Building talented worker housing in Shenzhen, China, to sustain place competitiveness

Author(s): Nicola Morrison

Source: Urban Studies , Vol. 51, No. 8 (June 2014), pp. 1539-1558
Published by: Sage Publications, Ltd.
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26145811

REFERENCES
Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26145811?seq=1&cid=pdf-
reference#references_tab_contents
You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

Sage Publications, Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Urban
Studies

This content downloaded from

131.111.5.182 on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:39:07 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Policy review

Urban Studies
2014, Vol. 51(8) 1539–1558
Ó Urban Studies Journal Limited 2013
Building talented worker Reprints and permissions:
sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
housing in Shenzhen, China, to DOI: 10.1177/0042098013510955
usj.sagepub.com
sustain place competitiveness

Nicola Morrison
University of Cambridge, UK

Abstract
In China, economic reforms over the last three decades, have transformed its urban governments
so that economic growth takes priority over other policy goals. The purpose of this paper is
to explore how talented worker housing policies have emerged within one of China’s first-
class cities, namely Shenzhen, to address its affordability problems but also to enhance local
economic competitiveness. Whilst Shenzhen is heading in the direction of an international,
entrepreneurial city focusing, in particular, on high value-added industry, it needs to attract
and retain professional, skilled workers to sustain this growth trajectory. Drawing on the con-
cept of urban entrepreneurialism, the paper examines how talented worker housing policies
and procedures have been initiated and implemented in Shenzhen in relation to its economic
development strategy and affordable housing programme. The paper suggests that not only is
policy delivery proving problematic, but affordability problems remain insurmountable, thus
potentially limiting the effectiveness of this particular urban entrepreneurial strategy in sup-
porting place competitiveness.

Keywords
affordability, China, housing policy, policy review, skilled workers, urban entrepreneurialism

Received February 2013; accepted September 2013

Introduction 2012). Even with the impact of the credit

House price inflation, affordability problems
and their impact on labour markets in eco-
nomically growing cities have been well
documented internationally (Economist
Intelligence Unit (EIU), 2012; Kupke, 2009;
Morrison and Monk, 2006). In China, at the
time when most world property markets
experienced sharp rises in prices, the value in
Yuan of new build properties grew by a fac-
tor of 27 between 1997 and 2009 (Chen,
crisis and subsequent slowdown in house
price rises worldwide, China’s house price
increases continued, albeit at a slower rate
(Chen, 2012; Naughton, 2010). Inflationary
pressures in Chinese urban housing markets,
in particular, have been a consequence of
Corresponding author:
Nicola Morrison, University of Cambridge, Land Economy,
19 Silver Street, Cambridge CB3 9EP, UK.
Email: nm10001@cam.ac.uk

