The dual land management systems as an influence on physical development outcomes around Kumasi, Ghana

Uncoordinated urban dispersal, driven by demand for housing and space on the part of growing populations, is a common outcome around many major cities. The lack of co-ordination is often associated with technical and political weaknesses in land management systems. However, in developing countries, this outcome is also shaped by the tension between co-existing traditional and official land management systems. The paper explores that idea in an analysis of the urban fringe of Kumasi, Ghana. Here, unpredictable land release by semi-autonomous village chiefs is matched with a parallel set of official land sector institutions that attempt to manage, monitor and enforce regulatory mechanisms. To analyze this situation, the paper uses interviews with actors in both the traditional land tenure system and the official planning system, as well as with homebuilders in urban fringe locations. After describing each system, it explores local scale problems seen in disputes in the traditional system and delays and lack of enforcement in the official system. This analysis shows how these problems arise in part as the two systems operate side-by-side but use very different perspectives on ownership, spatial units and time horizons. In order to reduce the uncertainties that contribute to the dispersal of homeowners, the paper proposes that some of the weaknesses of traditional land administration may be addressed through education and by incorporating some of the functions into the official system. However, change will also require shifts in the regulatory powers in the traditional system and major improvements in the operation of the official approaches.     

The Limits and Potentials of the Housing Market Enabling Paradigm: An Evaluation of China's Housing Policies from 1998 to 2011

This paper examines the housing policies in China in the last 14 years in the context of the international debate on the World Bank's housing market enabling strategy to improve low-income housing provision in developing countries. A review of China's urban housing outcomes reveals housing price inflation and shortage of affordable housing in the fast expanding housing market. The paper analyzes policies to increase both demand for and supply of housing and argues that these policies have contributed to worsening affordability. This situation has been exacerbated by problems in the institutional framework managing the housing sector. The paper concludes that market enabling alone is not sufficient to achieve a satisfactory housing outcome for low- and middle-income groups in Chinese cities. It advocates more effective and direct public intervention for enhancing social housing provision and tightening market regulation to address both market and government failures to improve housing conditions for lower income groups.     

新时期的“小城镇、大战略”——试论人口高输出地区的小城镇发展机制

在全面认识我国城镇化发展趋势的基础上指出,要使超过2亿农民工平稳完成城镇化转型的进程,除了要关注人口导入地的城市群资源集聚效应以外,还必须重视人口输出地的农村经济中心——即小城镇在城镇化进程中的作用文献分析和案例研究表明,小城镇发展的动力机制不仅仅在于工业化,更重要的是农村人口对城镇服务的内在需求,包括住房、教育和人居环境等多年来小城镇发展滞后于城市,其背后有着一系列的社会、经济和制度等原因为此提出,新时期小城镇发展仍然是城镇化进程中的一项"大战略",但是发展思路需转变总之,人口高输出地区的小城镇是我国未来健康城镇化发展的重要组成部分,关系着我国健康城镇化是否能够顺利推进和实现也可以说,新时期的"小城镇、大战略"要有新的内涵。     

Property Agents,Housing Markets and Housing Services in Transitional Urban China

This study examines the particular role, services and functions of property agents in the housing markets in mainland China. Since the implementation of housing market reforms, cities on the Chinese mainland have transferred from a centrally-directed, welfare-oriented housing system to a more decentralized, market-based one. Commodification of housing has expanded the opportunity of new market intermediaries to service the growing urban housing markets. Yet there appears to be little research on these agents, which bear similarity in name, but not exactly in operation, to those in a market society. Based upon insights from new institutional economics, this study examines how the existing institutions in China have constrained and facilitated their services in the housing transaction process. This micro-analytical study provides a different means towards understanding the market transformation of a socialist housing system.     

Build-to-Rent and the financialization of rental housing: future research directions

Abstract

With the expansion of institutional investors into urban rental markets, many cities have witnessed a rise in Build-to-Rent (BtR). This article reviews the financialization of rental housing literature and identifies opportunities for urban housing scholars to progress understandings of BtR through future empirical and theoretical efforts. In particular, it proposes a broadening of the housing research agenda around three analytical entry points. These entry points relate to relatively understudied structural transformations of our urban housing systems implicated in the rise of BtR, namely: (1) the diversification of build-to-sell development models; (2) the evolution of the private rental sector; and (3) labour market–housing market realignments. Comparative inquiry promises to enrich understandings of BtR by revealing how city rental accommodation and tenancies are recalibrated by the investment imperatives of institutional investors and BtR asset shareholders, and with what benefits and at what costs to whom. Such contributions will also provide rich data to progress conceptual efforts to locate BtR within broader processes of housing financialization.     

