The above title is from the print edition–KSH<\/i>.<\/p>\n
When China\u2019s land boom excited a frenzy of popular resistance late last year \u201d\u201d including headline-grabbing suicides by people routed from their homes \u201d\u201d Chinese policy makers finally proposed a solution: rules to protect citizens from unchecked development and to fairly compensate the evicted.<\/p>\n
Today in Laogucheng, a dingy warren of apartments and shops slated for redevelopment on Beijing\u2019s far west side, the fruits of that effort are on vivid display: a powerful developer is racing to demolish the neighborhood before the rules are passed. And about 700 gritty homeowners are adamantly refusing to move until they get the fair deal they hope the rules will provide.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a limbo period,\u201d\u009d one holdout, Tian Hongyan, 49, said after a stroll amid the rubble of his half-bulldozed neighborhood. \u201cAnd during it, we\u2019re seeing even more sudden and violent demolitions occur around the country.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
China is not a good setting for a Frank Capra tale, but people do have influence over their autocratic masters. Top officials are worried that the property rush \u201d\u201d which has led to soaring prices for urban real estate and low prices for old homes and farmland seized for development \u201d\u201d is enriching local governments and well-connected developers at the expense of ordinary people and social stability.<\/p>\n