China Planning Research Group: Moving towards an inclusive housing policy?

China is in the midst of an urban revolution with hundreds of millions of migrants leaving villages for cities. Due to the discriminatory household registration (Hukou) System, migrants have been treated as second- class citizens and have been denied urban welfare benefits. The Chinese government has been promoting inclusive urbanization with significant policy changes in recent decade; yet, its impact on migrants is not clear. This paper examines whether housing is becoming more inclusive to migrants in Chinese cities. Through assessing recent policy changes and conducting an empirical analysis of migrants’ housing accessusing two waves of China Migrants Dynamic Survey, this paper shows that while migrants are increasingly qualified for subsidized housing, they are often subject to additional and strict requirements. Few migrants have access to subsidized housing despite policy changes, even though educated migrants are increasinglywelcomed by local governments through “talent housing” strategy. Institutional barriers continue to shape migrants’ access to housing subsidies, although they have become less important over time. It is clear that housing discrimination persists, and migrants continue to be largely excluded from housing subsidies. Housing inclusion remains a distant dream for most migrants in China.

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