This striking image comes from the edge of Zhengzhou, a fast-growing city in central China. Taken in September 2021, it shows a so-called ‘nail house’, formerly in Shiyangsi village, which has been surrounded by new roads and a canal as part of Zhengzhou’s expansion.
‘Remnant’ houses like this can be found throughout China, which has undergone government-led urbanisation on a massive scale since around 1980. Homeowners are offered government compensation in return for their residences, which are demolished. In this case, the owner refused compensation and asserted their right to live in their family home despite the disappearance of Shiyangsi village. However, the residence now lacks water, electricity or access. Remnant houses like this one pose important questions about what sort of ‘development’ counts as progress, and whose rights matter more — those of individual citizens or the government.
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