The Housing and Location Preferences of Adelaide Residents

There has been a growing mismatch between household and housing types in Australian cities in recent years. At the same time housing has become increasingly expensive, while low-density urban development has meant increasing social and economic costs for households in fringe suburbs. This paper explores current housing and location preferences of Adelaide residents. The findings suggest that home ownership and the single-storey detached dwelling are well entrenched preferences among residents, and that as yet, the personal costs of the linear spread of the city have not impacted significantly on housing and location preferences.     

Build as you earn and learn: informal urbanism and incremental housing financing in Kumasi,Ghana

The continuous evolution, proliferation and resilience of informal housing in cities of developing countries defy all attempts by their formal planning processes to marginalise and relegate them to the periphery. In most instances, their rapid and uncontrolled growth has overwhelmed city planning authorities. More importantly, strategies for financing these informal housing units present complex networks of sources not clearly discussed in the housing literature. Using two informal communities—Ayigya-Zongo and Dakodwom—in Kumasi, Ghana, this paper explores the nature and characteristics of these non-conventional housing financing strategies. The study reveals an evolving and enduring non-conventional informal housing financing system effective for providing convenient and affordable housing for the urban poor; but this system is continuously sidelined by the conventional urban planning and housing financing systems. We argue against these attitudes of formal institutions towards these non-conventional housing financing strategies, and submit that these strategies are the gradual, incremental, and collective responses of residents in informal communities to a hostile formal urban planning and housing environment. Hence the dynamics of these non-conventional housing financing schemes point to a complex and fluid network of informal housing financial sources and structures, which are co-evolving with the processes of informal urbanisation and social learning among residents in informal settlements.     

Social Groups and Housing Differentiation in China's Urban Villages: An Institutional Interpretation

Possessing different land rights and distinct landscapes, and separated from the rest of the city by invisible institutional boundaries, China's urban villages are unusual enclaves for landless farmers, rural migrants and other urban hukou (citizenship rights) holders in a period of rapid urbanization. Although urban villages are well known for their disorder and unruliness, they provide temporary livelihood for indigenous villagers and inexpensive shelter for migrants and other urban residents. Urban villages are typically perceived as homogeneous low-income neighbourhoods characterized by low quality and high density housing. In fact, housing differentiation has emerged in urban villages among residents who possess different quantities and types of capital, rights/entitlements, skills and other assets. This paper aims to understand the social groups and the housing differentiation among them in the Chinese urban villages from an institutional perspective. It is based on a large-scale household survey in 11 urban villages in six Chinese cities. Empirical data show evidence of significant housing differentiation within these enclaves: indigenous villagers have become a petty rentier class; rural migrants pay the highest rents while enduring the lowest housing conditions; and housing conditions for urban hukou holders lie between those of the other two groups. Regression analysis suggests that urban villages share similar dynamics of housing differentiation as wider urban spaces, i.e. the combination of strong institutional constraints and emerging market influences leads to housing differentiation and inequality. Residents in urban villages are also highly mobile. The inflows and outflows of population form an important part of the urban socio-spatial restructuring process.     

Effectiveness of Macro-regulation Policies on Housing Prices: A Spatial Quantile Regression Approach

The central government of China intensively implemented a series of housing macro-regulation policies to cool down overheated housing market in 2011–2013. This research uses spatial quantile regression to try to answer the question “How effective are the policies?” Results indicate that house-purchasing restrictions are effective to kerb the speculative demand for houses but are difficult to cool down housing prices especially for the cities with higher housing prices, the other policies could effectively decrease housing prices; however, the degree of effectiveness changes across cities with different level of housing prices. This suggests that China’s government may choose market-classified housing policies in future and heavily increase reserve requirement ratios and interest rates while house-purchasing restrictions are practiced. In addition, we find the positive spatial dependence of housing prices is stronger among cities with higher housing prices, which may more easily weaken the effects of housing policies for these cities when housing prices rise.

Highlights

? We model effects of macro-regulation policies on housing prices by spatial quantile regression in China’s housing market.

? We examine heterogeneous effectiveness of the policies across cities with different level of housing prices.

? House-purchasing restrictions are effective to kerb the speculative demand for houses but are difficult to cool down housing prices effectively especially for the cities with higher housing prices.

? The other macro-regulation policies effectively regulate housing prices; however, the degree of effectiveness changes across cities.

? Positive spatial dependence of housing prices is stronger among cities with higher housing prices.

