Uncomfortable prototypes： Rethinking socio-cultural factors for the design of public housing in Billiri, north east Nigeria

Public housing delivery in developing countries often involves the provision of government- funded housing units. Over time, occupants transform such units to suit their changing needs or to increase and improve housing stock-a practice that has been the focus of several documented studies intended to inform policy makers about changing housing trends. Abandoned units have, however, received comparatively less attention. The present paper reports findings from the documentation and analyses of abandoned and modified prototype units in Billiri, the main town occupied by the Tangale community in north east Nigeria. The methodology involves space syntax methods, as well as the analyses of space use patterns in 45 randomly selected compounds built by the community and in two sets of prototype housing units in the study area. Results suggest that socio-cultural factors related to kinship, security, and basic needs, which form part of the community heritage, are inadequately reflected in the location and design of the units, accounting for their abandonment and modification. These findings have implications for future housing policies in the area.

Challenge-driven design for public housing： The case of Hong Kong

Public housing （PH） has existed in Hong Kong for six decades. Previous and current challenges that have been encountered over time function as a coffective driver for design progression. However, such challenges have remained under research to be able to draw useful lessons from them. To understand how this established motif can suit the sustainability-conscious era, this study uses Hong Kong as a representative case for sub-tropical compact cities by critiquing its PH design against multiple constraints. The objective of this study is to trace the historical relationships between challenges and design progress as well as to assess current and future implications of sustainability trends on PH design. By synthesizing data from literature, policy documents, and empirical evidence, this research develops an evolution map for PH design in Hong Kong that is driven by seven major challenges. Based on this map, a conceptual framework for intersecting considerations that envisaaes five main future prospects toward future PH desien is also established.

The Consumption-Stimulating Effect of Public Rental Housing in China

China's public rental policy creates opportunities for poor households to rent apartments at low rental prices.In addition to such an impact,we argue that public rental housing increases the purchasing power of the poor and therefore enhances the income elasticity of consumption,i.e.,the percentage of consumption increment due to a 1 percent increase in income.Based on a nationwide dataset from China,the Chinese Household Income Project 2018,we find that public rental housing significantly increases the marginal impact of household disposable income on consumption.Specifically,our analysis suggests that public rental apartments could increase the income elasticity of consumption demand by 18 percent among all rental households and by 24 percent among rental households with below-average income.We also find that the effect of public rental housing on income elasticity of consumption is stronger for service consumption than for nonservice consumption.These results suggest that a well designed public rental policy could not only promote consumption in favor of the service industry but also alleviate the undesirable consequences of the unbalanced consumption structure caused by income inequality.

Poverty Decentralization or Reconcentration: An Empirical Study of the Effects of Collected Public Rental Housing in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province

Based on the supply-side reform objective, it is a great transformation of housing welfare measures in China to collect private unoccupied houses as public rental housing instead of building new ones. Through an empirical study of the Collecting Houses as Public Rental Housing Program in Changzhou, this paper finds that the collected houses is relatively scattered in the city, which is beneficial to avoiding over-centralization and marginalization of the poor families. However, it has resulted in poverty reconcentration in some old communities, probably further leading to spatial solidification of the poor as well as a further decline of old communities. Therefore it may not effectively solve the housing problems of the poor population by providing this alternative public rental housing, which is collected according to economic efficiency. Accordingly, the paper argues that it is necessary to reinforce community development and to renovate the declined communities in time, as an important supplement to housing welfare improvement.

Public Housing, School Segregation, and Children＇s Education： Evidence from Hong Kong

Evidence in the literature shows that public-housing residents move less frequently than others. This tendency may restrict school choice for children from public-housing families and lead to school segregation and lower educational outcomes for those children. Our empirical findings from Hong Kong show three strands of evidence that support this hypothesis. （1） Children from public-housing families are more likely to drop out of school after compulsory education. The result is robust after controlling for family background and a series of parental characteristics. （2） Public-housing families with school-age children are less likely to move than their private-housing counterparts. （3） Children from public-housing families are more likely to study in local community schools, which are located on the outskirts of Hong Kong and are of lower education quality. These findings have important policy implications for the public-housing programs such as those which have been implemented in China's Mainland since 2011.

Secretary-General Li Xikui meets with Manukyan,Chairman of the Armenian Public House

On Nov 3,Secretary-General Li Xikui met with Manukyan,chairman of the Armenian Public House,and his visiting party at the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries at the invitation of Du Qinglin,vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.Secretary-General Li expressed welcome to Chairman Manujanian and presented a brief introduction on the development of people-to-

社区公共场所的再生——北京一处老旧小区社区公共空间营造的探索与实践

The rehabilitation of former socialistic public housing areas is one of the most important challenges to Chinese cities nowadays.In Beijing Chaoyang District,a pilot project for housing rehabilitation has been implemented recently by rebuilding community public space in a former socialistic public housing community.As a small-scale and bottom-up initiative,the project introduced the innovative measures,including resident participation,human-centred design and financing of sharing,in order to regenerate communal place in old housing area.The effects of the project are positive,and the local government has accordingly promoted its successful experiences.Moreover,this latest case of the attempts also offers an opportunity for revealing and rethinking the existing challenges to the housing rehabilitation.