Housing policies in Greater China and Singapore

This paper provides a comparative study of housing policies in the greater China area and Singapore.We trace out the key features of the housing markets in the Chinese mainland,the Hong Kong SAR,the Macao SAR,and Singapore and review policies adopted in these markets.Soaring housing prices may distort capital allocation efficiency as money flows into housing market instead of more productive sectors,which poses threat to longterm sustainability and economic growth.Governments in these four jurisdictions have implemented various macroprudential policies and regulations in an attempt to curb housing demand,however the effectiveness of housing policies varies across markets.The housing prices stabilise in Singapore but continue to rise in Greater China despite the introductions of various tightening policies.The policy effectiveness is contingent on not only the characteristics of the market but also on its design and implementations.

The Challenges in Providing Affordable Housing in Nigeria and the Adequate Sustainable Approaches for Addressing Them

Despite multiple schemes implemented by various governments around the country, affordable housing remains elusive to the average Nigerian. Because the situation is comparable to that of other developing nations, it remains a key concern in these countries’ socioeconomic development. Over 52% of Nigeria’s population has been claimed to live in shanties, squatter communities, and informal settlements. This article, therefore, reviews the challenges to the provision of affordable housing in Nigeria and the Sustainable approaches to address them. The article’s findings were based on a thorough examination of the literature. The article’s findings indicated that sustainable approaches for addressing Nigeria’s affordable housing barriers may best be examined through the economic, ecological, social, institutional, and technical factors. The paper urges the present regime, investors, lawmakers, and private developers in Nigeria to implement these approaches for affordable housing provision. The findings from this article will add to the current body of knowledge by providing important information on affordable housing provision and re-directing research interest towards affordable housing in Nigeria and other developing countries.

CHINA'S URBAN HOUSING SYSTEM IN TRANSITION

This paper discusses transition of urban housing system andhousing policy issues in China. It focuses on China's urban housing systemand future housing policies Some of the main contexts to be discussed are:(1) the process and characterstics of housing development in new China, (2)the weaknesses of the old urban housing system; (3) reforms of the urbanhousing system; (4) China's housing markets in transition; (5) Current urbanhousing reform policy dilemmas; (6) experiences from developed countries;(7) main housing policy issues in the western world, and (8) ways to dealwith the dilemmas.

Research on public housing based on the utilities of living

This paper applies the residence utility principles to the study of public housing rent and regards that the average utility of a household determines the public housing rent level. It also suggests that the government use multi-level public housing rent to substitute for single-level in order to make the policies for public housing rent more just, equitable and effective.

Evaluating the Nexus between Housing and Energy Sectors: The Comparison of Urban, Peri-Urban and Rural Housing Areas in Zhuhai, China

China has developed several housing policy reforms and has, in recent years, progressed further on developing policies to promote green strategies and energy-saving plans. The urban housing has much benefited from such reforms and plans, while rural housing has experienced minimal change in the past few decades. As a result, this study aims to identify and explore these differences, challenges, and implications that exist between three areas of urban, peri-urban, and rural in a particular case study in China. For this study, selected residential areas in the City of Zhuhai and its peri-urban and rural areas are selected as case studies. A questionnaire survey is conducted to analyze energy and housing conditions across the more prosperous urban, the dynamic and transitory peri-urban, and the less prosperous rural areas. The case studies are analyzed as comparative examples in a hot and humid sub-tropical area of Southern China. The study compares energy and housing conditions and argues potential possibilities and challenges for the future development of housing policy reforms that are the result of current housing development patterns and green strategy situation in China.

Housing Policy in Khartoum： Plot Subdivision for Increased Housing Supply for Low-income People

The article discusses plot size standards applied in the government sites-and-services projects in Khartoum and probes into the possible alternative ways of re-establishing solid grounds for those standards. The particular issue of plot size is a crucial factor in the whole housing policy as it directly affects the urban land use and consumption and extends its influence far into sustainability and affordability issues and the whole housing policy and supply process. The article, analysing the applied standards, argues that plot subdivision can substantially contribute to providing more access of housing to the low-income groups. Large plot sizes can be subdivided driven by the need to realize security of tenure, doubling the owner-occupier housing stock which is the base issue of self-help housing, increases housing finance, provides variety of housing choices and behind all it conforms to the legacy principles and some cultural attributes of the local community. The article underlined existence of a cumbersome regulatory system, subdivision procedures and development controls which need to be reformed.

One Hundred Years of Housing Security in China:Retrospect and Prospect

This paper discusses the evolution of housing security in China in the past one hundred years.The author finds that there was a serious housing shortage during the Republic of China period(1912-1949),and the effect of the housing security measures introduced by the government was very limited.While the welfare housing distribution system at the beginning of the People's Republic of China founded in 1949 provided residents with basic housing,it also caused housing problems.After the Reform and Opening-Up,a series of far-reaching security measures were put forward in housing reform,but they failed to eliminate the system of physical housing distribution.Progress of housing security development since the large-scale housing reform in 1998 has been slow.It was not until the government increased investment in 2007 that the housing security system was gradually formed and housing security efforts were paid off to a certain extent.This paper provides a historical perspective to the study of housing security.It can aid in understanding the evolution process of the housing security in China and establishing a set of comprehensive and long-term housing policies.

