Social and Spatial Implications of Housing Reform in China

Research into eastern European housing reform indicates that privatization has been accompanied by processes of social and physical exclusion and segregation. Has the Chinese housing reform been accompanied by similar problems? This paper addresses this question by examining the early evidence on the social and spatial consequences of housing reform. It begins with a discussion of the particular social and spatial patterns of Chinese cities developed during the early years of Communist control and then examines the social and spatial impacts of housing reform. It is argued that although housing reform has brought significant changes to the housing provision system and improved many urban residents' living conditions, it has not entirely broken the traditional system. Reform was to a large extent carried out within work-unit establishments and has had very different impacts for different social and economic groups. In addition, spatial impacts in urban areas have varied between old and new areas and between rich and poor areas. La recherche sur les reformes du logement en Europe de l'est montre que la privatisation a ete accompagnee de processus d'exclusion et de segregation physique et sociale. La reforme chinoise du logement a-t-elle ete accompagnee de problemes identiques? Cet article examine les premieres donnees sur les consequences sociales et spatiales de la reforme du logement. Il commence par une discussion des modeles sociaux et spatiaux particuliers aux villes chinoises developpes durant les premieres annees du controle communiste et examine ensuite l'impact social et spatial de la reforme du logement. Bien que la reforme du logement ait apporte des changements significatifs au systeme de provision du logement et ameliore les conditions de vie de nombreux residents urbains, elle n'a pas entierement rompu avec le systeme traditionnel. La reforme a ete en grande partie conduite a l'interieur des etablissements d'unites de travail et a eu un impact tres different sur les divers groupes sociaux et economiques. De plus, les impacts spatiaux dans les regions urbaines ont varie selon que les regions sont anciennes ou nouvelles et riches ou pauvres.