     

Why there? Developers' rationale for building social housing in the urban periphery in Latin America

Inadequate housing has become endemic to Latin American cities for over six decades. All that has changed has been who is going where. In the 1960s, the rural poor who came to the city solved their housing needs by building their own informal settlements on peri-urban lands. Today, the urban poor relocate to peri-urban housing complexes built by the private sector with state subsidies. Why have these new housing units for low-income households been built in peri-urban areas? This paper examines some of the mechanisms behind the location of the urban poor in cities, with a specific focus on the role developers have played in the construction of affordable housing in peri-urban areas of Brazil and, Mexico. The paper explores these mechanisms through interviews with affordable housing developers. We found that economies of scale – and not land prices – explain developers' preference for building in peripheral areas. Initial savings that accrue to developers due to lower land prices in the periphery are offset by the cost of having to build basic onsite infrastructure. Plus, large lots – which are available almost exclusively in urban peripheries – enable developers to achieve significant cost savings because these large lots make it possible for developers to build more than 500 units. In addition, weaker municipal regulations and fewer bidders, both of which are typical for projects in difficult-to-access peripheral locations, make for a shorter and easier approval process for these large housing projects.     

Cost comparison of infrastructure on greenfield and infill sites

Planning policy in most Australian capital cities aims to divert development from the fringe into established inner urban areas. A fundamental logic underlying this policy of land recycling is that State and Local governments are challenged financially to provide appropriate standards of infrastructure and services in greenfield locations. This paper explores the range of infrastructure provision issues and seeks to identify the actual costs of provision in different locations. Three case studies in metropolitan Adelaide are used to explore the cost factors for developers and government. The study highlights the complexity of analysing the infrastructure cost of different developments which arises from variable record keeping and accounting practices. Nevertheless, the study is able to draw conclusions about the relative costs of infrastructure provision in different locations and reinforces previous studies that have demonstrated the higher costs of infrastructure on the fringe as opposed to infill. The estimated infrastructure costs for the infill development case study at Bowden are shown to be approximately one third that of both greenfield and renewal areas of the Playford Alive project on the urban fringe.     

Amenities and urban residential structure: An amenity-embedded model of residential choice

The basic model of residential choice, which has been established by generalizing Von Thünen's concept to an urban context, states that the equilibrium structure of residential land use is determined by the trade-off between accessibility and space. The willingness to sacrifice space for accessibility differs between households and depends on household income. The equilibrium land use is the outcome of the interplay between the income elasticity of space consumption and the income elasticity of commuting outlays. The primary purpose of this article is to extend the basic model by incorporating a location-dependent quality of the environment. The proposed model examines the locational consequences of household choice as influenced by a complicated interplay among three factors: the income elasticity of housing demand, the income elasticity of commuting costs, and the location-dependent amenity schedule. The equilibrium land use is contrasted for two types of cities: the case 1 city in which the level of amenities increases toward the urban fringe, and the case 2 city in which the level of amenities is assumed to decrease as one moves toward the urban fringe. Received: 2 August 1999 / Accepted: 18 September 2000     

Unconventional housing provision: reflections on health aspects: a case study of Zimbabwe

When the Zimbabwean government embarked on the countrywide destruction of unconventional urban housing settlements code-named “Operation Murambatsvina”, it received international condemnation for displacing people and destroying livelihoods. While the operation negatively affected the residents, it also had some positive effects, given that most of the settlements that had sprouted up in cities did not have proper physical infrastructure. However, their destruction did not put a stop to spontaneous housing, as the displaced people relocated to peripheral locations, perpetuating some unconventional settlements already in existence and erecting new ones. The failure of states to cope with massive demand for low-income housing simply means that unconventional housing will not disappear in the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, these areas lack proper physical infrastructure, which is the most important health component of human settlements. The most realistic means of dealing with these health concerns is to ensure that the settlements are equipped with proper physical infrastructure. This paper critically evaluates physical infrastructure provision in unconventional housing settlements in Harare, Zimbabwe. The argument is that developing countries need to accept unconventional housing as part of their housing options for the poor. The authors conclude that the only way to provide proper and healthy housing for the urban poor is to streamline government policies in order to address the critical issues that affect human settlements.     

Housing tenure choices of rural migrants in urban destinations: a case study of Jiangsu Province,China

In China, rural migrants to urban destinations often experience poor living conditions and a low rate of homeownership, which are viewed as the results of urban institutional restrictions. Previous studies have primarily focused on rural migrants’ living conditions and comparisons of housing tenure between migrants and local citizens in large, high-level cities. However, the status and determinants of housing tenure choices of rural migrants in urban destinations other than large cities are generally overlooked. Moreover, several factors, such as rural landholding and migrants’ intention, are rarely studied. Using data from a 2010 survey conducted in Jiangsu Province, multinomial logistic regression models are adopted to explore the features and determinants of rural migrants’ tenure choices in urban destinations. In addition to the urban institutional scheme and housing market, rural land and migrants’ intention are found to play important roles in tenure choices of rural migrants in urban destinations.     

