ANOTHER LOOK AT HOUSING ALLOWANCES: A RESPONSE TO CHESTER HARTMAN

Program experience with the Section 8 Existing Housing program and final research findings from the Experimental Housing Allowance Program have shown that, contrary lo Chester Hartman's conclusions in his recent Journal article, housing allowance programs similar to HUD's proposed Housing Payment Certificate program are an effective way to provide housing subsidies for families in need of assistance. Comparisons with public housing and unrestricted cash grants show that allowances produce the largest increase in housing consumption per subsidy dollar, and the design of the Housing Payment Certificate program will assure that those subsidies go to families most in need. Criticisms suggesting an inadequate supply of affordable, standard housing are refuted by the Section 8 Existing record of 750,000 families now renting units on the private market. Finally, discrimination has not prevented these families from finding standard housing or moving to different neighborhoods. The Housing Payment Certificate program is proposed not as a substitute for the Department's current commitment to a range of housing programs, but rather as the vehicle for new assistance.     

香港城市发展上的新地标——“西九龙”海滨文娱艺术新区规划评价

西九龙40 hm2的填海造地重新规划为香港未来文娱艺术区可追溯到1994年,当时政府意向在维多利亚港这块海滨宝地建造一个重点体育馆和一个大型的海滨公园。1999年香港新机场的设计建筑师诺曼·福斯特设计的一个平均高达120m,覆盖面积为20hm2的“天篷”赢取了政府为此新规划举办的概念设计比赛。2004年底,政府宣布了最后招标的3个入围发展财团,2005年中将决定最终中标者。自此香港公众开始质疑此大型滨海发展被单一发展财团控制,及未来30年文化活动依赖于房地产收益的可行性。而政府对于这重点的发展未提供有效控制的规划条例,也成为公众批评的重点。这篇文章主旨在介绍此高度争议项目的背景及公众主要争议的内容。     

中国经济适用住房政策评析与建议

经济适用住房的建设、流通与消费必须遵循市场经济运行规律,以销定产;同时考虑中低收入家庭的承受能力和对住区生活环境的要求,合理选择建设区位和确定销售价格,实现国家提出的加快住房建设,促进国民经济增长,满足城镇居民日益增长的住房需求目标。本文就这些方面的问题进行了深入探讨,提出了看法和建议。     

REJOINDER TO “ANOTHER LOOK AT HOUSING ALLOWANCES”

Housing allowances do not perform as well as other subsidy approaches along many important dimensions. Limiting allowances to the very poor guarantees failure of the program, as it is the very poor who are least able to find decent housing on the private market. Studies of the Section 8 Existing Housing program demonstrate the inadequacy of the housing stock to meet low-income households' shelter needs. And the various forms of housing discrimination further reduce access to vacant units. Finally, the reduction in subsidy levels proposed in the Housing Payment Certificate program, compared with the Section 8 program, makes the program's “shopper's incentive” illusory. The program likely will result in higher rents and will exacerbate the affordability problem it was designed to alleviate.     

剧院之上的居所

设计宗旨是将一些基本的小型住宅单元与大型的半露天式公共剧场型空间相结合。该剧场空间将在整体建筑中为社区全体居民发挥公共起居室的作用。而住宅单元则是基于公共墙的概念进行设计的。每个住宅单元之间的区隔由一堵厚厚的墙构成,它既是房屋的基础结构,又能将所有的家用电器和服务设施收纳其中,待需要时再取出使用。这一设计能最有效地利用房间里现有的空间。目前建筑中有两种尺寸的单元:14m2     

2009年中国城镇住房发展状况研究

2009年,在危机后的经济刺激政策背景下,中国城镇住房走出了一条充满争议的发展轨迹。住房保障在思路上日益明晰,实施上也取得一定进展,但由于地方政府积极性总体不高,离计划目标仍有距离。住房市场在调控政策刺激下V型反弹,为宏观经济"保增长"目标的实现作出了重要贡献。然而房价上涨过快的问题复现,令住房的使用需求进一步被投资需求所挤压。展望未来,构建一个合理的住房供应体系迫在眉睫,而积极发展保障性住房、盘活私人租赁住房应成为政策调整的基本方向。     

LOCAL HOUSING REHABILITATION PROGRAMS: A LOW-EFFORT EVALUATION*

The evaluation of a Federally funded housing rehabilitation program in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is used to illustrate the usefulness of low effort, formative program evaluation as a valuable tool for small and medium-size cities. The article sets out the analytical framework as defined by the program design and the concern for evaluating the effectiveness of the programs and alternatives for increasing its impact. The evaluation uses both primary and secondary data sources in examining program performance and relies on basic statistical analysis which are well within the capabilities of most cities' planning agencies.     

城市低收入群体二元居住需求与住房供给研究——基于微观实证调查

采用武汉市实地调研所获得的问卷数据,运用数理统计方法,分析了当前城市低收入群体因户籍分异而存在的二元居住需求。研究表明,市籍和非市籍低收入群体由于历史成因和社会经济背景不同,住房选择存在着明显差异,市籍低收人群体主要由城市原住民构成,提出通过城市更新来改善居住状况;而对于流动性较大的非市籍低收入人口而言,需要考虑低成本通勤和就业机会,因此与工作地相匹配的租房成为其首选;最后根据以上特征,分别提出城市更新下的地域平衡供给策略、基于低成本就业的灵活供给策略以及多渠道均衡统筹布局策略。     

RENT CONTROL AND ABANDONMENT: A SECOND LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE

Rent control has been linked to housing abandonment in both the policy community and in academic research. The roots of this link lie in the political struggle over various forms of rent regulation which took place in New york City in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and has spread across the country to touch virtually every community that considered rent regulation as a mechanism for controlling high rent levels. We have reexamined the evidence which was used to make the original claims regarding the consequences of rent regulation on abandonment, and find that it is seriously lacking in explanatory power. Indeed, the problem of low income populations affecting prevailing rent levels seems much more significant in explaining the gap between rent levels necessary for landlords to combat deterioration and avoid abandonment as an option. We conclude by offering a series of policy-related discussions to further articulate the issues.     

