she didn't get enough money even for an apartment in the city. This is how the world's most equally distributed income became one of the world's most unequally distributed incomes in a couple of decades.
It is very common for local resistance to land seizures to very strong, but ultimately thugs force people out. It is a big problem right across the country. Kleptocrats are doing really well, just like in Russia.
The whole thing is really sad.
It is very common for local resistance to land seizures to very strong, but ultimately thugs force people out. It is a big problem right across the country. Kleptocrats are doing really well, just like in Russia.
The whole thing is really sad.
Posted by Harvey on 12/05/12 at 08:13 PM
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Category: Buildings and Other Structures