This content downloaded from

131.111.5.182 on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:39:07 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
1540
both economic growth and rapid urbanisa-
tion (Li and Yi, 2011). Whilst China’s urban
population is expected to double between
2000 and 2030, the rapid population influx
has not been matched by a commensurate
growth in housing supply (Stephens, 2010).
Given excess demand and relatively
inelastic supply, the resultant property price
rises have effectively prevented access to the
market for a significant proportion of poten-
tial first-time buyers, particularly those on
low-to-moderate incomes. Increasing the
supply of subsidised, affordable housing for
the growing numbers of low-to-moderate
income households has therefore become a
major policy concern in China, with central
government making a commitment in 2011
to provide 36 million affordable housing
units between 2011 and 2015 (Huang, 2012;
National Peoples Congress (NPC), 2011). At
the same time, providing affordable housing
for workers considered essential to place
competitiveness has become a policy initia-
tive at the local municipal level (Chen, 2011;
Shenzen Municipal Government (SMG),
2010a, 2011; Wang, 2011).
The purpose of this paper is to examine
how talented worker housing policies have
emerged in Shenzhen, one of China’s first-
class cities, to address affordability issues
facing specific workers but also as a means
to support local economic competitiveness.
Shenzhen epitomises an entrepreneurial city
undergoing reform and modernisation that
the Chinese central government is keen to
advocate. Located in Guangdong Province
on the Chinese border, immediately north of
Hong Kong, Shenzhen is among the most
developed Chinese cities, having the fourth
highest GDP (EIU, 2012).
Whilst SMG’s economic development
strategy focuses on high value-added indus-
try, it needs to attract and retain professional,
skilled workers to sustain this growth trajec-
tory (The International New Town Institute
(INTI), 2012; SMG, 2010a). The emergence
This content downloaded from
131.111.5.182 on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:39:07 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Urban Studies 51(8)
of talented worker housing policies in SMG’s
latest development plan, in effect, reflects the
local government’s wider policy ambitions to
enhance the city’s international competitive-
ness (SMG, 2010a, 2011).
Drawing upon the concept of urban
entrepreneurialism and the US and English
experience, the first part of the paper out-
lines how these Western governments have
developed policies that target housing assis-
tance at low-to-moderate income, public sec-
tor workers considered key to delivering
public services and supporting commercial
businesses upon which local economic
growth depends. Yet whilst SMG’s policy
direction echoes this trend in the West, the
paper considers the way in which China’s
unique institutional context grants local
municipalities considerable autonomy to
pursue its own innovative strategies (Tang
et al., 2011; Wu and Zhang, 2010). The sig-
nificant discretion afforded to SMG, in
effect, accounts for how it has been able to
re-shape its housing policies to assist tar-
geted workers in the private sector as well as
state-owned enterprises in order to support
Shenzhen’s economic development strategy.
The second part of the paper then exam-
ines how talented worker housing policies
have been initiated and implemented in rela-
tion to both Shenzhen’s economic growth
strategy and affordable housing programme
overall. The paper suggests that not only is
policy implementation proving problematic,
affordability problems are likely to remain
an insurmountable obstacle, thus potentially
limiting the effectiveness of Shenzhen’s
talented worker housing policies to support
place competitiveness.
Urban entrepreneurialism and
Western experience in developing
targeted worker housing policies
The concept of urban entrepreneurialism
has a basis in early US literature that both
Morrison
theorises and documents the transformation
of urban governance in advanced capitalist
economies over time. David Harvey’s (1989)
influential work focuses in particular on the
reorientation of urban governance towards
entrepreneurialism. Given the heightened
mobility of capital and the reduction of spa-
tial barriers to the movement of goods, peo-
ple, money and information, Harvey (1989)
claims that local governments have had to
maximise the attractiveness of their specific
locality as ‘a lure for capitalist development’
(p. 5). In the face of growing inter-urban
competition, traditional ‘civic boosterism’
has effectively become integrated with the
use of local government powers to try and
attract new inward investment in order to
sustain local economic growth.
In adopting entrepreneurialism, Harvey
(1989) suggests that local governments’ cen-
tral strategy is to focus upon exploiting the
particular locality’s comparative advantages
for the production of goods and services
within the international division of labour.
Another secondary but complementary
strategy entails improving the position of
the city within the spatial division of con-
sumption. This involves a host of measures,
including enhancing the living environment
of the urban workforce. As Wood (1998)
notes in his review of Harvey’s (1989) work,
introducing new types of urban space for
consuming and living is a necessary prere-
quisite for attracting and retaining highly
skilled workers essential to place competi-
tiveness, as it heightens the city’s compara-
tive advantages vis-à-vis other places that
have not prioritised their workforce’s hous-
ing needs.
Despite economic and state restructuring
over the last few decades, the principles of
urban entrepreneurialism, with local govern-
ments developing strategies to boost growth,
remain a prominent feature of urban govern-
ance in the USA (Mossberger, 2009). The
trend towards entrepreneurial governance
This content downloaded from
131.111.5.182 on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:39:07 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
1541
and sustaining place competitiveness has
equally become a major imperative for urban
policy makers in England, with strategic
plans guiding and promoting economic
development since the 1990s (Vigar et al.,
2000). Whilst local government institutions
in England work within a more centralised
and formal system than in the USA, there is
considerable scope for local discretion and
professional autonomy to support local eco-
nomic growth, particularly through the
adaptation of urban space (Haughton et al.,
2009).
The term ‘urban entrepreneurialism’ is
now common in Western literature on con-
temporary urban policy (Buck et al., 2005).
Moreover, there has been substantial interest
in evaluating local economic development
strategies; particularly the way formal rules
and institutional structures interact with
informal public-private growth coalitions to
enhance urban comparative advantages
(Lowndes, 2009; Mossberger, 2009). There
has been less academic research, however,
using the concept to analyse how housing
policies have been used to support place
competitiveness, in particular, evaluating
strategies that target subsets of the urban
workforce with housing assistance. Yet this
strategy not only grew in relative importance
in policy discourse during the 2000s, particu-
larly within the USA and England, but also
new sets of rules and principles of housing
allocations have, in turn, been established
(Morrison, 2012; Scanlon, 2010). The oppor-
tunity to evaluate the effectiveness as well as
implications of this type of urban entrepre-
neurial strategy that focuses on consumption
space therefore exists.
Government support for targeted worker
housing programmes arose in the USA and
England in response to growing concerns
over the impact of housing affordability on
labour shortages and its effect on place com-
petitiveness. The lack of available housing
and pressures on public services, in
1542
particular, were seen to be undermining the
competitiveness of employers and the long-
term socio-economic sustainability of differ-
ent city-regions (Raco, 2008). Policies have
been developed by both governments that
target low-to-moderate income households
working in the public sector in areas such as
health, education and community safety,
where recruitment and retention problems
were evident.
The emergence of targeted worker hous-
ing programmes in the USA and England,
in effect, complemented and reinforced
mainstream local economic development
strategies pursued by urban entrepreneurial
governments. This policy direction not only
justified government intervention in the
housing market, it also focused investment
priorities on new urban consumption spaces
for subsets of the workforce, as Harvey
(1989) hypothesised. The USA has the larg-
est number of programmes designed to pro-
vide housing assistance targeted at public
sector workers, such as teachers, nurse and
police officers on low-to-moderate incomes.
Moreover, these programmes operate at fed-
eral, state and local level (see Scanlon,
2010). In other Western countries, afford-
ability problems facing public sector workers
have not been considered severe enough to
warrant government attention, so policies
motivated by such concerns are not as pro-
nounced in planning the competitive, entre-
preneurial city (Kupke, 2009).
In England, the difficulties that low-to-
moderate income, public sector workers
