The Residential Space Change Under The Market-led Development

Housing is one of the most important urban functions. Residential space is direct reflection and physical constitution of this urban function. Equal to urban-space itself, residential space is on incessant changing as a part of the urban change, which is a process that has been influenced by complicated factors such as urban society and urban economy. And the process itself can also restrict and influence these factors. The research on residential space change would help to understand urban social and economic activities, and provide guidance for urban planning and development.This study is based on the case of Xiamen to probe into the residential space change within the housing reform in China, which started in 1998. It discourses upon the influence by the developing of market-led development to housing construction, habitation behavior and urban special change, especially upon the policy performance of housing reform in Xiamen. On one hand, this study reviews the policy change to ravel the policy background of housing construction. On the other hand, with the first-hand data we obtained from field survey, this study analyses both physical and social characters of Xiamen's residential space. Compares the change of housing amount, intensity, residential district scale, price, infrastructure and the social spatial structure, housing for immigrants, village-in-city, housing security, etc, before and after the housing reform. This study also assesses the policy performance, ineffectiveness and inconsistency of the housing reform in general. Then analyses the reason and put forward suggestions in future reform.