How have economic reforms affected housing provision for China’s urban poor? Has the recent introduction of low-rent social housing benefited unskilled industrial workers laid off by bankrupt state enterprise? Are migrants from rural areas able to access available assistance? Should their presence in cities be legalised?

Research from the Universities of Heriot-Watt, Chongqing and Shenyang examines the social implications of urban reform processes in China with a focus on housing conditions for the poor in two cities with high levels of unemployment. Evidence from a survey of the circumstances of groups of official urban residents and rural migrants shows that welfare schemes have not reached the vast majority of the poor.

Household surveys conducted in poor residential areas revealed stark levels of deprivation:

• Two out of five households have no household member in employment.
• Fifteen per cent of heads of households declare they have no income.
• Half of the households surveyed in Shenyang live in only one room or have to share a room with other families.
• Only one in five households has exclusive access to an internal toilet and more than 30 per cent have no kitchen.
• Four out of five household heads failed to progress beyond junior-middle school.

It is mostly government officials and professional public sector employees who have benefited from recent affordable housing and other ‘pro-poor’ initiatives, which have failed to reach those in greatest need. Although over a third of all households surveyed have a per capita income below the official urban poverty live, only a handful are claiming available low-income support from the social security department. Less than one in eight households – those living on estates tied to state enterprises – has managed to buy a house through privatisation initiatives.

While urban renewal should in theory be targeting the worst housing, developers prefer areas with good land value, low population density and uncomplicated land, property and tenancy arrangements. Families displaced by renewal schemes (some of which have pulled down perfectly sound houses) have had to pay developers large sums to move back into the area. Unable to borrow money, many end up having to spend even more on housing than they did previously.

Most vulnerable of all are the ‘unofficial poor’, migrants from rural areas barely surviving a semi-legal existence. Many have lived in the cities for years, contrary to the official description of them as ‘floating’ or ‘temporary’ residents. Researchers found that most spend a quarter of their income on housing, whereas official urban residents spend less than ten per cent. They are also forced to pay higher costs for childcare, education and medicine.

Policy implications and recommendations urge:

• reforming housing benefits to offer more help to those working outside the state system
• pro-poor urban development strategies to give more support to traditional, small and informal business activities
• enhancement of public sector capacity in social and poverty research
• considering the circumstances of all urban residents when developing poverty indicators to qualify for benefits
• focusing urban renewal schemes on the most deprived areas
• the staged removal of unfair controls on low-income migrants.

Source(s):
‘Social implications of urban reform in China: a case study of housing for the poor’, by Ya Ping Wang, Ying Zi Dai and Long Hao, August, 2001

Funded by: DFID (SSRU R7639)

id21 Research Highlight: 24 January 2003

Further Information:
Ya Ping Wang
School of the Built Environment
Heriot-Watt University
Edinburgh EH14 4AS
UK

Tel: +44 (0) 131 451 4456
Fax: +44 (0) 131 449 5153
Contact the contributor: Ya_Ping.Wang@hw.ac.uk

School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University, UK

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