Analysis of Building Costs for Social Interest Housing in Central Areas

Brazil’s continental dimensions bring huge challenges for the Federal Administration,particularly in relation to low income housing.In this sense,in 2009,Federal Government has launched a huge habitational program entitled“Minha Casa Minha Vida”(in English MHMLP-the“My House,My Life”Program)which has been,so far,the biggest social housing Federal program,and has produced millions of SIH(social interest housing)units.The program was discontinued in 2018.Although the program has been huge,there were few units built in urban centers,increasing the urban sprawl.The feasibility of SIH enterprises in the context of the MHMLP leads to the production towards the outskirts,where the land cost better fits the budget.This cost analysis,however,does not take into consideration future costs of an inefficient infrastructure,poor social services and public safety issues,with impact on the cities’operational costs.This paper compares the total building cost of SIH in peripheral and central areas,emphasizing the benefits of production in central areas when considering indirect operational and infrastructure costs.The research takes into account the infrastructure already available in central areas and the opportunity of appropriate abandoned or underutilized buildings and urban empty spaces.In this sense,a case study has been conducted in two projects in the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro(RJ)comparing the estimated budget of SIH built far from urban centers,to the probable budget occupying underutilized buildings.Results indicate the necessity to review the parameters adopted when discussing the production of low income housing considering the cities’development as an integrated system.

Development of Public Housing Post-reform China

This paper explores the dynamic nature of the transformation of public housing regimes in urban China since the abolishment of the urban welfare housing system in the late 1990s. We summarize the latest progress in the development of public housing in post- reform China and investigate the driving forces behind these developments. A close examination of the public rental housing program in Shanghai helps to show that the recent revival of public housing in Chinese cities is mostly driven by the desire for economic growth. We conclude that the state provision of housing could be a short-run state remedy to alleviate economic imbalance and social inequality. However, in the long run China needs to seek more effective solutions to solve the low-income population＇s housing affordability problems.

An Analysis on the Improvement of the Housing Security System Based on Population Mobility

China's urban housing security system has developed for years. The dual division between registered population and migrant population in cities still exists. While local governments undertake responsibility of the housing security through intergovernmental duty division, it is not appropriate because housing security is a kind of national income redistribution that belongs to the central government. From the perspective of the population mobility, the article discusses the problems of the current housing security system, based on which it proposes three recommendations for improving the existing housing security system. First, we should make a distinction between the national income redistribution carried out by the central government and the public services provided by local governments. The responsibility and fi scal expenditure of the local, provincial, and central government should be clearly defined. Second, intergovernmental fiscal transfer payment should be designed according to the population mobility status. Third, the housing security system should protect the demands of the new generation of peasant workers and migrant families.

Evolution and adjustment of land and housing policy in the process of China’s urbanization

Land and housing policy has been developing towards market pricing since reform and opening up of China.China has witnessed rapid urbanization and large population flows in recent years.In addition,the demand and supply of land and housing in urban and rural areas are in sharp contrast.These issues have brought greater challenges to current land and housing policy in China.This paper proposes the basic thinking for adjusting land and housing policy on the basis of the urbanization theory of Jean Gottmann and Terry,G.McGee,as well as the housing market filtering model.It also pushes forward the idea of establishing a construction land market that covers both urban and rural areas,and an interactive housing system,which would address the housing concerns of urban migrants and put to use vacant housing and idle homesteads in rural areas.

The impact of cultural assumptions on simulated energy, comfort, and investment returns of design decisions in two desert climates

In Latin America, default assumptions and borrowed templates and methodologies are often used in energy modeling, resulting in models that might not represent their cultural context and leading to policies awkwardly fit to local practices. Policy-driving low-income housing studies in Mexico, for example, activated both heating and cooling in energy models even though less than 5% of the homes in the country have heating systems. This paper illustrates the importance of modeling local sociocultural habits and practices, and how this can affect design outcomes. Here, we modeled low-income housing representative of typical residences in two desert climates-Hermosillo, Mexico, and Copiapo, Chile-using EnergyPlus. Settings representing local practices in each region were tested against default values, including occupancy settings, regional construction systems, and importantly, HVAC settings related to partial conditioning. Their impacts were measured via variation in energy use, comfort conditions, and the payback period of design upgrades. Results demonstrated how certain assumptions can have a high “design significance”, a term we propose for inputs that completely change optimal design decisions, as well as the importance of considering thermal comfort in such decisions. Including partial conditioning, for example, resulted in at least double the payback period and discomfort degrees for design upgrades in 16 of 24 instances.