The Study Of The Residential Real Estate In The Downtown District Of Peking During The Period Of Late Qing And Republic Of China, 1900-1949

Sun Yat-sen had ever told that inhabitancy is a part of the civilization. The human has gained more happiness than creature comforts from the inhabitancy. The dwelling house is so important in human's daily lives. However, it is the choke point for the harmonious development of the society of central cities, especially in the capital of this country. The residential real estate problem is still treated as a popular theme in the field of the study of the downtown history all the while. The opening of the coastal cities in modern time made the urbanization in the east part of China more quickly. It had been accelerating the booming of real estate industry in downtowns in a certain extent. But there was some inertia in the system and thought in Peking as the political center of the whole country. So its development of real estate was falling behind the coastal cities'. Those are the main reason why the scholars has not deeply study the topic"the Residential Real Estate in the Downtown District of Peking during the Period of Late Qing and Republic of China". But being backward is not equal to nothing characteristic and preponderant. This article will review the previous studying production firstly, and deeply analyze the development history of the residential real estate in the downtown District of Peking during the period of late Qing and Republic of China using archives, newspaper, investigating report, and the other historical materials.Firstly, the residential real estate in the background of urbanization: Peking and thee whole country.The modernization since the mid-time of Qing Dynasty had accelerated the urbanization of China. It appeared the early conception of the real estate in in the coastal cities in the sense of modern time. The abnormal boom of the real estate industry in Hong Kong and Shanghai was becoming the example of the type of influence between the urbanization and the development of the real estate. The development of Peking's real estate was pale by comparing with the coastal cities, though the"New Downtown District Construction Plan"and the change of the living custom and the pattern of dwelling house in the effect of the Hesperian Culture, had given the development of the real estate in this city a little of energy. In this city, the scales of the real estate enterprises were too small, the traditional bargaining form which must be through brokers was still exist, and the church's real estate was becoming much larger. We can find that Peking's real estate market had come into being, but was immature and reflected the features of being semi-colonial and semi-feudal.Secondly, the residential real estate market in the downtown District of Peking during the period of late Qing and Republic of China and the control of government.The residential legislation of Kuomintang Government which claimed the theory of"equalization of landownership"had formed a series of management procedures of business course, bargains and the transformation of the house and the land. There were some distinct advancement of management measures of government towards the residential real estate market such as using the finance policies including collecting land-price tax and house tallage besides administration policies such as restricting price of houses.The real estate tax such as land-price tax and house tallage was the most important proportion of finance income of local government in Peking during the period of late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, but the new dwelling houses were not enough. The living areas were restricted in the old zone of the city. The evolvement of the New Downtown District was too slow and had a lot of difficulties. The bargaining, not constructing, was becoming the major form of residential real estate industry. The wealth which the industry had created was not so much.Thirdly, the change of residential price in Peking during the period of late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China and its influence.We can believe that the residential real estate market not only could be unable promoted the dispirited downtown economic in Peking during 1930's, but also had been encumbered by the economic and political situation during 1930's and 1940's. Above-mentioned point of view is based on the collection of the information which provided by newspaper advertisements between 1920's and 1940's, and the history archives collected in Beijing Municipal Archives, and is also on the basis of the price of the residential real estate in Peking during 1920's to1940's. Especially after the capital moving in 1928 and the Mukden Incident in 1931, the rising trend of residential price in Peking was over, and transferred into longtime downturn, because the consumption ability of the public in this city became remarkable weakened.The price of the residential real estate in Peking was rising so long in 1940's, especially in the end of this period because of the inflationary spiral, and the blooming demand caused by the crowds swarming into Peking city after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945. The bothers about the residential real estate became more and more. The landlords didn't like to balance the rent by cash, but by rice, flour and bullion. Obviously, the influence to the macro-economy by the residential real estate market in Peking during the modern time was so restricted, and this market was enslaved to the political and economic situation, and a little passive.Because of the distinct disparity of the income level, there were so many differences about the residential conditions among the bourgeois such as teacher lecturer, the labors such as craftsmen and primary school teacher, the inhabitants living in the rookeries and the people who didn't have their own house to live in such as students, wheelers and paupers. So the standards of living among them were so different.Kuomintang Government had ever drawn out a lot of salvation measures including administration, finance and currency policies. The aim of them was resolving the problem of high-priced state about the rent and selling price of the residential real estate, in order to tide the real estate crisis over. There was so much pertinence about those policies, but the salvation attempt was frustrated. There were two major reasons including the short of housing provision and the inflationary spiral brought by the wars.Fourthly, the history variance of housing-security system in Peking city during the period of late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.The system of banner men's dwelling houses had ever been a custom of material benefits distribution which was applied in given persons. The privatization of those houses began in the mid-time of Qing Dynasty and there were a lot of phenomenon about the marketing between the banner men and Han people with their dwelling houses. After the revolution of 1911, the dwelling houses of banner men could be sold legally, and the state of separated living was over. Those made the system banner men's dwelling houses approach deathKuomintang Government transferred the conceptions, began with fathering the profile of the city and gradually shaped the new method of housing security that building the dwelling houses, whose ownership was controlled by government and rent to the poor by lower price in 1930's. The houses of common-citizens (Low-rent houses) in the districts of Tianqiao and Dongzhimen were built in 1930's and 1940's. The circumjacent service establishments became more consummate. The local government still drew out some management regulation about those houses. Above-mentioned cases made the demonstrated security meaning of those houses more estimable. This system became the first sign of the housing-security in the modern history in China. Beyond all doubt, the system of the houses of common-citizens was one of the effective approaches could solve the real estate crisis in 1940's. However, Kuomintang Government had stopped striving after obtaining a little knowledge about it. The magnificent plan of building a lot of the houses of common-citizens which was brought out in the end of 1940's was not realization. The study of the topic"the Residential Real Estate in the Downtown District of Peking during the Period of Late Qing and Republic of China"can blaze a new way in the study of city history of Beijing, comprehend deeply the development course of the residential real estate market of China in modern history and the close relation with the development of economy and society, and fetch up the blank of this field in the study of economic history study. So there is so much academic value about this topic.