China S Housing Reform And Outcomes

Since the housing reform in 1998 that abandoned China's old system of linking housing distribution with employment, the housing market has experienced rapid development and is now a significant source of economic activity for the Chinese economy. China's population growth and urbanization has driven a significant portion of the residential construction boom. This has led to improvements in housing conditions for urban residents. A significant issue of China's housing boom is a considerable increase in housing prices which poses enormous challenges at both central and local government levels. The book covers the housing situation in China and the direction it appears to be headed. Included are predictions based upon current housing trends and the likely impact to China's housing sector in coming years. The chapters present the proceedings of a May 2009 conference cosponsored by the Lincoln Institute and the Peking University-Lincoln Institute Center for Urban Development and Land Policy. Scholars who specialize in China's housing market shared valuable information and insights about housing policies and practices in China with government officials, academic researchers, faculty and students.

This in-depth volume explains China's residential construction boom and reviews how some established trends are likely to challenge its housing market in coming years. It draws on household surveys and public data in China and provides important lessons about housing policy for China and other countries.

This book provides an in-depth analysis of China’s housing system and real-estate industry .The author weaves together the different elements of the real estate industry into a logically coherent whole, in which the relationship between the real-estate industry and the macroeconomy sets the background, the housing market forms the core, real estate finance makes up a necessary condition, public policy provides the guarantee and the housing system the foundation. The book constructs an analytical framework for the development of China’s housing system that considers a comprehensive range of factors, highlights the most important issues, and is soundly structured, logical and clear. By applying this framework, the authors present an overview of the past, present and future of China’s housing industry.

An authoritative addition to comparative housing research, adding to knowledge of housing policy in practice in China. It demonstrates how Chinese housing provision and policy differs in important ways from that of the former state socialist regimes in Eastern Europe and from other developing countries with which China is often grouped. The relationships to the Chinese political and social frameworks and the influences of Asian neighbours are outlined and assessed.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of housing affordability under the economic reforms and social transformations in urban China. It also offers an overall review of the current government measures on the housing market and affordable housing policies in China. By introducing a dynamic affordability approach and residual income approach, the book allows us to capture the size of the affordability gap more accurately, to better identify policy targets, and to assess the effectiveness of current public policy. The unique database on urban household surveys and regional information on affordable housing projects serve to strengthen the analysis. The book offers theoretical and empirical insights for in-depth affordability studies and helps readers to understand the social impacts of market reforms and the role of government on the Chinese housing market.

Using fresh evidence and a novel methodological framework, this book sheds light on how institutions have driven economic reform in China's urban housing sector. The book systematically analyzes the developmental role of the state in China, with rich empirical evidence to show how decentralization has brought about significant participation by the different levels of government with the central, provincial and municipal governments focusing on initiation, intermediation and implementation roles respectively. Despite many Western analysts claiming that it is single complex superstructure, the institutionalization of governance structures in China following reforms has taken place through strong coordination between governments at different levels to meet targeted plans. Although China still has a long way to go to before it can be considered developed, this book elaborates on how the country offers a unique alternative for other states seeking to develop by striking a balance between capitalist and socialist instruments.

This book attempts to broaden and deepen our understanding of the vital important and increasingly significant topic of China's housing reform in the process of transition from a planned economy to a market one. The book draws on the author's extensive experience of research into housing reform, particularly privatisation policy. Housing policy is assessed against a background of housing problems and political, economic and cultural changes. The book offers a detailed examination of the housing problems and the causes of these problems and the government policy of tackling the housing problems in the reform era. It provides a comprehensive and timely analysis of the rationales, objectives, instruments and performance of housing privatisation in China and uncovers possible risk outcomes of privatisation and potential conflicts involved in the process of privatisation. It provides fresh insights into the housing question and the privatisation issue in China. The book finally sets out recommendations for alternative options to tackle the housing problems in China. The book will be of interest to all those concerned with housing policy, urban development, privatisation and reform issues in China.

Home ownership plays a significant role in locating the middle class in most western societies, associated with market, consumerism, democracy and “people like us”, the significant features of the middle class for any society. In China, private home ownership was not the norm from 1949, when the Chinese Communist Party took power, until the 1990s. In the past three decades, however, there has been a fast growing housing consumption and private homeowners have become the most significantly changing aspect of Chinese urban life. In particular, the rise of gated communities has become a predominant feature of the urban landscape. Similar to their western counterparts, the gated communities in China exemplify “high status” symbols with enclosed and restricted residential areas, exclusive community parks and recreational facilities, and professional management and security services. But different from western societies where gated communities usually represent luxurious lifestyles only limited to a small group of people, in urban China gated communities have become one major form of supply in the housing market and one of the most popular and desirable choices for homebuyers. Private home ownership and residency in gated communities, altogether characterize the most significant aspect of comfort living and distinct lifestyles of China’s new middle classes who have successfully got ahead in the socialist market economy. This book examines the formation of “China’s housing middle class”. It develops a theoretical argument about, and provides empirical evidence of the heterogeneity of China’s new middle class, which underlines the relations between the state, market and life chances under a socialist market economy. As such it will be of huge interest to students and scholars of Chinese society, sociology and politics.