experience affording housing, particularly in
high-cost locations, provoked a government
policy response, coined the ‘key worker’
problem (Department of Environment,
Transport and the Regions (DETR), 2001;
Office of Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM),
2004). Central government introduced a
series of programmes, including the Key
Worker Living (KWL) programme in 2004,
which established the categories of public
This content downloaded from
131.111.5.182 on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:39:07 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Urban Studies 51(8)
sector workers eligible for key worker hous-
ing assistance (ODPM, 2004). The land use
planning system also became used as the
principle means to secure affordable key
worker housing on development sites com-
ing forward for planning permission,
through the use of section 106 agreements
(Department of Communities and Local
Government (DCLG), 2006; DETR, 2000).1
Both policy makers and academics alike
have criticised the KWL programme for
being divisive, privileging certain public sec-
tor workers with housing assistance at the
expense of others (GHK Consulting Ltd and
CURS, 2006; Morrison, 2010, 2012, 2013;
Raco, 2008). At the same time, despite subsi-
dised housing being targeted at eligible key
workers, the gap between the housing price
and income remained too wide for a large
proportion of key workers to afford (see
Morrison, 2012). As in the USA, these diffi-
culties have been exacerbated following the
credit crisis, when the availability of mort-
gages was severely reduced. The scope for
targeted worker housing programmes to be
an effective urban entrepreneurial strategy
to support place competitiveness in these
Western countries has been effectively
undermined.
China’s institutional context
Central government promotes
entrepreneurial governance
In China, urban entrepreneurialism has
equally grown in prominence, echoing the
general trend towards supporting place com-
petitiveness as in the West (Chen, 2009;
Shen, 2010; Wu and Zhang, 2010). China’s
institutional context, however, is relatively
unique, consisting of a top-down political
system and a decentralised urban govern-
ance system. Since the 1980s, the central
government has relaxed its control over
investment decisions and growth
Morrison
management, while municipal governments
have assumed primary responsibility for eco-
nomic development (Li and Yi, 2011).
Economic reforms over the past three
decades have, in effect, transformed China’s
urban governments, with the promotion of
economic growth becoming a major function
of local government. The fiscal system also
changed from 1994 onwards, allowing local
governments to own the revenues derived
from land lease transactions to meet ongoing
public expenditure. The state-owned land is
administered through municipal officials
and rented to land users on long-term leases,
with all revenues from land transactions
going to local government. The sale of land
use rights accounts for a substantial share of
municipal governments’ revenues. A strong
incentive therefore exists for local officials to
support economic growth and encourage
increased land prices (Stephens, 2010; Tang
et al., 2011; Wu, 2007).
Local governments have also been
granted greater economic autonomy, no lon-
ger having to have their local municipal
plans and strategies approved by central
government (Wu and Zhang, 2010). Yet, the
behaviour of municipal officials in urban
China is still affected by their superior gov-
ernments, especially central government,
which plays a dominant role in determining
municipal officials’ career advancement.
Since promoting economic growth has
become a key priority on the agenda of gov-
ernment officials at different levels, including
municipalities, greater economic perfor-
mance of a city-region equates to greater
chances of local leaders’ promotion. The
incentive for local government officials to
expand their economic base and support
place competitiveness is therefore consider-
able (Tang et al., 2011; Wang et al., 2001;
Wu, 2007).
Moreover, confronted with intense inter-
city competition, each Chinese local munici-
pality is under pressure to enhance its city’s
This content downloaded from
131.111.5.182 on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:39:07 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
1543
economic base and reduce potential skills
shortages of their major private sector
employers and state-owned enterprises
(INTI, 2012; Jessop and Sum, 2007). As
McKinsey and Company (2005) note, if not
addressed, the lack of skilled talented work-
ers, in effect, would inhibit China’s first-class
cities becoming global cities. Shen (2010)
therefore argues that cities across China
aspire to become ‘talent’ hubs, with both
central and local municipal governments
‘working hard to attract skilled labour,
including both domestic and foreign talents’
(p. 1), in order to sustain economic growth.2
The acute affordability crisis that workers
face particularly in China’s first-class cities
has provided an added rationale for local
municipalities to intervene in its urban hous-
ing markets and seek ways to provide hous-
ing assistance to talented workers that are
considered key to sustaining local economic
competitiveness (Litao and Jinjing, 2009;
Wang, 2011).
As in the USA and England, providing
particular subsets of workers with housing
assistance, however, necessitates debates
about whose presence is essential for place
competitiveness and how such assistance is
to be delivered in practice (Raco, 2008). Not
only has the concept of talented workers to
be defined and boundaries of entitlement
drawn up, but affordable housing pro-
grammes need to be realigned if newly con-
structed housing is to be allocated to this
target group.
Central government redirects its affordable
housing programmes
Since 1994, the Chinese central government
has established several affordable housing
programmes to be implemented by local
governments to assist low-to-moderate
income households who cannot afford hous-
ing in the market. Cheap rental housing
(CRH) addresses the problems of
1544
households qualifying for minimum living
standard assistance (MLSA), including those
with disabilities, on low incomes and seniors
through providing housing at nominal rents
(see Huang, 2012). In comparison, the public
rental housing (PRH) programme is targeted
more at lower-to-moderate income house-
holds, which traditionally, talented workers
have been entitled to apply for, alongside
other households whose incomes fall below
the threshold set (Shenzhen Residential
Leasing Management and Service Centre
(SRLMSC), 2013).
Besides applying for PRH, low-to-
moderate income talented workers also qua-
lify for government controlled-priced (or
capped-priced) housing, under the Economic
and Comfortable Housing (ECH) pro-
gramme, established by the central govern-
ment in 1994. In the same year, central
government also launched a Housing
Provident Fund (HPF), which is a compul-
sory savings scheme. Employees and
employers in both public and private compa-
nies are required to contribute a certain per-
centage of their incomes to the HPF account
on a monthly basis. As a way to promote
home-ownership, employees can take out a
certain percentage of the fund for housing-
related expenses (see Yeung and Howes,
2006).
ECH is provided by developers on free or
low-priced land allocated by the local muni-
cipalities; with the latter also regulating the
profit margins of developers to 3% and sell-
ing the housing to qualifying households at
restricted prices and with only partial prop-
erty rights. Although priced lower than mar-
ket rates, ECH has been criticised for
remaining out of reach of most households
and often bought by wealthier households,
thus missing its target group (see Huang,
2012; Logan et al., 2009).
In 2010, the Chinese central government
announced that policy attention should
focus on increasing the amount of PRH
This content downloaded from
131.111.5.182 on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:39:07 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Urban Studies 51(8)
provided at subsidised rents for low-to-
moderate income households; with local
municipalities having to comply with this
policy direction as they revised their latest
five-year development plans (Huang, 2012;
Naughton, 2010; PRC, 2010). However, as a
way to support place competitiveness, a
more localised policy has also been imple-
mented in a number of first-class cities,
including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen,
whereby talented workers have been
assigned a proportion of this newly con-
structed PRH (Chen, 2011; Wang, 2011).3
The next section examines the rationale
for this policy direction within Shenzhen,
drawing on the concept of urban entrepre-
neurialism as a way to explain how the pol-
icy decisions arose within a particular set of
contextual conditions (Yin, 2012).
Shenzhen and its urban
entrepreneurialism strategies
SMG’s central strategy: A focus on
production space
Shenzhen has undergone tremendous eco-
nomic transformation, with the municipality
covering an area of 2050 km2 in China’s
Guangdong Province, and accommodating a
total population of roughly 10 million in
2010, of which 6 million are migrant workers
(SMG, 2012). Shenzhen is the largest
migrant city in China, with in-migration
dramatically increasing since May 1980
when Shenzhen was formally nominated as
a ‘Special Economic Zone’ (SEZ). This des-
ignation represented the first one of its kind
