Susie Blatchford, Nail Houses (Student (2018))

Shanghai, the economic hub of China, has one of the fastest rates of urban development in the world. Beneath the rising apartment buildings, the old towns are facing demolition to accommodate the expansion of the city. With this demolition however, comes the loss of the history and the long-standing communities of these old places. A small village in Shanghai’s Yangpu district is being demolished to make way for new government projects. Most of the residents have left; their houses bricked-up and pulled down. While the rubble and rubbish suggests the life of the village disintegrated with the homes, looking through the cracks of broken concrete walls, a resilient community lives on. Built by the government in partnership with a nearby factory in the 1950s, the village, Gongzhu Yi cun, still remains home to many of the original factory workers and their children. 64 families are refusing to leave, demanding the government offer fair compensation for their homes, or fulfil the promise of providing similar housing in the area. With housing supply almost at a standstill in the Yangpu district, the fading community of Gongzhu Yi cun wait in vain. While the residents are fighting for what they fairly deserve, financial compensation and the security of a place to live aren’t the only things at stake. Yang TingQiang only knows life in this village. His house, which once belonged to his father, is now home to his wife and son. “The reason I don’t want to leave is because I know the community here really well.” he says. “Since the government removed the houses here, the village is falling apart. People have left to different places.” It’s not just their homes that are being pulled down; it’s a history that dates back generations; the history of a community in which these people belong. “It affects me a lot. I used to get up and see my friends… If I have to move someplace else, I will have to start all over again.”

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