New Social Housing Policy in Urban China: Evidence from Chongqing, Nanjing and Changzhou

Abstract

The paper examines China’s new social housing policy within the framework of productivist welfare capitalism in East Asia. While urban housing reforms since the 1980s improved living conditions, rising housing prices created acute affordability issues for middle- and low-income households. The central government responded in the late 2010s with large-scale social housing schemes. At the national level, the policy is closely tied to economic circumstances and real estate market trends. At the local level, case studies in Chongqing, Nanjing, and Changzhou show that social housing not only supports the poorest households but also facilitates urbanisation, urban renewal, and labour attraction, serving broader goals of economic growth and competitiveness.