Housing the Urban Poor in a Marketised System in China

Abstract

Housing provision in Chinese cities has changed from a socialist welfare system to a marketised system in a short period of 20 years. Where and how do the urban poor live under this marketised system? What policies have the government developed to help the poor? How effective are these policies? This article contributes to the literature on recent housing changes in China and provides some answers to these questions. Discussion and analysis is based on the study of recent government reports, policy documents and fieldwork set in Beijing and four other cities. While many countries have reduced their social housing provision either under the influence of neo-liberal ideologies, or the pressure to cut expensive social expenditure during the global financial crisis, China has substantially reconstructed its social housing provision system to provide assistance to the urban poor. Over the last five years, housing support has been given to many poor families through either direct housing allocation or through means tested housing benefits. The wider impact of this system however has been affected by the exclusion of millions of poor rural migrants working in cities.