in China because of Shenzhen’s close prox-
imity to Hong Kong (Deng, 1984; Wang et
al., 2001).
The SEZ was created to be an experimen-
tal ground for the practice of market capital-
ism guided by the ideals of ‘socialism with
Chinese characteristics’ (Deng, 1984). Coupled
with China’s reform and opening-up policy,
Morrison
masterminded by the late Chinese leader
Deng Xiaoping, privileged terms were
offered to foreign companies seeking to
invest in China. Acting as a gateway city for
China, Shenzhen was, in effect, granted the
ability to take the lead in China with regard
to developing urban entrepreneurialism stra-
tegies (Wang et al., 2001). The SEZ, in par-
ticular, enhanced the city’s locational
advantages and was used as a way to attract
highly mobile foreign investment.
Three decades on, both Chinese and for-
eign investment has gone into Shenzhen’s
SEZ, initially in manufacturing, however,
more recently in high-technology industries,
logistics and financial service industries as
well. Shenzhen is now reputed to be one of
the largest manufacturing bases as well as
fastest-growing cities in the world (EIU,
2012).
Moreover, low-cost manufacturing is now
no longer the backbone of Guangdong prov-
ince’s economy, where Shenzhen is located.
SMG is, instead, aiming to change its mode
of growth to emphasise quality of growth. In
2009, SMG mapped out plans to promote
the development of three new industries, bio-
technology, new energy and the internet,
which are considered to be the fundamental
industries for Shenzhen’s economic growth.
In addition, the municipality promised tax
breaks and land concessions to high-tech
firms (Daverman, 2013; INTI, 2012).
In July 2010, Shenzhen’s SEZ was
expanded to include ten districts under its
jurisdiction, representing a five-fold increase
over the SEZ’s pre-expansion size. Until
then, Shenzhen’s SEZ comprised only four
districts, located in the city core: Luohu, the
financial and trading centre; Futian, at the
heart of the SEZ and the seat of the munici-
pal government; Nanshan, the centre for
high-tech industries; and Yantian, the loca-
tion of the port which is the third busiest
container port in China and the fourth busi-
est in the world. Suburban districts, Bao’an
This content downloaded from
131.111.5.182 on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:39:07 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
1545
and Longgang, as well as four new manage-
ment districts have also been included within
the SEZ to encourage further expansion of
Shenzhen’s resource base beyond the city
core (see Figure 1) (Daverman, 2013;
Sampan Newspaper, 2011; SMG, 2012).
As Wu and Zhang (2010) note, economic
restructuring, coupled with the development
of the SEZ and expansion of a city’s admin-
istrative regions through annexation and
boundary adjustment, are key economic
growth strategies of local governments
within China. Introducing ‘cost competition’
through fiscal measures, tax incentives and
expansionist approaches have also become
critical measures for SMG to increase the
rate growth and overall size of Shenzhen’s
local economy.
Yet confronted with intense inter-city
competition within China as well external
global competition, enhancing place compe-
titiveness also requires further strategic deci-
sions to be taken (INTI, 2012). In line with
Harvey’s (1989) predictions, the creation of
new urban spaces for consumption, includ-
ing construction of new housing projects for
its expanding, professional workforce, has
therefore become a complementary strategy
alongside SMG’s central economic develop-
ment strategy that focuses on production
space.
Complementary strategy: A focus on
consumption space for Shenzhen’s
workforce
Whilst Shenzhen is becoming an internation-
ally recognised, entrepreneurial city that
focuses, in particular, on high-valued industry,
it needs highly skilled, professional workers to
support this growth trajectory. Investing in
the city’s living environment is, in effect, a
necessary prerequisite to attract and retain
such a workforce from local and overseas
labour markets (INTI, 2012). Moreover, the
growing affordability crisis and income
1546
Figure 1. Shenzhen and its urban disticts.
disparity witnessed within the city has made
the rationale for this policy direction stronger.
In 2010, Shenzhen GDP per capita was
95,000 Yuan, making it one of the richest of
all Chinese cities (EIU, 2012; SMG, 2012).
Whilst incomes have risen quickly, so too
have differentials in income levels. The rise
in property prices has made existing home-
owners wealthier, but it also prevents access
to the market for a significant proportion of
potential first-time buyers, many of whom
are essential to sustaining the long-term
growth of Shenzhen’s economy. In 2012, the
median monthly disposable salary (after tax)
was 2781 Yuan – among the highest in
China. Yet, the average prices per square
meter in the city were 28,010 Yuan, and
outside the city centre 14,770 Yuan (see
Figure 1). The average house price-to-
income ratio is approximately 15.6, which
therefore excludes most of the low-to-
moderate income households from home-
ownership (Chen, 2012; SMG, 2012).
Against this backdrop, the talented
worker housing policies were incorporated
This content downloaded from
131.111.5.182 on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:39:07 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Urban Studies 51(8)
into SMG’s latest five-year development
plan (2011–2015) (SMG, 2010a, 2011), with
the Shenzhen government office issuing a
bulletin stating that:
We are facing new situations and challenges;
in particular the high cost of living for talents
and the adverse effects on economic and social
development has become increasingly promi-
nent . All levels of department should have a
high sense of political responsibility and mis-
sion to fully understand the importance of the
implementation of talent housing projects.
(SMG, 2010a: Bulletin 2010, no. 23, para. 2)
Although new policies and procedures have
been subsequently instigated by SMG, they
need to be workable and translated into
practice (SMG, 2011).
Research methods
To examine the initiation and implementa-
tion of Shenzhen’s talented worker housing
policies and procedures, this paper draws
upon three study visits to Shenzhen,
Morrison
organised by Shenzhen’s Urban Planning,
Land and Resource Commission (UPLRC)
between 2010 and 2012, followed by corre-
spondence with government officials and
research assistance within Shenzhen there-
after. The purpose of the visits was to pro-
vide guidance on how England’s key worker
housing policies have worked in practice, as
SMG devised its policies in its latest devel-
opment plan. (2011–2015).
As Yin (2012) notes, ‘the essence of a sin-
gle case study is to illuminate a decision or
set of (policy) decisions, why they were
taken, how they were implemented and with
what results’ (p.13, emphasis added). Using
this analytical framework provides a way to
guide the case study research, thus contri-
buting to our understanding of the particu-
lar policy domain.
The paper draws upon a number of
sources of evidence to make sure the how and
why facts and preliminary policy results of the
case study are supported and verified (Yin,
2012). Details of Shenzhen’s policies and
procedures were obtained from scrutinising
documentary evidence and verified through
in-depth interviews with senior government
officials in SMG Housing and Construction
Bureau and Shenzhen UPLRC (see
SMG, 2006, 2010a, 2010b, 2011, 2012;
SRLMSC, 2013; Shenzhen Statistics Bureau
(SSB), 2013).4 Interview questions centred
first on the way this policy initiative had been
trialled over the previous plan period (2006–
2010), focusing in particular, on how con-
straints to housing delivery had arisen in this
pilot phase. It then focused on how policies
and procedures have been formally adopted
in the Shenzhen’s latest development plan
(2011–2015) and whether supply and
demand-side problems to delivery could be
overcome.
Adding to Yin’s (2012) analytical frame-
work, a further dimension was explored,
namely policy effectiveness. Since the poli-
cies and procedures have not been fully
This content downloaded from
131.111.5.182 on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:39:07 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
1547
embedded in Shenzhen’s development plan
(2011–2015), and difficulties were also
encountered accessing confidential data,
assessing the longer-term effects of this pol-
icy direction can only be speculated upon, to
date. Table 1 summarises the key compo-
nents the analytical framework used to guide
the research process.
Shenzhen’s talented worker
housing policies
Supply-side policies
The experimental policy phase (2006–
2010). Overall, fewer than 5000 homes have
been built within Shenzhen specifically tar-
geted at talented workers during Shenzhen
plan period 2006–2010. In comparison, more
than 30,000 ECH5 and 77,000 PRH have
been built over the same period (SMB, 2011,
2012; SMG Senior Official interview). By
the end of 2010, compared to market hous-
ing, affordable housing represented only
6.6% of total housing supply overall (SMG,
2011). The provision of housing specifically
for talented workers in turn is therefore con-
siderably modest. Moreover, it occurred over
a period when the initiative was still being
piloted, with policies not being formally
established until SMG latest development
plan (2011–2015) (SMG, 2011). Yet despite
this urban entrepreneurialism strategy being
solely in its experimental phase, lessons
