Housing allocation with Chinese characteristics: the case of talent workers in Shenzhen and Guangzhou

Abstract

ABSTRACT Since 2008, the Chinese state has been developing new public housing programs, which are widely used to distribute public housing among talent workers. This paper examines public housing allocation to talent workers, especially to talent migrants. It argues that local governments have established a unique housing allocation approach best described as a state-employer model and that this model demonstrates a state-market hybridity in urban governance. The hybridity largely results from the “Chinese characteristics”, the party-state’s use of socialist institutions and management of the market based on these institutions. Although local governments have significantly improved migrant housing conditions, this hybrid model of housing allocation has inevitably resulted in both inequity and inefficiency in urban housing provision.