Urban Housing Development in Western China: Case Study of Yinchuan City

Abstract

Recently, a boom in urban development has been reported in the inland provincial centers of China. Previous studies focused on housing on a national scale or examined the conditions in east costal mega-cities, but very few empirically analyze the housing of inner cities with weaker market economy and less local entrepreneurial skills. Our hypothesis is that in 2-tier Chinese cities with weaker market economy the location of public programs, such as social housing and key facilities, directly influence the commercial housing development pattern, which in turn determines the sustainability of the land consumption. Thus, the aim of this research is to assess the impact of public programs on the pattern of housing from the perspective of density, efficiency and spatial equity management, through an empirical study of Yinchuan City, Western China. The assesment is based on GIS spatial analysis. Moreover, we propose a new method based on Voronoi diagram to assess the spatial equity in allocation of public facilities. The findings are: 1) In the market-oriented period, local governments of inner cities still lead the housing development with allocation of public programs; 2) However, in Yinchuan the distribution of public programs is not consistent with the city´s spatial strategy; 3) Moreover, the distribution of public facilities does not promote horizontal spatial equity in the city. In order to efficiently guide the housing development, the city needs to reconsider its strategy in allocation of public programs based on more integral local context research that will include market mechanisms, historic place significance and spatial equity considerations. In China, where there is a massive number of smaller inland cities with unprecedented urban expansion like Yinchuan, the Voronoi diagram method can be a useful modeling tool for adjusting the distribution of public programs to achieve equitable and sustainable outcomes.