learnt, particularly with regard to tackling
housing delivery, were used to inform SMG’s
formal policies and procedures.
At this policy initiative’s inception, SMG
initially tasked two urban district authorities
to construct a few relatively small-scale
talented worker projects as a form of PRH
ring-fenced for specific, eligible workers.
Nanshan district council funded two talented
worker schemes alongside PRH (of fewer
than 400 and 800 units, respectively) in 2007.
The district is a prime location, adjacent to
 Table 1. Analytical framework adopted to examine Shenzhen’s talented worker housing policies.
Policy rationale: ‘The why’
Supply-side Justification for policy
policies direction – how policy
objectives fit within
Shenzhen’s economic
development strategy and
affordable housing
programme.
Rationale for TW housing
tenure and reasons for
policy change
Demand-side Justification for TW
policies definition and eligibility
criteria.
How policy objectives fit
within Shenzhen’s
economic development
This content downloaded from
strategy and affordable
housing programme
131.111.5.182 on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:39:07 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Policy procedures: ‘The
how’
How to incentivise
housing providers
(i) urban districts and
public funds
(ii) private developers and
land lease system
Conditions attached to
developments, e.g.
– unit size
– subsidised housing costs
Classification of TW
Eligibility procedures:
(i) academic/professional
qualifications
(ii) length of work
experience
(iii) income thresholds
(iv) age thresholds
(v) residency permit
Conditions attached to
TW, e.g.
–rental subsidy/ unit size
–FTB/re-sale conditions
Policy outcomes: ‘The
results’
– Number of TW housing
built vis-à-vis PRH and
ECH housing p.a.
– Location by district and
wrt employment
centres
– Type of TW housing by
tenure over plan
periods
Way ballot system
allocates units to eligible
TW
– difficulties accessing
details owing to
confidentiality
– housing costs vis-à-vis
ability to pay by
category of TW
1548
Policy effectiveness
Extent policy objectives achieved.
Addressing difficulties:
– efficiency of implementation plan
– insufficient public funds
– incentivising private housing providers
– land availability
– land lease system
– speeding up construction approval rates
Potential policy effects
– job/housing imbalances
– socio-economic segregation
– commuting distances
Extent policy objectives achieved
Addressing difficulties:
– execution/coordination efficiency
– ballot systems’ transparency/accountability
– access to HPF
Potential policy effects
– divisiveness between TW beneficiaries and
others
– unmet housing needs
– affordability problems
Urban Studies 51(8)
Morrison
45000
40000
35000
30000
yuan/sqm
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
1996 1998 2000
Figure 2. Shenzhen’s housing prices by urban district.
Shenzhen’s financial district and southwest
of the SEZ (see Figure 1). It also hosts eight
of Shenzhen’s eleven universities within the
district. Providing PRH for professional
workers adjacent to Shenzhen’s financial
centre and its main higher education institu-
tions was one of SMG’s objectives.
Yantian district council also funded a
talented worker project alongside PRH,
entailing fewer than 400 units in 2007. The
district is further out, adjacent to Shenzhen’s
river in the South and has witnessed com-
paratively high housing price rises in recent
years (see Figure 2). The district accommo-
dates Shenzhen’s port as well as a relatively
high proportion of the city’s manufacturing
base. Public investment into new residen-
tial space for its workforce beside major
employment sites in effect supported
SMG’s broader urban entrepreneurialism
strategy.
However, although the urban districts
were originally given the responsibility to
develop these talented worker housing proj-
ects in this trial period, corresponding public
funding for such provision proved to be
insufficient, alongside their commitment to
build CRH, for lowest income households
qualify for MLSA, as well as PRH, for low-
to-moderate income households in general.
This content downloaded from
131.111.5.182 on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:39:07 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
1549
Luoho
Futian
Nanshan
Baoan
Longgang
Yantian
2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012
The amount of talented worker housing sub-
sequently built was therefore relatively lim-
ited. As a senior SMG official stated in
interview:
Public housing construction funds to urban
districts come from the municipal govern-
ment’s financial allocations. Given our finan-
cial capacity, we did not have enough public
funds to tackle our growing housing pressures.
We therefore also needed to seek private devel-
oper contributions to affordable housing
provision.
Between 2007 and 2010, three further talented
worker housing projects were undertaken by
commercial developers. Similar to the princi-
ples established under the ECH programme,
land was provided by the municipal govern-
ment at discounted prices in exchange for the
developers agreeing to sell homes at below
market prices to eligible talented workers
determined by SMG. To aid affordability
within Shenzhen’s high-priced housing mar-
ket, SMG stipulated that talented worker
housing should be built as government-
controlled (or capped-price) housing. The dis-
count is the same as that set for ECH, i.e. no
more than 70% of the market price for the
same type and size of housing within a given
district. SMG has also limited the floorspace
1550
of the talented worker housing units to below
90 m2, as it has done for provision of ECH.
The rationale for making the housing tenure
a form of home-ownership was, in part, the
same as in Western countries: property
ownership reflects the preferences of most
households, and it appears to encourage inte-
gration, social stability and individual respon-
sibility (Malpass and Rowlands, 2010).
It has been difficult, however, to incenti-
vise commercial developers to build afford-
able housing projects compared to
open-market-valued (OMV) housing that has
continually risen in value. As SMG acknowl-
edged in interview, lowering the land lease
price does not appear to be enough of an
incentive for private developers to build sub-
sidised housing, especially as profit margins
are restricted to 3% (see also Logan et al.,
2009).
Moreover, the location of the affordable
housing projects also changed over time, as
land availability has become increasingly
restricted within Shenzhen. The first two
private-led talented worker projects built
alongside ECH (entailing fewer than 300
units, respectively) were located in Nanshan
district, where private developer competition
has remained particularly strong. The com-
petitive bidding process was formally orga-
nised by SMG, with interested parties
agreeing in advance to build capped-priced
housing on these allocated sites. Yet, whilst
the formal auction rules were explicitly
known by all eligible market investors as
they came to the land auction, informal
negotiations have also occurred around
these land deals.
The commercial developers, for instance,
have been able to negotiate building OMV
housing alongside capped-priced housing, as
a way to cross-subsidise the cost of develop-
ment and sustain their profit margins. SMG
has agreed to this business practice in order
to incentivise market activity. These earlier
affordable housing projects have therefore
This content downloaded from
131.111.5.182 on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:39:07 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Urban Studies 51(8)
gone ahead, located next to Shenzhen’s key
employment sites in its urban core.
The third privately constructed housing
project was built in 2010, at the end of the
trial period. It is larger than the previous
two, consisting of approximately 2400 units
of ECH and talented worker housing, and
located on an inferior, lower-valued location
in the outskirts of Shenzhen, within
Longgang district, north of Shenzhen’s cen-
tral core. As a senior official in SMG noted,
this highlights the difficulties in incentivising
the private sector to build affordable hous-
ing, particularly in prime locations. SMG
(2010a) recognizes this problem, issuing a
statement in its bulletin on talented worker
housing projects:
we need to attract companies with a strong
sense of social responsibility to invest in the
construction of housing for talents not exceed-
ing 90 m2. we need competing construction
companies to support this talents initiative.
(SMG, 2010a: Bulletin 2010, no. 23)
Shenzhen development plan (2011–2015). In
accordance with central government’s
announcement that local municipalities
should focus attention on constructing PRH
(PRC, 2010), SMG renewed its commitment
in its latest development plan (2011–2015) to
increase the city’s supply of PRH. As public
funds are insufficient, SMG continues to rely
upon revenues received from land transfer
elsewhere in the city. The pressure to maxi-
mise land sale prices, particularly in more
commercially sought-after central districts,
therefore remains (see also Huang, 2012).
SMG states that 140,000 affordable hous-
ing units are to be built by the end of 2015,
with the aim that they make-up 50% of total
housing supply and totalling around 150
projects across the city (SMG, 2011). More
than 35,000 affordable housing units are to
be available by the end of 2013, including
20,700 PRH units and 7700 ECH units
Morrison 1551

