China-Europa Forum
Boom or Doom? China's housing market continues to grow and expand
Shenyang, China - March 11 2009: A child plays along a railway at a shanty town where residents will move into low-rent apartments provided by the government.
China Is No Dubai Or Enron: Real Estate Rebalance To Buoy Gold
A man walks across a snowy overhead bridge towards business buildings in Beijing (January 6, 2010, China Daily).jpg A man walks across a snowy overhead bridge towards business buildings in Beijing (January 6, 2010, China Daily)
In China housing starts nationwide rose a staggering 194% year-over-year in November 2009. And the central bank noted new home mortgages in the first nine months of last year totaled about $139.5 billion, quadruple the amount offered a year earlier.
The China Daily noted that in terms of house prices as a proportion of incomes, China is now the most expensive place in the world. Indeed, there is a whiff of Dubai about the Chinese property market at the moment. By one estimate, the vacancy rate of Pudong, the central business district of Shanghai, is as high as 50% This is not to say there's not a real estate bubble in China. Rather, overinvestment and overbuilding is sometimes a prerequisite of an anticipated mass urban migration such as the one China is destined to experience.
China orders low-cost housing against property bubble
Raining hot prices in real estate market
China's city governments and ministries have been told to build more low cost housing. They have also been ordered to push property developers to complete projects more quickly in order to help ease property prices.
The directive has come from the country's cabinet, the State Council, amid fears of a property bubble. It also says it wants to prevent speculative foreign investment pushing up prices even further.
China's leaders are worried that house prices in many cities here are rising too fast now.
From Rome via Canton; together, let’s build the 2011 Assembly
It has now been six months since the IAI, in agreement with its Chinese and European partners, decided to follow up on the talks between China and Europe that were launched in 2007, by participating in the Third Biennial of the China-Europe Forum previewed for July 2009
.
Looking for volunteer translators for housing rights without frontiers (Chinese)
Preparations for the international inhabitants seminar at the China-Europa Forum
Cage houses for rent in Hong Kong
A Hongkong, une des centaines de salles-dortoirs qui abritent une demi-douzaine de lits superposés et grillagés. Loyer : 150 euros par mois.
LE MONDE - 03.07.09, HONG KONG CORRESPONDENTSince 2003, the anniversary marking the transfer of Hong Kong to China on 1st July 1997, has become the official occasion to express dissatisfaction with the government of the special administrative region of Hong Kong. On this day, Paul Pak
, 50-odd years old, leaves the “cage” in which he lives in Tsim Sha Tsui
and joins the march through the centre of Hong Kong, under the banner of the NGO “Soco”, which fights endlessly for the cause of the poor, new immigrants and the poorly housed. “Too hot, not enough air conditioning, too dirty and too expensive.
Lots of fleas and insects that bite,”
is how he sums up his accommodation, where, someone else adds, “Donald Tsang
(Chief Executive of Hong Kong) would not last five minutes.
”
Run-up to the Third Biennial Meeting of the China-Europa Forum
From Rome to Canton: constructing together the inhabitants’ workshopThe IAI relaunch the dialogue
In 2007, the IAI participated for the first time in organizing workshops for the Second Biennial Meeting of the China-Europa Forum.
Forum China-Europe 2007
Urban Inhabitants of China and Europe: Citizens as builders of the cities of the future?
Further background documents in English and French
Find here further background articles in French and English version:
Further documents in Chinese
Find here some other documents regarding housing rights and evictions translated into Chinese!