Social housing as a multi-functional tool: understanding the social housing expansion in Nanjing, China

Abstract

While the retreat of state from social housing sector has been a mainstream trend worldwide in the past decades under neoliberalism, the Chinese government returned to its role of social housing provision since the year 2007. This triggers an interesting question about why the Chinese government prioritizes housing provision as a major national project in an era of emphasizing economic growth. This article intends to uncover the rationale behind the phenomenon. It gives a concrete understanding of the motivations of social housing intervention at the municipal level in China through reviewing the social housing policies in Nanjing. It is found that the motivations underpinning large-scale social housing supply are complex, which can be related to political pressure, housing equality and economic considerations. This research enriches housing intervention research with a Chinese urban background.