Table 2. New permitted landa supplied by SMG for affordable housing in Shenzhen plan period (2011–
2015) (km2).

Shenzhen central districts Shenzhen outer and new districts Total

Futian Luofu Nanshan Yantian Baoan Longgang Guangming Pingshan

km2 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.3 1.2 1.2 0.4 0.4 4.1
Percentage of 4.87 2.43 7.32 7.32 29.3 29.3 9.75 9.76 100
total supply

Notes:
a
Land consists of new land and land returned from urban renewal.
Source: SMG (2011: Chapter VI, Article XiX).

(ChinaScope Financial, 2012). Moreover, delivery. Devising policy procedures and

‘the guiding ideology’ stated in the plan is to
not only accelerate affordable housing con-
struction but also to ‘shift the focus to
talented worker housing projects’ (SMG,
2011: Article XI).6
In addition, the new affordable housing
projects are to be primarily located in the
outer urban districts and new management
districts (see Table 2). The commuting dis-
tances that talented workers undertake if
they live in these newly constructed schemes
is not a policy consideration, to date.7 As a
senior SMG official noted:
The location of affordable housing projects in
the new plan period will be dependent upon
the availability of land supply which is so lim-
ited in Shenzhen.
As other scholars have argued, the tendency
for affordable housing (whether ECH or
PRH) to be located on cheaper, less desirable
land on the periphery of Chinese cities, will
not only create new residential patterns but
socio-economic segregation as well (Huang,
2012; Li and Yi, 2011; Stephens, 2010; Tang
et al., 2011).
Demand-side policies
As SMG formalised its policy in its latest
development plan (2011–2015), the lessons
taken from the trial period centred primarily
on the most effective form of housing
mechanisms to allocate the housing was seen
as a secondary consideration. As a senior
SMG government official noted:
Talented worker housing policies can only be
tackled step by step. First we expand the scale
of construction. Our priority is finding avail-
able land supply. Second, we classify the
talented workers and make sure the most in
need are allocated a housing unit.
Although an equitable distribution of new
housing may be a policy goal, as Stephens
(2010) notes, the allocation of affordable
housing (whether ECH or PRH) is one of
the most controversial aspects of housing
policy in China. Difficulties in establishing
allocation principles are inevitable given that
the group in housing need is much larger
than the supply, and affordable housing con-
struction lags far behind. Problems over the
delineation of eligible households for tar-
geted worker housing are particularly great,
as it depends on establishing whose contribu-
tion to the local economy is most valued. As
in the USA and England, beneficiaries con-
sidered to be the most deserving are effec-
tively assisted with housing at the expense of
others (Raco, 2008).
Table 3 summarises the way SMG has
classified Shenzhen’s talented workers in
relation to their academic and professional
qualifications (SRLMSC, 2013). The muni-
cipality’s rationale for strategically targeting

This content downloaded from

131.111.5.182 on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:39:07 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
1552 Urban Studies 51(8)

Table 3. SMG’s classification of Shenzhen’s talented workers by qualifications and occupations.

(A) Individuals considered to have ‘outstanding’ talent, including those graduated with world-class degrees
from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and its Academy of Engineering, as well as those from similar
world-renowned educational institutions within developed countries. It also includes individuals with
recognized national and international major awards who have gained world-recognized academic and
industry achievements.
(B) Individuals considered to have ‘leading’ talent. This includes national leaders from universities, research
institutions and key enterprises and laboratories or research teams, particularly focusing on those who are
leaders in innovation and research.
(C) Individuals considered to be ‘senior’ talents. These include associate professors and those considered
to have higher than average levels of academic talent, particularly in science and engineering.
(D) Individuals considered to be the junior or ‘primary’ talents. These include domestic and international
full-time college graduates with a Bachelor’s degree and above.

Source: compiled from SMG (2010a) and interviews with SMG officials.

housing assistance at professional workers,
with qualifications and achievements partic-
ularly in sciences and engineering subjects, is
that these skills are considered to be essential
in supporting growth in high-technology
industries within the SEZ, particularly in
biotechnology, new energy and the internet,
which are SMG’s priority growth sectors
(see section ‘Shenzhen Urban Entrepreneurial
Strategies’) (SMG, 2010a). Unlike in the
USA and England, the difficulties that
lower-paid public sector employees, particu-
larly in the health, education and community
safety professions, have accessing affordable
housing and whether these undermine local
competitiveness, are not as high on Chinese
central or local governments’ agenda (Litao
and Jinjing, 2009).
Moreover, SMG Housing and
Construction Bureau have established addi-
tional eligibility criteria. Applicants for
talented worker housing should not only
have a Bachelor’s degree, but also a mini-
mum of five year’s work experience. An age-
threshold criteria has also been set.
Outstanding, leading and senior talented
worker applicants have to be younger than
46 years; and primary talented workers
holding a PhD have to be younger than 36
years; younger than 30 years if they hold a
Master’s degree and younger than 25 years
if they hold a Bachelor’s degree. Moreover,
all applicants must have permanent resident
status (hukuo) (SMG, 2012; SRLMSC,
2013). Migrant workers without permanent
residency are therefore excluded at the
outset.
Talented workers can purchase ECH;
however, they need to be first-time buyers to
be eligible. SMG has also placed restrictions
on the buyers’ property rights, by putting
conditions on the re-sale of the housing. The
purchaser cannot sell their property for at
least 10 years. If the property is subsequently
sold, the owner must pay SMG back the
30% subsidy that they benefited from when
they bought the property (SRLMSC, 2013).
This clause does not appear to have affected
the potential demand for capped-priced
housing. A greater deterrent is whether ECH
offered to Shenzhen’s talented workers is, in
fact, affordable at the outset.
Eligible talented workers are able to
benefit from the central government’s HPF.
Yet, as Stephens (2010) notes, although the
HPF is flexible it is also regressive, with only
the higher income households using and
thus benefiting from the fund. In Shenzhen,
the older, ‘outstanding’, ‘leader’ and ‘senior’
talented workers are likely to access this
fund, rather than the younger ‘primary’
talented workers, although SMG (2010b;
2011) does, however, acknowledge the need
to expand eligible individuals’ use of HPF.

