Privatising Public Housing in Hong Kong: Its Impact on Equity

Three processes are examined to assess the impact on equity of policies to privatise public housing in Hong Kong. These are changes in the inter-sectoral distribution of subsidies, changes in the quality and quantity of public rental housing, and changes in access to public housing. It is found that housing subsidies have remained concentrated in the public rental sector, and the quantity, quality and amenity of housing in this sector has actually increased. The Hong Kong Government has not sought to reduce eligibility for and access to public housing; the lengthy waiting list to join this tenure reflects increases in demand since the privatisation policy was introduced. Thus, unlike the experiences of many other countries, the Hong Kong Government's policy to privatise public housing has not had a notably adverse impact on housing equity to date.     

Privatisation of public housing in Israel: Inconsistency or complementarity?

Privatisation has been part of Israeli housing policy since the first public housing units were built in 1949. It has involved the sale of publicly‐owned dwellings to sitting tenants, but also the shift to residents of responsibilities usually associated with ownership, such as maintenance and tax liabilities. The evolution of this policy is examined by considering the social, economic and political factors which have shaped the development of Israeli public housing policy from its beginning.     

The lost history of urban renewal

Contrary to common understanding, the US government's policy of “urban renewal” was conceived as an alternative policy to slum clearance. Bitterly opposed to public housing, conservative housing‐industry trade associations sought a way to reform the urban redevelopment formula of clearance and public housing established in the Housing Act of 1949. In the early 1950s, the industry groups seized on citizens' neighborhood fix‐up efforts, particularly the Baltimore Plan, to conduct a national campaign to popularize code enforcement, rehabilitation, and private low‐cost housing development as methods to restore and stabilize city neighborhoods. At conferences organized by House and Home magazine and in the President's Advisory Committee on Government Housing Policies and Programs, the housing industry associations fashioned policies, now named “urban renewal,” which were codified in the Housing Act of 1954. But private industry's venture in urban policymaking failed in implementation. Home builders proved reluctant to participate in the new programs, public housing hung on, and hundreds of thousands of homes fell to the wrecking ball. As urban renewal became synonymous with slum clearance, neighborhoods continued to decline. In the end, ironically, housing rehabilitation reemerged as a populist tool for reviving the inner city.     

Jewish Nationalism,European Colonialism and Modernity: The Origins of the Israeli Public Housing System

Since the middle of the 19th century, housing the growing number of Jews immigrating to Palestine demanded resources that were not available to all immigrants. Housing projects were initiated either by Jewish philanthropists or building associations established by leaders of local communities. Numbers of immigrants rose sharply with the increasing involvement of the Zionist national movement in Palestine and the establishment of the British Mandatory regime. Most houses were built then by the private sector, widening the gap among different socio-economic groups. Only after the 1948 war and the termination of the colonial regime, was the newly established State of Israel able to initiate large-scale housing projects, due to its control of former Arabowned lands. The distribution of those lands raised conflicts between different sectors of the Israeli society, such as in the following two cases of public housing projects initiated in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.     

Direct And Default Policies In The Transformation Of Public Housing

ABSTRACT: In the course of 60 years, public housing has been transformed from the mixed gender institution envisioned by its proponents to housing occupied primarily by unmarried women. This paper proposes that the transition is due to more than the feminization of the poverty population. It also can be attributed to a combination of direct and default government policies. Among direct policies affecting the composition of public housing are site selection decisions, eligibility criteria, and welfare regulations. Among the default policies contributing to higher rates of poverty among women are lack of child support enforcement, absence of a proactive national family policy, and women's limited access to military benefits. The author offers suggestions for ways in which public housing might be more responsive to its contemporary status as a gendered space.     

Housing the very poor or the young? Implications of the changing public housing policy in South Korea

Abstract

This paper discusses the reorganization of the roles of the national and local governments in public housing policy alongside decentralization, with particular reference to South Korea. Focusing on policy changes over the past decade, it reveals that rather than retrenchment amid a push towards greater local autonomy, the national government has diversified and expanded its public housing policy, and is increasingly pursuing a universal approach to public housing. Through case studies of Seoul and Gyeonggi, it also shows how the two local governments have become creative suppliers of public housing that is more customized to the local context. In particular, it highlights the rising emphasis on targeting young people rather than the very poor in public housing policies, a shift that is partly a legacy of Korea’s ‘productivist’ welfare state. The paper closes by discussing the implications of this latest policy trend, especially on local–national policy coordination.     

Fair Housing Policy and the Abandonment of Public Housing Desegregation

In this article I examine the failure of fair housing policy to desegregate public housing in the USA. The article reviews major federal actions toward public housing segregation, as well as broader public housing segregation patterns and trends in the USA. It then draws on a variety of archival sources to present an in-depth case study of public housing segregation and desegregation in Louisville, Kentucky. Unlike previous studies of the subject, this article provides a detailed investigation of the relationship between local public housing tenancy policies and changes in racial occupancy across Louisville's housing projects spanning the last 50 years. The article argues for the importance of research on local-scale policy implementation for our understanding of fair housing policy, and it draws from its investigation of Louisville some conclusions about the inability of fair housing policy in the USA to realize its stated objectives.     