构建多层次的城镇住房供应体系——基于厦门市实证分析的讨论

就如何进一步深化和完善我国的城镇住房制度进行了讨论。提出为了社会的和谐发展,并应对不同社会群体的住房需求,构建包括保障性住房在内的城镇多层次住房供应体系势在必行。以厦门市为例展开实证分析和讨论:其一是在城镇土地资源供应的约束下,存量房产和增量房产配置状况的边际分析及城镇住房供应体系的政策导向;其二是在空间结构的约束下,城市规划对于住房供应的影响作用。     

英国的住房体系和住房政策

介绍了英国的住房体系和住房状况,并对过去一个多世纪英国的住房政策进行了概括性的回顾和分析。作为一个自由市场经济的国家,英国的住房发展经历和住房政策更能引起反思。英国政府对住房市场的干预,以及在住房建设发展和住房保障方面的积极作用,尤其值得借鉴。     

Elemental PARAISOPOLIS:廉价住宅形态

廉价住宅可以作为一种投资而不是单纯由社会出资吗？在这个由Elemental事务所为Avenida Perimetral设计的项目中．我们建议在资源匮乏、不得不减少建设面积时,把它们设计成很好的房子的一半,而非将它们理解成小公寓。另外．为了更多的成本效益．设计还应该达到足够的密度．而这并不是要设计成过度拥挤,而是利用扩展的可能性获得。     

HOUSING POLICY GOALS AND THE TURNOVER OF HOUSING

Problem: Congestion pricing and land use planning have been proposed as two promising strategies to reduce the externalities associated with driving, including traffic congestion, air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. However, they are often viewed by their proponents as substitutive instead of complementary to each other.

Purpose: Using data from a pilot mileage fee program run in Portland, OR, we explored whether congestion pricing and land use planning were mutually supportive in terms of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reduction. We examined whether effective land use planning could reinforce the benefit of congestion pricing, and whether congestion pricing could strengthen the role of land use planning in encouraging travelers to reduce driving.

Methods: VMT data were collected over 10 months from 130 households, which were divided into two groups: those who paid a mileage charge with rates that varied by congestion level (i.e., congestion pricing) and those who paid a mileage charge with a flat structure. Using regression models to compare the two groups, we tested the effect of congestion pricing on VMT reduction across different land use patterns, and the effect of land use on VMT reduction with and without congestion pricing.

Results and conclusions: With congestion pricing, the VMT reduction is greater in traditional (dense and mixed-use) neighborhoods than in suburban (single-use, low-density) neighborhoods, probably because of the availability of travel alternatives in the former. Under the same land use pattern, land use attributes explain more variance of household VMT when congestion pricing is implemented, suggesting that this form of mileage fee could make land use planning a more effective mechanism to reduce VMT. In summary, land use planning and congestion pricing appear to be mutually supportive.

Takeaway for practice: For policymakers considering mileage pricing, land use planning affects not only the economic viability but also the political feasibility of a pricing scheme. For urban planners, congestion pricing provides both opportunities and challenges to crafting land use policies that will reduce VMT. For example, a pricing zone that overlaps with dense, mixed-use and transit-accessible development, can reinforce the benefits of these development patterns and encourage greater behavioral changes.

Research support: This project was supported by the Mineta Transportation Institute, where the authors are research associates.     

板桥住宅区

该住宅区距离汉城市中心1小时半的车程,整体有100户,属于低层集合住宅区。每一户都有3～4层。每一户的第2层均有一个玻璃围成的房间,称为"阈"。每家的阈都由公共露天平台连接。10家左右的住户组成一个集合。停车场以集合为单位配置在地下。通过电梯和公共露天平台连接。居住者可以根据自己的喜好来使用被称为阈的房间。有一些人将其作为摆弄爱好的房间,也有些人将其作为工作室。也可以作为客厅来招待朋友。这个房间属于居民招待邻居的场所。这个住宅是一种新时代的集合住宅,它能够兼顾个人家庭的隐私及邻居的交流。     

住宅产业化：房地产可持续发展之本

<正>党的十七大报告对我国的经济文明、社会文明和生态文明建设都提出了明确的目标,即以科学发展观为指导,在房地产领域里努力实现房地产经济又快又好的发展;着力保障和改善民生,住有所居;基本形成节约能源资源和保护生态环境的房地产产业结构,提高节能环保水平。那么,这三方面的核心是什么?唯一的答案就是为业内熟视无睹、业外不甚了解的、而恰恰又具有深远意义的住宅产业化。即把分散的、小规模、非标准化的以手工操作为主的住宅生产方式转变     

艾力希的新表情

来自意大利的ALESSI是欧洲顶级设计品牌，从80年代开始，共与两百多位著名设计师合作，包括Aldo Rossi、Michael Graves、Massimo Morozzi、Philippe Starck等，创造出许多后现代经典设计作品。在其发展过程中Alberto Alessi与其好友Alessandro Mendini的独创性和远见卓识为公司建立起独特而令人尊敬的形象。此次Alberto Alessi亲自邀请Hani Rashid和Asymptote为其打造全新的品牌形象，不仅开发出新的产品，还包括设计全新的视觉识别系统，并在纽约市的soho中心建立了新的旗舰店。这是ALESSI经过深思熟虑后的举动，也算得上是一个意义重大的转折。