The Maturation of the Neo-liberal Housing Market in Urban China

Abstract

Neo-liberalism has dominated policy formulation and implementation for three decades and been influential in reshaping urban housing provision in different countries. However, the nature and impact of neo-liberal housing policy developments are also affected by previous arrangements, the exact nature, timing and pace of policy change and by how governments and markets have responded to emerging global and local challenges. This paper examines neo-liberal urban housing reform and market development in China and focuses on market performance and government responses following initial reform. The era of neo-liberal housing policy has been associated with turbulence, market changes and unequal housing and asset distribution. Housing reform and regulation policies have changed frequently in response; and this maturation of the neo-liberal system has important implications for policy and the structure and operation of the market.

Keywords:

• Neo-liberalism
• urban housing market
• government regulation
• China

Acknowledgement

This paper benefited from fieldworks supported by a Leverhulme Trust Fellowship (2007–2009). An early draft was presented at the International Symposium on Housing Affordability and Market Stability, at Tsinghua University, Beijing, in March 2009. The authors would like to thank the anonymous referees for their very constructive comments on early drafts of this paper.