Housing inequality in urban China in the 1990s

John Logan, Yanjie Bian and Fuqin Bian

International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 1999, vol. 23, issue 1, 7-25

Abstract: Access to housing of sufficient space and quality has been a central element in social stratification in urban China. We examine the sources of housing inequality in 1993 in Shanghai and Tianjin, when a market reform process had been underway in the national economy for nearly fifteen years. The Chinese housing allocation system favors people with political position and connections, those of higher socio‐economic background, and those whose work units have greater organizational authority. There is only slight evidence that market reform has undermined this stratification order. To the contrary, there are reasons to believe that in some respects inequalities rooted in socialism are strengthened by institutional changes. These conclusions are reinforced by comparison to results of analyses of income inequality in the same cities. L'accès aux logements suffisamment spacieux et de bonne qualité est un élément central de la stratification sociale en Chine urbaine. Nous examinons les origines de l'inégalité du logement en 1993 à Shangai?? et Tianjin alors qu'un processus de réforme du marché dans l'économie nationale est en cours depuis presque quinze ans. Le système d'allocation de logements favorise les personnes qui ont une position et des contacts politiques, les personnes d'un milieu socio‐économique élevé et celles des unités de travail qui ont une plus grande autorité d'organisation. Il y a peu de preuves que les réformes du marché aient ébranlé cette stratification. Au contraire, il y a des raisons de penser que certaines inégalités dont l'origine remonte au socialisme sont fortifiés par les changements institutionnels. Ces conclusions sont renforcées par la comparaison des résultats des analyses des inégalités des revenus dans les mêmes villes.

Date: 1999
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