Housing the Poor? A Comparative Study of Public Housing Provision in New York, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen

ABSTRACT

Governments in cities and countries around the world are faced with housing affordability problems, which acutely affect lower income residents. Prior comparative work adopts a national perspective that primarily draws upon theories of the welfare state and Western political ideologies to understand government responses to social problems. However, such work often overlooks alternative political systems, the distinctive role of housing policy, and local government strategies. This article compares the provision and role of public housing across three global cities that are experiencing major housing affordability challenges: New York, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen. Based on a review of agency documents and housing and demographic data, we describe public housing policy priorities and examine how the respective governments administer public housing programs. We find each case shows a strong demand for public housing, a broad interpretation of target population, and evolving relationships between the public and private sectors. There are important differences in policy priorities, program eligibility, management, and overlap with the private housing market. The findings suggest standard frameworks may miss variation within countries and the changing role of cities in providing housing for low- and middle-income households.

KEYWORDS:

• affordable housing
• local government
• housing needs
• public housing
• public–private partnerships
• rental subsidies
• social policy
• welfare state

Acknowledgement

We are grateful to Ms. Jue Wang for her excellent research assistance.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Examples of liberal countries include the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia; corporatist countries include Switzerland, Germany, and France; social democratic countries include Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, and Denmark.

2. According to Kemeny (1995), examples of dualist systems include Australia, Great Britain, and New Zealand. Examples of unitary systems include Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland.

3. Direct subsidies to individuals (e.g., renters, homebuyers, or homeowners) are another form of housing welfare provision.

4. We provide website links of housing agencies and database platforms in the Reference section.

5. In addition, the gentrification of neighborhoods surrounding many public housing projects in New York has created an alternative to the national trends of demolition and dispersal as a means of deconcentrating poverty (Goetz, 2003; Wyly & DeFilippis, 2010).

6. Section 9(g)(3) of the United States Housing Act of 1937.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant 71834005]; and the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong [Grant CityU 11614218].

Notes on contributors

Xin Li

Xin Li, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering at the City University of Hong Kong, has research interests focusing on urban and regional economic development and urban policy issues. She has a PhD in Urban and Regional Studies from MIT and a Master of Urban Planning degree from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Shomon Shamsuddin

Shomon Shamsuddin is an associate professor of Social Policy at Tufts University.