The Egalitarian city: The restructuring of Amsterdam

Since the mid‐1970s, urban policy makers have responded to the pressures of fiscal crisis and unemployment by reducing expenditures and subsidizing business for the purpose of stimulating economic growth. The behaviour of urban governments largely corresponded with the argument of Paul Peterson that cities were forced to pursue economic growth at the expense of redistribution. Nevertheless, the response to economic forces, while generally in a market‐oriented direction, was not uniform within western cities. In particular, the Amsterdam municipality remains notable for its egalitarian policies when compared with London or New York. Housing policy has been a major instrument in maintaining the quality of life for the city's lower‐income population. Because subsidized housing units, as well as recipients of individual housing benefits, are scattered throughout the city, housing policy has sharply restricted spatial inequality of households by income. Moreover, the very large public subsidy involved in housing construction, by keeping rent levels low and thereby raising disposable income, has contributed substantially to popular welfare, mitigating class differentiation and thereby weakening resistance to residential integration of different income groups. This paper examines policies for physical and economic development in Amsterdam and their effect on social and spatial inequality. The conclusion briefly compares Amsterdam's trajectory with that of London and New York, then finally attempts to explain the continuing differences.     

Local Innovation And Global Change: ‘Remaking The Welfare State’ In Sweden1

Swedish urban planning and housing policies have been seen as exemplars by many Australian policy makers. The mixture of state activism, strong local government, broad concepts of welfare policy and social housing, coupled with wide community acceptance of these ideals, has enabled major innovations in housing policy. This article describes the historical background and recent changes to these policies within Sweden's changing political framework. It also shows that global fiscal changes, coupled with Sweden's entry into the ‘federalising’ European Union, have changed the context of these policies. Swedish housing and urban policy is changing; Swedish local government has a strong role in the development and implementation of these changing policies. There are many interesting lessons for Australian urban policy in these changes.     

The planned,the unplanned and the hyper-planned: dwelling in contemporary Jerusalem

In this paper we examine the production of two dwelling configurations which have developed concurrently in Jerusalem over the last two decades against a background of continued ethno-national contestation and extensive colonization of the city’s spaces on one hand, and of growing liberalization of planning processes on the other. The first housing pattern is the planning and construction of luxury apartments in the form of gated communities in West Jerusalem’s city center. These compounds mainly house religious Jewish immigrants from Western countries. The second housing activity is the recent proliferation of local zoning plans submitted by Palestinians in East Jerusalem to the Israeli planning authorities, plans whose purposes are to legalize, expand and save their houses from possible demolition. Though at first sight the hyper-planned compounds of West Jerusalem and the unplanned neighborhoods of East Jerusalem seem fully antithetical to each other, we argue that both are an outcome of the same tensions between neoliberalization of the Israeli planning system, especially in the realm of housing development and ongoing colonization of the city’s urban spaces. We conclude that the privatization of space and spatial planning is integrated into and complements the older patterns of organizing the ethno-national space.     

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.     

Housing Attainment of Immigrants from the former Soviet Union in Israel: A Cost/Benefit Approach

The present study examines the extent that national housing policy and demographic and human capital factors affect the odds of homeownership and quality of housing. A cost/benefit theoretical conceptualization with a sample of 19 000 Russian immigrants who arrived in Israel in 1989-90 was used to examine how the benefits of homeownership (location, size and pricing) 'stood against' a set of costs (commuting time required, housing age and size). A set of demographic and human capital factors were employed to control for socio-economic effects such as age, gender, family size, labour force participation and occupational status. The benefits of homeownership for immigrants in Israel also proved to involve some costs: migrating to smaller localities and commuting to metropolitan areas where occupational opportunities are higher. The findings suggest that while homeownership is widespread, it imposes a burden on new immigrants as well. This implies that social policy with regard to housing, especially low-priced housing, should consider the possibility of expanding public and market services in an appropriate way that will increase social inclusion and lessen the likelihood of structural segregation.     

Watch this Space: An Investigation of Strategic Gap Policies in England

Coalescence of settlements and urban sprawl have been acknowledged as problems in England since the 1950s. Green belt policy has been a critical tool in restricting these tendencies, but does not protect all valued 'gaps' between settlements. In this article, the introduction and evolution of alternative protective policies is explored, based on a comprehensive survey of English strategic planning authorities. Precious green space needs effective and appropriate protection; this study adds to the debate about the future shape of English urban growth management policies.     

Welfare Safety Net or Tenure of Choice? The Dilemma Facing Social Housing Policy in England

This paper considers the future role of social rented housing in England. It is based on an analysis of policy trends over the past 30 years, and a critical examination of current policy dilemmas. The central contention is that there are fundamental tensions underlying the present government's policy objectives to maintain the ‘safety net’ role of social housing but at the same time widen access to the sector so that it becomes a more mixed ‘tenure of choice’. The paper charts the marked change of direction seen since 2000, with a switch from a highly rule-bound approach emphasising equity in housing allocations, to a more consumerist system stressing choice. Survey data and statistical returns are analysed to illustrate the changing mix of households entering social rented housing and to reveal the sector's varying role in regions characterised by contrasting housing market conditions. The paper charts the spread of the ‘choice-based lettings’ approach and discusses the possible implications of this development for the pattern of rehousing outcomes, and for the sector's broader role. It is concluded that, in higher demand regions such as London and the South, it remains very difficult to see how a social sector continuing to contract can widen its role from that of safety net for the most disadvantaged.     

