Diminishing Beijing’s Residential Segregation by Improving Its Housing Security System

Abstract

This chapter searches for solutions for improving the housing security schemes and reducing the residential segregation. It first evaluates the affordability of housing in Beijing, and then analyzes the problems faced by families on low incomes in respect of Beijing’s “low-rent housing” and “affordable housing” schemes, and finally, makes some suggestions about how the housing security system of the city might be improved. It argues that Beijing’s “low-rent housing” and “affordable housing” schemes cannot solve the housing difficulties of low-income families, and that it is therefore necessary for the municipal government to improve the housing security system in order to slow down the tendency towards residential segregation.