This dissertation is concerned with the dynamics of housing delivery in Beijing, the
capital city of China. Over the past four decades, perceptions of housing problems in Beijing
and historical conditions have changed. Housing shortages, run-down housing in inner city
areas, affordability of commodity housing, and informal housing developments are some
examples of housing problems that have developed over the years. However, during the
current transition towards a "socialist market system", developing and formulating effective
organizational and institutional arrangements to address these substantive housing problems
have become the more challenging tasks.
The purpose of this study is to elucidate the dynamic changes of organizational and
institutional arrangements in housing delivery in Beijing and to identify factors contributing
to their performances. Based on the "housing delivery analytical framework" derived from
the literature review, the dissertation identifies five housing delivery systems in Beijing: (1)
work-unit housing, (2) commodity housing, (3) inner city housing, (4) the "Comfortable
Home" housing programme and (5) informal housing. Based on extensive interviews and
field research, the dissertation analyzes the unique combination of actors in each housing
delivery system, their goals and how they fulfil their role in the process of producing,
distributing, and consuming housing. The changes among these arrangements and the
reasons for these changes are also discussed.
The findings of this study suggest that outcomes of housing delivery systems do not
correspond well with the stated objectives or general goals of availability, adequacy,
affordability, accessibility, and viability. The dissertation discovers several major reasons for
this imperfect correspondence: (1) policy objectives overstress quantitative requirements;
(2) policy objectives represent compromises between conflicting values; (3) key interests
within the implementation structure are different from policy objectives; and (4) underlying
forces beyond housing delivery influence the behaviour of actors
In light of the findings, the chief pragmatic implication of the study is that improving
housing accessibility should be the key in future housing reforms in Beijing. Housing
policies should focus more on managing land, transforming the role of work-units,
integrating informal developments, linking comprehensive planning with housing
development, forming new community organizations, building housing finance systems, and
coordinating housing administration. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/6735 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Ying, Li |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 14352940 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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