This content downloaded from

131.111.5.182 on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:39:07 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Morrison
Some companies also grant bonuses to their
employees to facilitate access to home-own-
ership, although this represents a relatively
small proportion of employers. To date,
only a few companies have been prepared to
give bonuses and many small private compa-
nies have not yet enrolled into Shenzhen’s
HPF programme (SMG, 2010b).
SMG has also introduced a mortgage
scheme attached to the HPF programme
(SMG, 2010b). Talented workers, alongside
other Shenzhen residents, are able to enrol
into the HPF mortgage scheme, taking out
mortgages on favourable terms, for instance,
at lower interest rates. This initiative aims to
improve a household’s ability to purchase
property (SMG, 2010a, 2010b, 2011). As a
senior SMG official noted:
For an immigrant city like Shenzhen, profes-
sional, educated workers are a large and grow-
ing proportion of housing demand. We are
pursuing a reform in housing tenure security
which will encourage more participation in our
owner-occupied housing market, particularly
from our lower-to-moderate income workers.
In the absence of substantial personal contri-
butions to provide a mortgage down-pay-
ment, affording housing, even at a
discounted price, however, will remain pro-
blematic, particularly within Shenzhen’s cen-
tral urban districts. Talented workers are
instead more likely to apply for PRH allo-
cated to them, especially as the rents are on
average 60% of market prices. Certain cate-
gories of talented workers are also able to
apply for rent-free housing over a set lease
period (Zhao, 2013).8
SMG’s Housing and Construction
Bureau has been tasked by SMG to coordi-
nate the allocation process. Given that
talented worker housing needs exceed sup-
ply, the Bureau has to rely on a ballot sys-
tem when allocating eligible applicants to
the PRH. As Zhao (2013) notes, online
applicants exceed properties available, to
This content downloaded from
131.111.5.182 on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:39:07 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
1553
date. Once shortlisted, the finalists have to
submit written application materials; how-
ever the acceptance rate falls considerably
below those that are eligible. A senior offi-
cial in SMG Bureau acknowledged that the
allocation system in under constant review.
SMG (2011) also notes the need to ‘improve
execution efficiency’ (SMG, 2011: Article
27) so that policy implementation and allo-
cation procedures are more efficient and
sped up in order to meet raised expectations.
Within each district, different subsidised
rents are offered to talented workers, using
Shenzhen’s housing market prices to guide
rental prices. The rental subsidy as well as
size of property also varies by category of
talented worker.9 Primary talented workers,
in particular, with lower rental subsidies
may ultimately have to seek out the cheaper
public rental properties being built in
Shenzhen’s outer urban districts and its new
management districts (Table 2) (SMG, 2011;
SRLMSC, 2013). Not only are these outer
locations a distance from the city’s central
core, entailing lengthy commuting distances,
they are not fully connected to SMG’s eco-
nomic growth strategy, to date.
In the longer term, the municipal govern-
ment’s aim, however, is to synchronise the
planning of these talented worker housing
projects alongside newly created industrial
parks, particularly within Shenzhen’s new
management districts through the creation
of these ‘hubs’ of new consumption space for
talented workers with technical knowledge,
research and development expertise co-
located by SMG’s new high value-added pro-
duction space, Shenzhen’s growth trajectory
may therefore be sustained (see Daverman,
2013; INTI, 2012; SMG, 2010a).10
Conclusions
The concept of urban entrepreneurialism
offers a way to explore how urban govern-
ance has transformed within advanced
1554
capitalist economies (Harvey, 1989). Across
the world, both central and local govern-
ments pursue strategies to enhance their dif-
ferent localities’ comparative advantages
within an increasingly competitive, interna-
tional market place. Investing in consump-
tion space for the urban workforce has, in
particular, become a critical strategy to
attract and retain workers that are essential
in supporting place competitiveness (Jessop
and Sum, 2007; Wood, 1998).
To date, an evaluation of the rationale
and policy implementation of targeted
worker housing policies in China, particu-
larly in relation to both central and local
governments’ economic growth strategies
and their affordable housing programmes
overall, has not been explored.
Drawing together the conceptual ideas
from urban entrepreneurialism and empirical
observations from the Shenzhen case study,
in effect, yields a more nuanced understand-
ing of the way talented worker housing poli-
cies and procedures have been initiated and
implemented within a specific institutional
context. Not only is the Chinese institutional
context relatively unique, opportunities exist
for local governments to pursue urban entre-
preneurialism and establish new rules with
regard to allocating affordable housing
(Huang, 2012; Wu and Zhang, 2010).
The significant discretion afforded to
Chinese local municipalities accounts for the
way SMG was able to re-shape its housing
policies to assist targeted workers in private
businesses as well as state-owned enter-
prises in order to strengthen the city’s com-
parative advantages. Launching Shenzhen
on a path of high value-added industries, in
effect, has involved adopting innovative
strategies to recast the city’s competitive-
ness (INTI, 2012; SMG, 2011). In doing so,
new types of consumption space, in the
form of talented worker housing, have been
built in this relatively new and entrepre-
neurial city.
This content downloaded from
131.111.5.182 on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:39:07 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Urban Studies 51(8)
Whilst Shenzhen’s talented worker hous-
ing policies have now been formulated and
implemented in its latest development plan
(2011–2015), it is too soon to undertake a
full evaluation of policy effectiveness and its
longer-term implications. Moreover, the
amount of talented worker housing built, to
date, is still too small to have a significant
impact on the Shenzhen’s affordability prob-
lems. Yet as Yin (2012) notes, a case study
of this nature is worth conducting, even at
an early stage of policy processes, as the
information is ‘revelatory’ and underlies
issues of importance, particularly in relation
to how policy makers in one municipality
are tackling the mounting affordability crisis
that its workforce faces – a problem that is
prevalent across China and elsewhere.
Compared with England, Chinese central
and local governments have been reluctant
to use formal powers to require private devel-
opers to provide affordable housing. Local
municipalities, instead, rely upon a system of
incentivisation. Lowering the land lease price
may not, however, provide enough of an
incentive for market players to build afford-
able housing. Moreover, this policy approach
also compromises municipal governments’
ability to maximise its land sale revenues.
With sales of land use rights being a substan-
tial share of the municipal government’s rev-
enues, they will remain under pressure to
maximise the land sale prices and sustain
high land prices (Stephens, 2010).
As other scholars have observed, until the
Chinese land system is reformed, and the
monopoly local governments have over land
supply and their dependency on land for rev-
enue is changed, providing affordable hous-
ing through commercial developers may be
limited (Deng et al., 2011; Huang, 2012; Li
and Yi, 2011; Tang et al., 2011).
Meanwhile, the Chinese central govern-
ment’s ambitious goal to increase the supply
of PRH is, however, reliant upon scarce pub-
lic funds and allocation decisions at the local
Morrison
municipal level. Local governments targeting
newly constructed PRH at talented workers,
however, need to be justified, particularly if
this policy direction affects the original
intention of PRH to help solve the housing
difficulties faced by low-to-moderate income
households in general (Chen, 2011). These
concerns echo those raised by a number of
Chinese scholars, who are wary of a return
to a modified public housing system that