城乡二元住房制度:透视中国城镇化健康发展的困局

二元性的制度体系是制约中国城镇化持续、健康发展的根本原因,尤其是当前的住房制度更是成为制约农民身份转变、定居城市、同等享受城市公共服务的关键障碍。住房市场化改革以后,城市福利住房体制解体、基本住房保障体系严重缺失,城乡住房的合法流通、交易渠道更是被完全阻断,由此极大地提高了农民进入和定居城市的经济、社会成本。二元的住房制度体系是继劳动品、劳动力之后又一次对资本与空间的剥夺,其本质上压缩了城镇化的经济成本,但也造成了社会成本的逐渐积累、不断加重——基于住房为扭结点的制度约束越来越突出,阻碍了中国城镇化的顺畅进行。基于此,通过对当前国内一些地方实践的反思与剖析,提出有关城乡一体住房制度设计的相关设想。     

城市住房价格跨区域联动的检验与模式研究

以35个大中城市住房价格为研究对象,在构建空间计量模型检验跨区域联动的基础上,借助GVAR模型与网络分析方法,从总体、个体两个层面,考察跨区域联动的具体模式。结果显示:城市住房价格呈现显著的正向跨区域联动;总体层面上,跨区域联动相互交错呈网络结构;个体层面上,单个城市住房价格变动对全国、区域层面住房价格的影响呈现非均质性和空间异质性特征。因此,应深化对住房价格形成机制的认识,以更准确地促进政策目标的实现。     

Reaching Turkey's spontaneous settlements: The institutional dimension of infrastructure provision

Spontaneous settlements, known as gecekondus, now constitute half or more of the housing stock in Turkey's major cities. They are often ill provided with infrastructure and urban services, to the detriment of their residents. A recent (1996) research project sought to understand this problem by using the analytical framework of new institutional economics. In theory, rules should create incentives that shape the behavior of infrastructure providers. In fact, the research discovered that formal rules are largely ineffective. Instead, in the absence of credible formal rules, pressures are exerted that shape informal operating procedures. This and other findings of the research work which are of relevance to both practitioners and theorists of urban development are elaborated upon.     

The rhetoric and reality of housing choice: The role of urban consolidation

In Australia, growth at the fringe has been seen as an inevitable response to a lack of affordable housing in the inner and middle zones of the major metropolitan cities. Urban consolidation was seen as one way of improving housing affordability and increasing housing choices and, at the same time, constraining outward growth. It will do so only if households forego past preferences for ownership of a detached house. This paper examines the contribution urban consolidation has made to meeting affordability and choice objectives by providing some insights into whether households are trading off tenure choices for lifestyle choices based on location and dwelling type. It also provides information on the extent of spatial polarisation of income that has contributed to the observed outcomes.     

New housing construction in Phoenix: Evidence of “new suburbanism”?

Stereotypical images of suburbs as homogeneous, residential neighborhoods comprised of single-family houses on individual lots have become synonymous with sprawl. Discourses on smart growth, new urbanism, and sustainability promote increasing residential density because housing is such a large part of the built environment. Recent literature has emphasized the potential for denser residential development at the urban fringe contesting the idea of monotonically decreasing density gradients that underpin traditional location models. Analysis of new housing completions between 1990 and 2005 in rapidly-growing metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, examined changes in the form and location of new housing constructed in 2000–2005 compared to the prior decade, to identify patterns of densification. Features included rapid decentralization of multiple-family home construction, and the emergence of a wide range of multiple-family housing forms at the fringe, including large apartment complexes in accessible freeway locations, high-end condominium developments in high-amenity areas, and subsidized apartments in less-prestigious areas. Densification no longer equates to urban infill, but takes many forms and occurs all over the metropolitan region, especially the urban fringe where “new suburbanism” may be emerging in response to the “sustainability turn” in contemporary planning.     

Are riskier cities more compact? An empirical study of the 11 largest census metropolitan areas in Canada, 2016

Why are some cities more compact than others? We argue that riskier housing markets have a costlier real option; developers would require greater compensation to build now—thus, developers are being incentivized to delay, giving rise to more compact cities. We test this hypothesis cross-sectionally for Canada's 11 largest census metropolitan areas. We interpret satellite imageries and estimate a hierarchical spatial autoregressive model to account for both the hierarchical and the spatial structure of our data. Our results show that, on average, a one-percentage-point increase in price risk reduces urban land coverage in the fringe by about 0.7 percentage point.