Forwarding to a ‘hybrid way’?

Abstract

The privatization and marketization of housing that took place in the last three decades have changed the Chinese planned economy. When it comes to the governance of social housing, academics have extensively debated the emergence of the ‘hybrid way’ of housing provision, combining the pure state-planned approach with the free market. However, our research shows a gap between the dominant conceptual interpretation of this change and practice. By analyzing 34 interviews conducted with actors involved in the provision of social housing in the cities of Chongqing and Fuzhou, this paper analyzes the extent and the ways that the provision of social housing can be considered as the ‘hybrid way’. The results indicate that although a concept similar to the hybrid model of social housing provision can be recognized, the practice demonstrates the influence of the political and economic background.