Three Essays on Housing Affordability in Chinese Cities

Abstract

Housing policy and state-led redevelopment programs play central roles in the production of urban inequality in Chinese cities. Despite the potentially adverse impact of state-led redevelopment on marginalized population, studies that examines the interconnectedness of redevelopment, housing affordability, and migrants’ health have been rare. Using data compiled from the Beijing Municipal Government, the real estate brokerage company Lianjia, the Census Bureau, and the National Health Commission, the three essays fill in the current research gap by understanding the geography of rental affordable housing in recent years, examining the causal relationship between state-led redevelopment and rental housing affordability, and investigating the relationship between declining housing affordability and migrant health. The results suggest that (1) rental housing in Chinese cities has become less affordable in recent years partially due to the state-led urban redevelopment; and (2) the declining housing affordability jeopardizes migrant workers’ residential stability and health.