AFFORDABLE HOUSING POLICY AND THE CHANGING SOCIO-SPATIAL STRUCTURE IN TRANSITIONAL BEIJING

Abstract

Since the nationwide housing reform was initiated in 1988, Chinese cities have been transforming themselves from relatively homogeneous societies organized around work-unit compounds towards ones with significant stratification and segregation. Wealthy igated communitiesi and dilapidated imigrant enclavesi have emerged side by side in many Chinese cities. The provision of affordable housing has become an urgent priority for the central government to find shelters for the middle- and low-income urban households. This paper studies the community created by the affordable housing policy using Beijing as a case study. The primary research question is how has the affordable housing policy transformed the socio-spatial structure of Beijing and why. Data are collected from field surveys and interviews. Non-parametric statistics and GIS mapping are used in data analyses. The main finding is that this housing policy has changed the whole socio-spatial structure a lot. The overall socio-spatial pattern is different with the western cities. During the changing process, government organization and other work-units are still playing important roles in shaping the changing socio-spatial structure. This paper also finds that due to loose control in the supply and distribution of the affordable housing, majority of the households do not meet the qualifying criteria for consuming such a unit. This study adds to the existing literature by linking the affordable housing policy and the changing socio-spatial structure in Beijing; it also shows that the changing socio-spatial structure is a far more complex process in economic transition.