IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i23p13031-d687305.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Housing in Facilitating Middle-Class Family Practices in China: A Case Study of Tianjin

Author

Listed:
  • Lu Wang

    (School of Architecture, Planning & Landscape, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK)

  • Rose Gilroy

    (School of Architecture, Planning & Landscape, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK)

Abstract

This paper, drawn from a wider doctoral study that investigates how middle-class Chinese families manage and balance their resources to negotiate family duties across generations, focuses on the role of home ownership and property. The research considers intergenerational equity, which is a key part of social sustainability, and uses this to explore the shifting care expectations between generations and the inherent tensions between socioeconomic opportunities that have changed the shape of families and the belief in the importance of the family unit as a vehicle to deliver care. The research draws on the narratives of whole families in a ten-family study undertaken in the Chinese city of Tianjin. The findings reveal the critical role of housing resources in presenting alternative solutions to the performance of care. Firstly, the opportunity to make new choices in the face of shifting priorities across the life course is facilitated by property ownership. Secondly, it facilitates the possibility of living close by, but not together, maintaining the privacy of the nuclear family, but fulfilling care roles. Thirdly, housing resources promote variations on the traditional co-residence pattern for supporting frail elders and, finally, new forms of co-residences where care flows to the young family and their children.

Suggested Citation

  • Lu Wang & Rose Gilroy, 2021. "The Role of Housing in Facilitating Middle-Class Family Practices in China: A Case Study of Tianjin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-11, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:23:p:13031-:d:687305
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/23/13031/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/23/13031/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yafei Liu & Martin Dijst & Stan Geertman & Can Cui, 2017. "Social Sustainability in an Ageing Chinese Society: Towards an Integrative Conceptual Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-15, April.
    2. Ray Forrest, 2015. "The ongoing financialisation of home ownership – new times, new contexts," International Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(1), pages 1-5, January.
    3. Ray Forrest, 2015. "The ongoing financialisation of home ownership – new times, new contexts," European Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 15(1), pages 1-5, January.
    4. Lili Wu & Yang Bian & Wei Zhang, 2019. "Housing ownership and housing wealth: new evidence in transitional China," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(3), pages 448-468, March.
    5. Qiyan Wu & Tim Edensor & Jianquan Cheng, 2018. "Beyond Space: Spatial (Re)Production and Middle†Class Remaking Driven by Jiaoyufication in Nanjing City, China," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(1), pages 1-19, January.
    6. Lau, D.T. & Kirby, J.B., 2009. "The relationship between living arrangement and preventive care use among community-dwelling elderly persons," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(7), pages 1315-1321.
    7. William A. V. Clark & Daichun Yi & Xin Zhang, 2020. "Do House Prices Affect Fertility Behavior in China? An Empirical Examination," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 43(5), pages 423-449, September.
    8. Hal Pawson & Chris Martin, 2021. "Rental property investment in disadvantaged areas: the means and motivations of Western Sydney’s new landlords," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(5), pages 621-643, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Daniel Sanfelici & Ludovic Halbert, 2016. "Financial markets, developers and the geographies of housing in Brazil: A supply-side account," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(7), pages 1465-1485, May.
    2. Mădălina Mezaroş & Antoine Paccoud, 2024. "Accelerating housing inequality: property investors and the changing structure of property ownership in Luxembourg," International Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 23-43, January.
    3. Jubril Olakitan Atanda & Ayşe Öztürk, 2020. "Social criteria of sustainable development in relation to green building assessment tools," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 61-87, January.
    4. Chen, Nana & Xu, Hangtian, 2021. "Why has the birth rate relatively increased in China's wealthy cities?," MPRA Paper 105960, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Yu Yang & Rongxin He & Ning Zhang & Liming Li, 2023. "Second-Child Fertility Intentions among Urban Women in China: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-16, February.
    6. Chunhui Liu & Weixuan Song, 2019. "Perspectives of Socio-Spatial Differentiation from Soaring Housing Prices: A Case Study in Nanjing, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-16, May.
    7. Yan Xu & Weixuan Song & Chunhui Liu, 2018. "Social-Spatial Accessibility to Urban Educational Resources under the School District System: A Case Study of Public Primary Schools in Nanjing, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-16, July.
    8. Miaoxi Zhao & Yanliu Lin & Huiqin Wang, 2022. "Locational Differences of Collective Land and Their Socioeconomic Effects on the Rural Elderly in China’s Pearl River Delta," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-16, April.
    9. Jin Xie & Yinying Cai & Hang Tang & Yuanqin Liao, 2020. "Housing Wealth Status and Informal Accumulation of Rural Villages at the Rural-Urban Fringe in Shanghai, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-23, August.
    10. Kosa Golić & Vesna Kosorić & Siu-Kit Lau, 2020. "A Framework for Early Stages of Socially Sustainable Renovation of Multifamily Buildings with Occupants’ Participation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-22, October.
    11. Xiaoyin Li & John V. Winters, 2024. "Fertility divergence across large and small areas," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(2), June.
    12. Jianbo Han & Edwin Hon Wan Chan & Queena Kun Qian & Esther Hiu Kwan Yung, 2021. "Achieving Sustainable Urban Development with an Ageing Population: An “Age-Friendly City and Community” Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-32, August.
    13. Valentina Carella & Paola Monachesi, 2018. "Greener through Grey? Boosting Sustainable Development through a Philosophical and Social Media Analysis of Ageing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-13, February.
    14. Troy, Laurence & Wolifson, Peta & Buckley, Amma & Buckle, Caitlin & Adkins, Lisa & Bryant, Gareth & Konings, Martijn, 2023. "Pathways to home ownership in an age of uncertainty," SocArXiv vstm4, Center for Open Science.
    15. Yafei Liu, 2022. "Space Reproduction in Urban China: Toward a Theoretical Framework of Urban Regeneration," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-22, September.
    16. Xiaotian Zhang & Xiaoyun Liu & Yang Wang & Lulin Zhou & Xiaoran Cheng, 2022. "Sustainable Development of China’s Maternity Insurance System in the Context of Population Policy Changes: Using a Grounded Theory Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-19, February.
    17. Janetta Nestorová Dická & Filip Lipták, 2024. "Regional fertility predictors based on socioeconomic determinants in Slovakia," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 1-43, September.
    18. Batara Surya & Seri Suriani & Firman Menne & Herminawaty Abubakar & Muhammad Idris & Emil Salim Rasyidi & Hasanuddin Remmang, 2021. "Community Empowerment and Utilization of Renewable Energy: Entrepreneurial Perspective for Community Resilience Based on Sustainable Management of Slum Settlements in Makassar City, Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-36, March.
    19. Qiang He & Xin Deng & Chuan Li & Zhongcheng Yan & Yanbin Qi, 2022. "The Impact of Rural Population Mobility on Fertility Intention under the Comprehensive Two-Child Policy: Evidence from Rural China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-17, June.
    20. Siqi Yu & Xigang Zhu & Qian He, 2020. "An Assessment of Urban Park Access Using House-Level Data in Urban China: Through the Lens of Social Equity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-19, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:23:p:13031-:d:687305. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.