Urban housing in China: Market transition, housing mobility and neighbourhood change

Re-commodification of urban land and housing has produced a highly complex tenure mix and a much more vibrant and differentiated urban landscape. Land leasing, being a major source of fund to urban municipal governments, fuels the expansionary drive and urban sprawl. It also underlies massive redevelopment of inner city districts. On the other hand, institutionalised separation of the urban from the rural, epitomised by the hukou system, has remained largely intact. Massive influx of migrants has produced a two-class urban society comprising de jure residents and migrants. Differential claim to land ownership under the hukou system has turned villages in former suburban areas into migrant enclaves. The six papers in this theme issue examine various aspects of how individuals and households in Chinese cities have coped with the never-ending changes in the policy and built environment. The focus is on housing behaviour, but neighbourhood issues also feature prominently.