基于夹心层分析模型的公共租赁住房保障效果分析——以重庆市为例

在我国住房保障制度的不断实践过程中,住房“夹心层”问题显得异常突出,面对这一问题我国实行了公共租赁住房制度。本文构建夹心层分析模型对“夹心层”的类型及成因进行分析,并运用剩余收入法结合家庭人口结构对公共租赁住房保障“夹心层”的效果进行分析,希望为公共租赁住房的建设发展以及改进提供借鉴和依据,促进“夹心层”住房问题的解决。     

1940年代以来巴西公共住房政策发展评析和启示

巴西作为经济发达与社会分化显著并存的发展中国家,长期以来因其严重的城市住房短缺问题引起了全球社会的关注。本文全面回顾了巴西自1940年代以来国家公共住房政策的发展历程,以及新时期公共住房建设面临的挑战和发展策略,最后总结并评述其发展经验和教训,作为完善中国公共住房政策体系的有益借鉴。     

Public Policy and Renewal of Old Housing: The Case of Nord-Pas-de-Calais

The rules and laws enforced in France in 1977 regarding the policy of old housing renewal have extended public intervention to the whole housing stock built before 1948. It came as a complement to the 1962 Malraux Law which exclusively concerned old city centres whose architectural value was preserved. Has the objective put forward to improve old housing by maintaining their residents (tenants and owner occupiers) been reached? The public policy of old housing renewal and its consequences on social occupancy are analysed in their relation to the ownership structure and to the property strategies of the actors who finance this rehabilitation. The paper examines Nord-Pas-de-Calais, one of the regions in France where the old housing stock is the lowest in quality. As for the social changes in the occupancy of these neighbourhoods, our 1995 study confirmed the results obtained in 1988. Four years after the end of the improvement programmes, these neighbourhoodshave retained a residential function for working-class occupants. However, two new trends emerged. On the one hand, despite a better integration of old housing in the policies implemented by local authorities since the 1982-83 decentralisation law, the incentive role of state aids to renewal is increasingly limited. On the other hand, property disinvestment has only been partially reduced. Some housing units remain unimproved and some buildings remain unoccupied. The housing supply is higher than the demand. Ownership of old housing is undermined by demand for housing estates in suburban areas.     

It can be done. Let's think how

This paper explores some fundamental assumptions being linked by State Housing Authorities to 'social mix' strategies in contemporary Australian public housing estate regeneration policy. Six case-study estates, two each in New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland form the basis for the empirical analysis. The two major ideas emerging from South Australian and Queensland projects are: first that lowering concentrations of public housing and developing more mixed income communities offers a means to reconnect socially excluded public housing tenants to mainstream society; second that a balanced social mix is a prerequisite for the development of 'inclusive', 'sustainable' and 'cohesive' communities. However, in light of the empirical findings that strong cohesive communities already exist on some estates prior to regeneration commencing, there is no evidence that a balanced social mix is a necessary condition for building inclusive communities. Coupled with findings in the projects of inadvertent negative consequences of implementing social mix policies, the paper questions whether policy makers are over-emphasising the extent to which social mix assists regeneration.     

Changing directions in Australian housing policies: The end of muddling through?

From the post‐war period through to the 1980s, Australia's housing system was dominated by tenure‐based policies directed towards home ownership and the provision of public housing. Private tenants were virtually excluded from housing assistance of any form. The 1990s, however, have seen an apparent U‐turn in housing policies with elimination of explicit home ownership policies, the withdrawal from direct involvement in public housing funding and a rapid expansion of rental assistance for private tenants. Australia is about to follow its New Zealand neighbour in undertaking a wholesale shift away from direct intervention in the production of housing and moving towards consumer subsidies which rely on the effective operation of the private sector in meeting housing needs. This paper provides a brief overview of changes in policies towards home ownership, public rental and private rental, a framework for interpreting these and an assessment of the appropriateness of the directions currently being followed in light of current economic trends.     

Government Policy,the Local State,and Gentrification: The Case of Prenzlauer Berg (Berlin), Germany

Abstract: Since reunification, Berlin planners have sought to find a niche for a post‐industrial New Berlin integrated into Europe. While great scholarly attention has focused on the grand projects that have dominated the reconstruction of the city's government and downtown commercial districts, only lesser attention has been paid to the city's housing and social policies. This article seeks to identify the extent to which Berlin planners have permitted unabated market‐led redevelopment to proceed and to what extent local policy has sought more balanced redevelopment and the “European city” ideal. The article looks at gentrifying Prenzlauer Berg, in eastern Berlin, to assess the extent to which public policy measures can be expected to constrain and temper, and not just promote, gentrification. The role played by community development organizations in mediating development is observed. The impact of the city's fiscal crisis and slack housing market are also noted.