The view from my apartment window looks over a nice artificial lake with a clubhouse. Around the lake there is a children's play area and some barbecue pits.

Years ago there was another clubhouse on the same spot, but it was never used for anything. So, the developers tore it down and built a larger and grander one. It's a very nice and impressive building. It has never been used.

To the south of the lake is an open field of many acres, which, I was told, was part of the feng shui of the overall design.
The field was unique in Zhongshan city, Guangdong Province, in that it was a flat and green expanse of grass where the residents of our complex could walk their dogs, fly their kites and toy planes, or just walk about on a warm day.

It had many outdoor holiday dinners and fireworks displays. Now I look at the field and it's a moonscape of freshly-flattened mud, dotted with black steel derricks that are hammering massive concrete-and-rebar pylons into the soil.

According to the original housing contracts that the homeowners signed with the development company, this land was to be forever untouched, a green space for all to see and enjoy.

Years ago the management company tried to build on this land and there was a mass protest, a parade of angry owners carrying copies of their contracts and waving banners, which attracted the local press and effectively halted the plans – temporarily.

Now the builders are back and there are no more protests, because the company is just too big, powerful and rich and too closely connected with the government.

In the same complex, the wealthiest villas were placed on the tops of the hill, overlooking the golf course, ensuring uninterrupted views and total privacy for the elite.

Now, new apartment towers have blotted out the sightlines and tenants of the higher floors can look down into the backyards of the rich and famous with impunity.

This is also in violation of signed contracts, and lawyers have been called in on the case, but the work continues apace.
This story is being repeated all over our city and all over China. Wasn't it years ago that I heard the leadership had put a moratorium on the construction of any new private home development projects?

I've yet to see it slow down. Quite the contrary. Real estate prices will continue to soar as long as there is profit to be made.
This complex is one of the nicest locations in the city. The oldest villas here are only five years old or so.

There are major gaps between the supporting pillars and the foundation. The front steel gate is a rusting eyesore. The plumbing leaks, the electrical box has to be replaced, and the hinges are breaking off the cupboard doors.

What's going on here? Once productive farmland is bought from the local village head, this irreplaceable land is then converted into upscale housing and sold to factory owners and real estate speculators.

They hold onto the property for a few years until the prices double, and then they resell it to some young married couple who are just getting started on their new lives together.

Then the house falls apart around their ears because it was built on the cheap materials, never meant to last. Its purpose was to create a profit for the bank, for the developer, for the city planner and for the mayor.

Once it's collapsed, it stands as a monument to indifference, to sloppy and lazy craftsmanship, and to waste.
So it's not enough that the land has been consumed so recklessly.

That would be almost acceptable if it was put to good use, if it was respected at least with works of permanence, good taste and lasting utility. Instead, it looks like a cynical money grab to me.

But that's ok. If current climate predictions continue as they are, all this will be underwater in about 30 years. Just long enough for the new homeowners to pay off their mortgages. Then think of the ocean views they'll have!