Urbanization and Housing

Historical Development of Housing Policies & Programs in Asia

• Module 01A covers the historical development of housing policies and programs in Asia.
• The presentation is given by Ar. Nathalie Audrey E. Santos, MS, of the UST Architecture faculty.
• This is for A.Y. 2023-2024.

Presentation Outline

• Housing & Urbanization
• Evolution of Housing Programs in Asia
  • Scope evolution of housing studies
  • Evolution of housing programs in Asia

Relation and Context of Urbanization & Housing

• Urbanization is the spatial concentration of people and economic activity.
• Urbanization is an important social transformation.
• This transformation began when humans shifted from nomadic hunter-gatherers to settled, subsistence agricultural lifestyles.
• The timing and speed of urbanization vary across countries, regions, and continents.
• Urbanization has taken hold worldwide and proven to be unstoppable and mostly desirable.
• Cities are the foundation of modern civilization, acting as engine rooms for economic growth.
• Cities are hubs for culture, entertainment, innovation, education, knowledge, and political power.
• Push Factors: environmental, social, economic and polital Poverty, Fear, Disasters, Unemployment
• Pull Factors: environmental, social, economic and political Safety, Opportuniy, Stability, Freedom

Rural to Urban Migration

• In 1900, 15% of the world's population lived in cities.
• The 20th century saw rapid acceleration of urban population growth, especially around 1950.
• Sixty years later, an estimated half of the world's population lived in cities.
• UN projections predict that urban populations in developing countries will grow by more than 65 million people per year between 2000 and 2030.

Urbanization & Developing Nation

• A 2007 UN publication on population reveals skepticism among policymakers in developing countries regarding urbanization.
• 88% of survey respondents from less developed countries reported dissatisfaction with the spatial distribution of their population.
• That number had declined from 95% in 1976.

Evolution of Housing Studies

• Early housing studies focused solely on the design and construction aspects of traditional housing.
• Housing studies and programs evolved after the integration of other fields of study.
• Various fields like anthropology, cultural and social studies, economics, and political science were integrated with architecture.
• Studies on traditional housing and settlement forms are fairly available.
• Studies of traditional housing focused on design and construction factors.
• Approaches to analyzing traditional house forms have been largely physical and deterministic.
• These usually focused on climate, the need for shelter, available materials, and construction technology.
• Architecture and social disciplines have co-existed to consider the cultural and social attributes of traditional dwellings.
• Economic and political factors are still under-recognized.

Evolution of Housing Policies & Programs

• East Asian governments have utilized housing development as a means to drive urban development and economic growth.
• Housing development aims to stimulate a property-asset-holding class of welfare self-reliant, home-owning households.
• Strategies supporting the economic position of families are seen as a way to offset onerous welfare states.
• This offsets states that impede investment in industrial growth and national economic capacity.
• Public housing delivered as commodified asset goods can resist potential de-commodification.
• De-commodification would threaten the autonomy of workers and a sense of social rights for public goods.
• Hybrid welfare frameworks incorporate corporate social policies with strong reliance on the market and family.
• East Asian governments have prioritized growth that relies upon the concept of the market and family.
• This has led to social problems and a lack of security for vulnerable members of society.
• Policies favor economic growth for private entities, designated as the market.
• The family is relied upon.
• Housing shortages are not present at high-income levels in South Asia.
• Housing shortages are still a significant concern among middle- and low-income groups.
• Rapid population growth, urbanization, income inequality, displacement due to disasters and conflict have led to social problems.
• Large-scale slums and informal settlements in these countries makes meeting the demand for homes urgent.
• The family bears the primary responsibility for the family home.
• The role of housing policy has been ignored in understanding the growth of productivist welfare and its relation to developmental states.
• Housing intervention often focuses on high-volume apartment production for working, mail breadwinner households.

Demographic Focus (Change in Demographic Experienced in some East Asian countries)

• Population ageing
  • Threatens balance between working and retired populations.
  • It has sustained these economies during high growth.
• Changes in families
  • Increasing numbers of women in paid employment.
  • Declining marriage and fertility rates reinforce the ageing trend.
• Socioeconomic stresses
  • Higher propensity for unemployment affects public resources.
  • They also erode the capacity of households to sustain stable life courses.

Housing Supply

• Rapid expansion of programs reflects development-oriented East Asian governments' abilities.
• These abilties include appropriating land and mobilizing resources.
• The resources include both public agencies and private corporations in supplying new housing.
• State Plans aim to clear slum housing, increase land values, and promote high-speed growth.
• Diverse governments often embed themselves with developmentalism and the logic of productivism.
• Housing, within the East Asian context, is primarily discussed in terms of urban growth objectives and economic policy.

Specific Socioeconomic Characteristics of East Asian Countries

• Japan, Korea, Taiwan: These countries more closely resemble those of advanced Western countries. In Korea, public rental hosuing units have dominated urban housing production since 2002.
  • Underwent social policy transformations after the 1997 financial crisis.
  • Democratic tensions shaped approaches to developmentalism.
• Hong Kong & Singapore: Small city states lack undeveloped land. Agricultural sectors account for 0.01% or less of their GDP.
• China: Resembles developmental starters but with much larger area and population.
  • Different from other countries with accelerated urban growth led by a communist party.
  • There had been market oriented growth since 1978.
  • There were 2 decades of intensive housing privatization till 2010.
  • In 2010, one of the largest social housing construction programs in the world was announced by its government.
  • China had an initial target of around 36 million units by 2015.
  • Overtook Japan to become the second largest economy by 2011.

Housing System Approaches

• Housing is used by the government as a means to:
  • Drive urban development and economic growth.
  • Stimulate the rise of a property-asset-holding class of welfare self-reliant, home-owning households.
• The Welfare States concept is to support access to and consumption of goods that bolster the economic position of the family
• The state is able to invest in advancing industrial growth and national economic capacity.

Common Features of Housing System Approaches

• Top-down Nature of Planning/ State-led Coordination
  • Large public corporations like the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA), Japan Housing Corporation and the Korean National Housing Corporation, facilitate mass housing construction on an unparalleled speed and scale.
• Housing Provision Chain
  • In East Asia, the state orchestrates planning and sets measurable goals.
  • The states also play a role in steering economic factors that affect the speed, location, and nature of development.
• Construction is carried out by private companies.
• Housing is sold as a market good in terms of ability to pay.
• East Asian governments became deeply involved in the housing sector during the period of high-speed economic growth between the 1960s and late-1990s.

Effects of the Government Involvement

• Increased Urbanization Rates
• GDP from the construction industry
• Sharp Increases in Land and House Prices
• Commodified Housing
• Development of consumption-oriented, middle-class societies with family owned housing assets.

Upcoming Coursework covers:

• Quiz 01: February 16, 2024
• Introduction to Housing
• Evolution of Housing
• Housing in the Philippines (History & Background)
• Advance Readings
• Theories of Housing
• Physical Configurations of Housing
• Elements of Housing
• Housing Typologies