Hong Kong

Hong Kong- background - A Special Administrative Region of China

- “One Country, two system”

- Area : 1,104 km-sq;◦ Paris metro 17174.4 km-sq in total

- Population : About 7mil ; ◦ Paris: 10 mil including Metropolitan Area

A Very Compact City

Hong Kong- background (cont’d) - Developed region in China

- Economic: Financial hub, high GDP(PPP) per capita :7th

- Shops, Restaurants , Civic Infrastructure

- eg Complete Public Transit Network ◦ (MTR, Taxi, Bus, TRAM, etc…)

Hidden ProblemsHuge and widening wealth Gap Housing

Living Standard

Inequality in Wealth distribution

Source: http://www.insitu.com.hk/blog/?p=2045

High Population Density

Population Density

Affordability problem

Official data from Rating and Valuating department: http://www.rvd.gov.hk/doc/en/statistics/graph2.pdf

Affordability problem

Source: http://www.globalpropertyguide.com/most-expensive-cities ; http://www.numbeo.com/property-investment/gmaps.jsp

Price/Income

Affordability problemHousing far exceeds the average purchasing power of the general public Most cannot afford the to buy a property Cannot afford the initial deposit/High burden from the installment payment Can hardly rent a place in reasonable price range High demand on subsidized housings from the government

Lack of proper supply Low Availability of affordable Housing The Overheat property Market due to speculating activitiesDevelopers seems to position their product as luxury priceThe growth rate of housing (due to land shortage)<growth of population ,Including the Public Rental Housings(PRH) for the Grassroots, ON AVERAGE, a applicant have to wait 2.5 years before his/her grant a PRH. It

properly will take longer

Supply Problem Supply

Private sector-Mainly Luxury-Low new affordable housing

Government HKHA -Subsidized Home Ownership-Public Rental Housing--Housing for Elderly People

<< Demand

Waiting Time : 2.5 yr (2010)

http://www.cou4.com/subdivided-flat-rent/, in 2010

rooftop housing

Sub-divided FLats

Cage-House

Cubicle apartment

Sub-divided Unit - Flat divided into small units ILLEGALLY - around 3.72 sq-m - Temperature - Safety

2013 : More than

170,000 Inhabitants

Further/ rooted problem Developer Hegemony

- A book Land and the Ruling Class in Hong Kong (Second Edition)

- When developers dominates in different markets

Supermarket , Utility , Mobile , Restaurants, mobile network, …

Ruling Class of HK, by◦ Controlling all the choices & eliminate competitions

Lower Social mobility (Widening gap between “Clasess”)

Income inequality

continue to deprive wealth from the labors,

* Working class v. the bourgeois in an extreme case

Discussion -Possible solutions ?Divide properties into 2 categories– investment/ residentWelfare system / Subsided housing supply from the governmentMigrating system Lobby with the Banking sector/

-Is the widening wealth gap inevitable or a centralized power like the developer hegemony inevitable under the market operation?

If yes, What is the solution for ?