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Housing Consumption in Urban China: A Comparative Study of Beijing and Guangzhou

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  • Si-ming Li

    (Department of Geography, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong)

Abstract

The Chinese government has made repeated attempts to end the so-called welfare provision of housing so as to reduce the burden on the state and the individual work units. Development companies have been set up to undertake housing construction and the housing units sold as commodities; these are referred to as ‘commodity housing’. The author conducts a comparative study of housing consumption in Beijing and Guangzhou, drawing upon two surveys of newly completed commodity housing conducted in 1996. In Beijing, which is dominated by the traditional socialist system of economic and social organisation, only a tiny portion of such housing is traded on the open market. In Guangzhou, where many of the market-oriented reform measures were first experimented with, the open market already accounts for a substantial proportion of the newly constructed stock. In both Beijing and Guangzhou, however, the work unit still constitutes the single most important buyer and distributor of commodity housing. Further, if the analysis is restricted to the subsidised sectors, which also include housing managed by the municipal housing bureau and resettlement housing, a comparison of the two samples reveals quite similar differential factors underlying housing consumption in the two cities, despite their difference in social and economic structure. The traditional redistributive system still exerts tremendous influence on housing consumption, even in cities renowned for their openness and market orientation. Certain differences in the results between the two cities are also revealed. For example, seniority is important only in Beijing, whereas professional and technical workers assume a special position only in Guangzhou. These differences point towards the importance of contextual considerations in the study of housing consumption in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Si-ming Li, 2000. "Housing Consumption in Urban China: A Comparative Study of Beijing and Guangzhou," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 32(6), pages 1115-1134, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:32:y:2000:i:6:p:1115-1134
    DOI: 10.1068/a32145
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Fulong Wu, 1997. "Urban restructuring in China’s emerging market economy: towards a framework for analysis," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 640-663, December.
    2. Polinsky, A Mitchell, 1977. "The Demand for Housing: A Study in Specification and Grouping," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 45(2), pages 447-461, March.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Yuting Cao & Ran Liu & Wei Qi & Jin Wen, 2020. "Spatial Heterogeneity of Housing Space Consumption in Urban China: Locals vs. Inter-and Intra-Provincial Migrants," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-26, June.
    3. Qiang Fu & Nan Lin, 2014. "The Weaknesses of Civic Territorial Organizations: Civic Engagement and Homeowners Associations in Urban China," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(6), pages 2309-2327, November.
    4. Eddie Chi-Man Hui & Tony K.K. Lo & Jia Chen & Ziyou Wang, 2012. "Housing and consumer markets in urban China," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(2), pages 117-131, December.
    5. Youqin Huang, 2004. "Housing Markets, Government Behaviors, and Housing Choice: A Case Study of Three Cities in China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 36(1), pages 45-68, January.
    6. Fulong Wu, 2007. "The Poverty of Transition: From Industrial District to Poor Neighbourhood in the City of Nanjing, China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(13), pages 2673-2694, December.
    7. Fulong Wu, 2002. "Sociospatial Differentiation in Urban China: Evidence from Shanghai's Real Estate Markets," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 34(9), pages 1591-1615, September.
    8. Zhao, Pengjun & Lü, Bin & Roo, Gert de, 2011. "Impact of the jobs-housing balance on urban commuting in Beijing in the transformation era," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 59-69.
    9. Shenjing He & George CS Lin, 2015. "Producing and consuming China’s new urban space: State, market and society," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 52(15), pages 2757-2773, November.
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    11. Si-Ming Li, 2012. "Housing Inequalities under Market Deepening: The Case of Guangzhou, China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 44(12), pages 2852-2866, December.
    12. Zhou, Xiaoqing, 2020. "A quantitative evaluation of the Housing Provident Fund program in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    13. Si-Ming Li, 2004. "Life Course and Residential Mobility in Beijing, China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 36(1), pages 27-43, January.
    14. Yuqu Wang & Zehong Wang & Chunshan Zhou & Ying Liu & Song Liu, 2020. "On the Settlement of the Floating Population in the Pearl River Delta: Understanding the Factors of Permanent Settlement Intention versus Housing Purchase Actions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-20, November.
    15. Triyakshana Seshadri, 2012. "An Analysis of the Feasibility of Private Land Assembly for Special Economic Zones in India," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(10), pages 2285-2300, August.
    16. Donggen Wang & Si-Ming Li, 2004. "Housing Preferences in a Transitional Housing System: The Case of Beijing, China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 36(1), pages 69-87, January.
    17. Zhilin Liu & Yujun Wang & Shaowei Chen, 2017. "Does formal housing encourage settlement intention of rural migrants in Chinese cities? A structural equation model analysis," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(8), pages 1834-1850, June.
    18. George C S Lin & Y H Dennis Wei, 2002. "China's Restless Urban Landscapes 1: New Challenges for Theoretical Reconstruction," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 34(9), pages 1535-1544, September.
    19. Jie Shen & Fulong Wu, 2013. "Moving to the Suburbs: Demand-Side Driving Forces of Suburban Growth in China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(8), pages 1823-1844, August.
    20. John R. Logan & Yiping Fang & Zhanxin Zhang, 2009. "Access to Housing in Urban China," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 914-935, December.
    21. Zhao, Pengjun & Lu, Bin, 2010. "Exploring job accessibility in the transformation context: an institutionalist approach and its application in Beijing," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 393-401.
    22. Linn, Joshua & Wang, Zhongmin & Xie, Lunyu, 2018. "The long-run effects of housing location on travel behavior: Evidence from China's housing reform," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 114-140.
    23. Yang Hu & Rory Coulter, 2017. "Living space and psychological well-being in urban China: Differentiated relationships across socio-economic gradients," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(4), pages 911-929, April.
    24. Ya Ping Wang & Yanglin Wang & Glen Bramley, 2005. "Chinese Housing Reform in State-owned Enterprises and Its Impacts on Different Social Groups," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 42(10), pages 1859-1878, September.
    25. Youqin Huang & William A. V. Clark, 2002. "Housing Tenure Choice in Transitional Urban China: A Multilevel Analysis," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 39(1), pages 7-32, January.

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