China's recent urban housing system reform: A case study of Jinan

China's urban housing reform started in the early 1980s, as a part of the comprehensive economic system reform. The old housing system was a socialist and work unit-dominated welfare housing system. It brought about three serious problems: housing shortage, corruption and inequality. The objective of urban housing reform was to solve these problems by establishing an urban housing market with Chinese characteristics. The general measures of reform were privatization of housing ownership, commodification of welfare housing, and socialization of work unit housing (separating housing provision function from work units). This study examines China's urban housing reform through a case study of Jinan. The data is collected mainly by the author's research visit to Jinan in the summer of 2000. The dissertation is divided into seven chapters. Chapter one is an introduction. The second chapter reviews the previous research work in China's urban housing reform. Chapter three examines the history of China's urban housing system and policy development at a national level. The fourth chapter is a detailed study of Jinan's housing policies and reform. Chapter five examines the housing conditions and housing privatization in three typical work units in Jinan. The sixth chapter discusses housing reform's achievements and problems. The last chapter summarizes housing reform, based on the research hypotheses and research questions discussed in the first chapter, and makes some suggestions for future housing reform. Its finding is that after many years' efforts, Jinan's housing reform made significant success. Some 80 percent of urban housing has been privatized, and the rents for public rental housing has been raised substantially. Housing conditions of most urban residents have been improved, and corruption in the housing allocation process has been reduced. Housing is becoming a commodity rather than welfare good. However, on the other hand, housing socialization has not been achieved, and housing inequality among different work units (horizontal inequality) still exists, and in some cases, has even worsened. The causes of this worsening inequality are that an urban housing market has not been established, and the work units still play a key role in urban housing provision. This paper suggests that, in the future, China's urban housing reform should focus on the housing problems of urban disadvantaged people, and make efforts to reduce the involvement of work units in housing provision.