Question

Discuss about three main driving forces for the rising housing inequality china: privatization, marketization, and neoliberalization in the housing systems Please type a paragraph with at least 10 sentences in length

Answer 1

Housing is one of the necessities for survival. It promotes healthy and prosperous life. Therefore, the quality of a person's life and degree of social development is measured by two important indicators i.e. living space and living conditions. Due to privatization, marketization and neoliberalization in the housing systems, China has witnessed rising housing inequality.

1) Privatization: In 1999, the ministry of construction published a document for privatization of public housing. It specified that all public housing owned by the local public housing authority, except those being recognized as unsuitable for sale, for example historical housing, housing within office complexes, etc. should be sold to sitting tenants who wish to purchase it. This contributed to increase in home ownership in chinese cities. So, people in good economic condition were able to buy these houses but people with low income were not in the position to buy these houses and therefore it resulted in housing inequality.

2) Marketization: To strengthen the influence of the real estate sector and make it effective driving force for nation wide economic development, the Chinese government launched market oriented housing reform. The establishment of housing market provided Chinese families with various housing options. Due to marketization there was a rapid rise in housing prices which made buying houses unaffordable for the lower income groups & therefore lead to housing inequality. Due to privatization and marketization, the low income groups were unable to purchase a single home while high income groups have been able to bought more than one house.

3) Neoliberalization: Neoliberal urbanization in China led to elimination of public housing and other forms of low rent accommodation and it also eliminated measures of rent control. It led to the creation of new oppportunities for speculative investments in the real estate markets, introduction of market rents and more owner occupation housing, creation of new privatized spaces of elite corporate consumption, etc. All these factors lead to rising housing prices which made buying houses unaffordable for people with lower income & thus lead to rise in housing inequality.

To maintain a sustainable housing system, China needs to reinvent its social housing sector, instead of passively shunning it.