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Affordability of housing and accessibility of public services: evaluation of housing programs in Bei**g

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Abstract

Acute housing poverty and low housing affordability among low-to-medium-income households have become challenges in the pursuit of a harmonious society in China. Promoting housing subsidies and stimulating investment on affordable housing have been at the center of China’s housing policy. This paper analyzes the correlation of affordable housing program in Bei**g with household affordability of adequate housing and accessibility to public services, which include elementary and middle schools, hospitals and public transportation. Economic and Comfortable Housing is studied based on unique database of eligible household and affordable housing projects. We find that the program fails to make housing affordable and accessible for eligible households. The implications of housing policy design in the context of the economic and social well-being of targeted households are highlighted in the study.

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Notes

  1. Data source: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI?page=1 (Date of access: December 29, 2012).

  2. Under the old economic system, more than 98 % of urban residents were employed by either the state or the collective sectors. They are all provided comprehensive welfare services, including job security, healthcare and education. After the economic marketization, welfare provision related to work units was reduced substantially in order to improve production efficiency (Wang and Liu 2004).

  3. In July 1998, the new State Council issued an official document titled “The Resolution on Continuing Urban Housing System Reform, Accelerating Housing Development” (SC[1998]No. 23). It announced that previous welfare housing distribution system would be formally abandoned at the end of 1998 and completely replaced by monetary distribution, implicating a full marketization stage in housing reform in China.

  4. There is a small amount of housing called “self-built” housing which usually locates in rural areas, the periphery of urban cities.

  5. Only 9 out of 35 designed Public Rental Housing projects have been started. (Source: Bei**g Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban–Rural Development, Housing Security Office).

  6. In 2009 and 2010, only 4,000 CRH units were built in Bei**g. Since CRH targets the bottom low-income households with local registration in Bei**g, the number of eligible households is rather limited in Bei**g.

  7. Public provident funds are deposits from employers and their employees’ one-for-one match saving for the purpose of housing consumption. In 2011, in the 28 pilot cities, the reserves on housing provident funds are required to be invested in PRH development (Ministry of Housing of Urban and Rural Development 2011).

  8. Beginning in early 1950s, the Chinese Government introduced the key public school concept, which was allocated with much more funding, better facilities and better teachers than ordinary schools.

  9. There is no formal definition or division of school district. Residents are normally acknowledged when they apply to schools on behalf of their children.

  10. Data source: http://www.prcedu.com/news/xsc/zexiao/2010/1202/9657.html (Date of access: December 29, 2012).

  11. According to the statistics of Center for Statistics Information Ministry of Health, only 9% of private hospitals exist in 2012 in China.

  12. In 2011, four districts are combined into two districts lessening the total number of districts from eight to six.

  13. If we use average non-housing consumption of bottom 40% household based on Bei**g Municipal Bureau of Statistics, we get the same results for the one-person households. While for the two-person and three-person households, they have much worse situation on affordability compared to what we get in Table 3.

  14. The schools are selected according to the criteria distributed by the Bei**g Municipal Education Commission. It includes 13 items including such as organization, number of teachers, scrod of student, extracurricular activities.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the funding of Nature Science Foundation of China (No. 71073090) and Nature Science Foundation of China (No. 09&ZD042).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tsinghua-Hang Lung Center for Real Estate Studies, Tsinghua University, Bei**g, 100084, People’s Republic of China

    Zan Yang & Wei Zhang

  2. Department of Construction Management, Tsinghua University, Bei**g, 100084, People’s Republic of China

    Zan Yang & Wei Zhang

  3. Department of Urban and Real Estate Management, Central University of Finance and Economics, Bei**g, 100081, People’s Republic of China

    Chengdong Yi

  4. Lincoln Institute Center for Urban Development and Land Policy, Peking University, Bei**g, 100871, People’s Republic of China

    Chengdong Yi & Chun Zhang

  5. School of Architecture and Design, Bei**g Jiaotong University, Bei**g, 100044, People’s Republic of China

    Chun Zhang

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  1. Zan Yang
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Correspondence to Zan Yang.

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Yang, Z., Yi, C., Zhang, W. et al. Affordability of housing and accessibility of public services: evaluation of housing programs in Bei**g. J Hous and the Built Environ 29, 521–540 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-013-9363-4

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