Estate-level facility provision and management in market-rate and resettlement coexisting housing compounds

Abstract

Market-rate and resettlement coexisting housing compound (MRCHC) is a special model of mixed-income neighborhood merging with the dilapidated housing renewal in the major cities of China. The provision and management of estate-level facilities and amenities are not performed well enough to serve the neighborhoods' daily needs for recreation, services and utilities. Moreover, sharing estate-level facilities have resulted in discord and separation between the market-rate and the resettlement sections. This thesis aims to identify the factors that lead to the problems and to explore the potential improvements for the future developments. After an introduction to the dilapidated housing renewal and the relocation, four cases located in the inner city of Beijing are evaluated and compared in terms of quality of facility provision, quality of facility maintenance and the degree of discord between the market-rate and the relocated residents. Previous mixed-income housing practices in U.S. and Canada are studied to explore potential improvements for the current problems. This thesis finally concludes that, first, public subsidies should serve as the major source to bridge the gap in the capability to pay maintenance fees between the market-rate and the resettlement residents, while commercial leasing income and inter-neighborhood cross-subsidies can serve as the subsidiary sources. Second, the management structure in MRCHCs should be improved by establishing competent homeowner committee board, involving governmental and non-profit sectors and strictly enforcing the community rules. Keywords: Market-rate and resettlement coexisting housing compound, Estate-level common facility, Provision, Management, Social interaction, China, Beijing, Urban, Mixed-income.