Reuters photographer Aly Song recently visited a small neighborhood in a corner of Shanghai, China—a remnant patch of smaller houses and shops where residents live in homes surrounded by demolition debris, a concrete wall, and looming skyscrapers on all sides. Song writes “On paper, the Guangfuli neighborhood is a real estate investor's dream: a plot in the middle of one of the world's most expensive and fast-rising property markets. But the reality is more like a developer's nightmare, thanks to hundreds of people living there who have refused to budge from their ramshackle homes for nearly 16 years as the local authority sought to clear the land for new construction.”
Shanghai's Holdout Neighborhood of Guangfuli
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A woman surnamed Li stands inside the house she shares with her husband, with pictures of her mother-in-law and father-in-law on the wall, in Guangfuli, on April 8, 2016. #
Aly Song / Reuters -
A man surnamed Zeng sits on his bed in Guangfuli on April 18, 2016. Zeng, 89, lives alone and keeps all his belongings within reach of his bed as he has difficulty walking. #
Aly Song / Reuters -
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Jiang Wei cooks dinner outside a six-square-meter house he rents with a friend, in the Guangfuli neighborhood, on March 28, 2016. Jiang and his friend have rented the house for two years, paying 450 yuan ($69) monthly. #
Aly Song / Reuters -
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