Water systems in California: Ownership,geography, and affordability

This study asks whether different types of water systems serve different types of communities and differ with respect to affordability. Using 2017 data for California we match service area boundaries with census income data and rate structures to compare the geography, income distribution and affordability of water rates within communities served by systems of different ownership types. We find that for-profit and publicly owned systems serve communities of similar income distributions, while not-for-profit mutual water companies serve higher-income communities. Regulated privately-owned systems charge more for water while providing more low-income assistance and shutting off fewer households than publicly owned systems.     

从"为大众的住宅"到"为大众的社区"从"居住区规划"到"社区建设"

在历经20年的建设后，中国的城市住房在数量和质量方面都有了飞跃发展，但同时，城市的富裕居民和贫困居民在住房条件上的鸿沟也日益加大。有鉴于美国在住房建设方面的经验，文章提出应制定一种侧重于社会发展的住房新政策，并提出“为大众的社区”和“社区建设”的概念。     

Spatial mismatch and the affordability of public transport for the poor in Singapore’s new towns

Singapore has redeveloped its Central Area into business districts and relocated the affected population to new towns. Unfortunately, this strong center policy has hindered the development of employment sub-centers. Most jobs are located in the Central Area, resulting in a spatial mismatch that the government is attempting to address by building a world-class public transport system. However, the poor not only face affordability problems and long travel times for employment, but they are also experiencing a shrinking supply of employment due to economic restructuring. Route tests were conducted, and the results indicate that the poor, who generally choose to travel by bus, have to spend up to 9.8% of their household income per month and 70 min per trip from their neighborhoods to the city center. Those who take the hub-and-spoke network have to spend 13.2% of household income and take 60 min for similar trips. To increase the job-seeking range of these people, they should be offered concessions to encourage use of the hub-and-spoke network. The government should also build a light-rail transit line to pass through the Central Catchment Nature Reserve to connect employment sub-centers.     

The affordability of “affordable” housing in England: conditionality and exclusion in a context of welfare reform

Abstract

Contemporary debates around affordability have largely focused on homeownership and private renting. This article considers the affordable social rented sector in England, in which reforms to social welfare assistance, reduced security of tenure, and a shift towards mid-market rents, are changing access to ‘affordable’ housing for those on the lowest incomes. Drawing on in-depth interviews with housing associations and stakeholders, the article highlights the increasing use of affordability assessments for prospective tenants. These assessments interact with mid-market rental products to increase the potential for exclusion from affordable housing on the grounds of ability to pay. This conditionality is applied not only at the point of tenancy access, but also at renewal of fixed-term tenancies. The research highlights that the combination of welfare and housing policies, in the context of a financialising housing association sector, has the potential to erode access to social housing for those who are perceived as a financial risk, reshaping the focus of social housing.     

Residential Mobility: Contrasting Approaches in Europe and the United States

Major differences exist in patterns of residential mobility and in theories about them in the US compared with European countries. The divergent histories and institutional arrangements of the two areas foster specific types of mobility and hinder others. To explain the mobility in each setting, theorists have selected methods and variables that make their approaches seem unsuitable when applied to the other area. Variety among European countries is important, but this discussion stresses how a common legacy of housing policies has inclined European observers to the view that everything is more complicated than it seems. By contrast, American analysts tend to see their housing situation in a simplified but strangely dualistic way. For some, real estate markets are already functioning beautifully in fostering timely moves and simply need to be appreciated. For others the barriers to escaping from paralysed inner-city ghettos are almost insurmountable. The barriers to moving out of 'socially excluding' zones, although growing, seem less formidable to European analysts. Are these zones like the rest of markets significantly different, or are they merely perceived with different analytical spectacles? Some of both, naturally.     

The Affordability of Water in an African Town

This paper examines (a) the ability of consumers in a typical medium-sized African town to pay for a piped water supply, and (b) the implications for the financial viability of the local water undertaking. It demonstrates that, at present, people are paying about 10% of their income for water, and this appears to be near their limit of affordability. However, it is shown that it is possible for the water company to improve its revenue, whilst maintaining its present tariffs, by providing more private connections. Furthermore, the aim of improving water-company revenues is compatible with providing improved services to its urban customers.     

Between ‘Market’ and ‘Welfare’: Rent Restructuring Policy in the Housing Association Sector,England

This paper empirically evaluates the market and welfare impacts of rent restructuring policy in the housing association (RSL) sector. The focus is on the financial viability of housing associations in the north of England, the affordability problems of tenants in the south, and the changes of turnover rates of RSL tenancies that have resulted. Using data from the Regulatory and Statistical Returns and the CORE (COntinuous REcording) from 2001/02 to 2005/06, the analysis shows that the ‘market’ component of the rent formula plays a more substantial role in affecting the RSL rent levels despite the ‘welfare’ measures in the policy—the greater emphasis on local earnings, the restriction of annual rent increase and the imposition of rent ceilings. Given that social housing in England is essentially a residual mode of provision, it is argued that a more flexible approach in balancing these two conflicting principles in rent setting is needed.     

用可负担能力指数分析我国城镇居民购房负担能力

结合我国最近7年房地产市场实际情况,借鉴国外所用的可负担能力指数理论来验证全国以及北京和上海1998～2004年房价,得出当前我国商品住宅总体上处于可负担水平；北京的房价如此高使得指数一直低于可负担水平但可负担指数在逐渐提高；上海的房价最近两年上涨太快使得指数剧烈下降,由2002 年的可负担下降到2003年和2004年的不可负担水平最后给出相应分析。     

Towards sustainable urban water services in developing countries: tariffs based on willingness-to-pay studies

ABSTRACT

Water supply and sanitation (WASH) service providers in most towns of developing countries, such as Godey Town in Ethiopia, the case study reported in this paper, deliver less than basic services. The costs for meeting the more ambitious WASH targets of the Sustainable Development Goals will be much higher than what has previously been invested in the sector. This study showed that a tariff structure designed using affordability and willingness-to-pay data would provide higher revenues than one solely based on estimated customers’ affordability, or Ethiopian government’s tariff guidelines. As in previous studies in Ethiopia, this study highlights government’s low willingness-to-charge amidst a high customers’ willingness-to-pay. Yet, there is need to increase water tariffs in developing countries, hence, moving towards financial sustainability and supplementing the other two Ts – taxes and transfers. Based on accurate and updated socio-economic data, the tariff can also be optimised to fulfil the social equity objective.     

经济适用原则乃公共住宅的设计之源 香港早期公屋的设计特色初探

公共住宅从本质上来说不是一个单纯的建筑问题,它是一个国家或社会为保障低收入家庭的最基本的居住条件而建立的一套社会福利制度。香港的公屋制度缘起于20世纪50年代初人口急剧增长、城市住房极度短缺以及社会贫穷问题日益激化的大环境。这些极端的条件激发建筑师的创造力,产生不平凡的设计。文章以香港早期的公屋发展为考察对象,以经济适用原则为基本线索,梳理香港公屋在场地策略、居住单元以及交通流线三个方面的设计特点。