Land-based interests and the spatial distribution of affordable housing development: The case of Beijing, China

This paper provides an institutional explanation for the spatial distribution of affordable housing units biased toward the urban fringe in Chinese cities. We argue that, given China's inter-govemmental relationship, the discriminatory site selection practice is a result of strategic policy implementation by city governments, who strive to balance the top-down political pressure with the local fiscal interests. The empirical analysis focuses on the implementation of the Economical and Comfortable Housing (ECH) Program in Beijing in 1999-2009. Binary logistic regression reveals that, holding local housing needs and socio-demographical attributes constant, sub-districts with a higher land price, a high ratio of old houses, and greater subway accessibility have a lower probability of being designated for affordable housing development. The empirical findings confirm the significance of land-based interests of city governments that contribute to many unintended consequences of affordable housing programs at the local level. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.