allocates units to those with ‘connections’ at
the expense of others (Gou, 2011; He, 2010;
Monkkonen, 2011).
As Yin (2012) argues, a single case study
provides a valuable way of analysing how
institutions frame and resolve policy issues
within a specific context. There are limitations,
however, in generalising from one city, which
invariably reflects a particular set of empirical
realities. To further this line of inquiry, a com-
parison of targeted worker housing policies in
relation to municipal governments’ economic
development strategies and affordable housing
programmes, if in existence in other Chinese
cities, is encouraged.
As in Western countries, targeting hous-
ing assistance at workers whose housing
needs are well articulated and reflected in a
city’s broader policy ambition, rather than
at the needs of others considered ‘less valu-
able’ to an urban entrepreneurialism strategy
is likely to persist. The longer-term conse-
quences of this policy direction therefore
need to be considered (Morrison, 2013;
Raco, 2008).
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank Shenzhen’s
Urban Planning, Land and Resource
Commission for their hospitality in Shenzhen,
Ming Luo for her research assistance and
Professor Rebecca Chiu, Dr Tony Manzi and
Sarah Monk as well as the anonymous referees
for their comments on earlier drafts of this paper.
The usual disclaimers apply.
This content downloaded from
131.111.5.182 on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:39:07 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
1555
Funding
This research received no specific grant from any
funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-
for-profit sectors.
Notes
1. Section 106 of England’s Town and Country
Planning Act 1990 allows a local authority
to enter into a legally binding agreement or
planning obligation with a developer in
association with the granting of planning
permission. This planning obligation
requires the developer to deliver a negotiated
amount of affordable housing. In 2000, the
Government’s Planning Policy Guidance
(PPG3) included for the first time key
worker housing in the definition of afford-
able housing. This consists of discounted
rented or market priced housing as well as
shared ownership (where household part
buys and part rents) (DETR, 2000).
2. China’s central government has established
a number of programmes to attract talented
workers, such as top scientists and aca-
demics, first started in the 1990s, for exam-
ple, ‘100-talents scheme’ in 1994 and
‘Yangtze river scholar scheme’ in 1998.
These schemes were mainly implemented in
Beijing and Shanghai. The ‘1000 talent plan’
introduced in 2008 was expanded into a
10,000 talent goal in 2012, aiming to attract
talents of any nationality in the next five to
ten years. This plan has been mainly imple-
mented in Beijing and Shanghai, but later
also in Shenzhen and entails financial sup-
port and other related benefits to talents,
including fast-tracking the application pro-
cess for permanent residency permits
(hukuo) (State Administration of Foreign
Expert Affairs (SAFEA), 2013).
3. In Beijing, 800 PRH units in one of its indus-
trial parks (Deer Park) have been assigned
to workers in private corporate enterprises.
PRH has also been assigned to key corpo-
rate high-end leading talents in another
industrial park (Zhongguancun) (Chen,
2011; Wang, 2011). To date, however, there
has been little detailed discussion of this
1556
policy initiative in other first-class Chinese
cities.
4. As with all case study research, obtaining
confirmatory evidence from different sources
is critical to improve the accuracy of the
findings (Yin, 2012). As Valentine (2005)
notes, undertaking research in a different
cultural context requires, in particular, a
heightened sensitivity with regard to validat-
ing the research findings, as much of the
research is conducted through a local inter-
preter and translation of documentation.
Moreover, the local political agenda and
codes of behaviour need to be also taken
into account: first, when interviewing gov-
ernment officials who are unable or willing
to express personal opinions, and second
when examining documentary evidence
which is often written for a specific purpose
and thus needs clarification.
5. An alternative term used for ECH is afford-
able commodity housing, which is also used
in SMG (2011).
6. To date, Shenzhen’s largest public rental proj-
ects have been completed during the 2011–2015
plan period. Four of the projects have a total
of 13,496 units and 24% of them have been
allocated to talented workers (see Zhao, 2013).
7. In England, key worker applicants have to
live within a reasonable travelling distance
of their workplace in order to be eligible for
key worker property in their local area
(DCLG, 2006). To date, SMG has no plans
to introduce a formal applicant travel-to-
work criterion, although Shenzhen’s
Residential Rental Management Service
centre has turned down applicants for PRH
if the units are considered too far from their
work (see Zhao, 2013).
8. Outstanding talents can apply for a 200
m2 rent-free housing unit with the lease
period not exceeding ten years. Leading
talents can apply for a rent-free unit
between 80 and 150 m2 depending on if
they are local or national leading talents.
The lease is valid for three years. This
preferential treatment is not applied to
primary talents (SRLMSC, 2013).
9. Outstanding talented workers rental subsidy
is 2000RMB per month and rental area they
This content downloaded from
131.111.5.182 on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:39:07 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Urban Studies 51(8)
can apply for no more than 200 m2. Leading
talented workers’ subsidy is 1800RMB per
month and rental area no more than 80–150
m2. Primary talented workers with PhDs
receive 1000RMB per month, with Masters
500RMB per month and with Bachelor
degrees 200RMB per month. The rental area
primary talented workers can apply for is no
more than 60 m2 if a family household and
no more than 40 m2 if a single household
(SRLMSC, 2013).
10. SMG’s draft plan to create a new biotech park
in the outer districts of Bauguang, Yantian
and Dapeng should encourage job growth
beyond the city core and also help to redress
job/housing imbalances (Daverman, 2013).
References
Buck N, Gordon I, Harding A, et al. (eds) (2005)
Changing Cities: Rethinking Urban Competi-
tiveness, Cohesion and Governance. Basing-
stoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Chen J (2012) Housing affordability in China.
Available at: https://www.hightable.com/
residential-market-trends/insight/housing-afford-
ability-in-china-46901 (accessed 2 July 2012).
Chen X (ed.) (2009) Rising Shanghai. State Power
and Local Transformation in a Global Mega-
city. Minneapolis MN and London: Minne-
sota University Press.
Chen X (2011) Public rental ‘take care’ of
construction of high-end talents contrary to
original intentions. China Youth Daily 8 Sep-
tember 2011. http://fs.house.163.com/11/0908/
07/7DDONRMR022000NR.html (accessed 2
July 2012).
ChinaScope Financial (2012) Real estate: Shenz-
hen to promote public rental and affordable
housing. Available at: http://www.chinascope
financial.com/news/article/11391-real-estate-
shenzhen-to-promote-public-rental-and-afford
able-housing?lang=en (accessed 2 September
2013).
Daverman R (2013) Shenzhen proposes creation of
new biotech park. Available at: http://www.chi-
nabiotoday.com/articles/20130926 (accessed 2
September 2013).
Deng X (1984) Building socialism with Chinese
characteristics. Available at: www.wellesley.
Morrison
edu/Polisci/wj/China/Deng/Building.htm (accessed
4 April 2011).
Department of Environment, Transport and the
Regions (DETR) (2000) Planning Policy
Guidance 3: Housing. London: DETR.
Department of Environment, Transport and the
Regions (DETR) (2001) Starter Homes Initia-
tive. London: DETR.
Department of Communities and Local Govern-
ment (DCLG) (2006) Housing: Planning Policy
Statement: 3. London: DCLG.
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) (2012) Super-
sized Cities: China’s 13 Megalopolises.
London: The Economist.
GHK Consulting Ltd and Centre for Urban
and Regional Studies (2006) Evaluation of
Key Worker Living Programme: Final Report.
London: Community and Local Government.
Gou A (2011) On China’s adminstration of gov-
ernment subsidised houses from Shenzhen
‘name list’ affair. Contemporary Economy and
Management 33(6): 50–52.
Harvey D (1989) From managerialism to entre-
preneurialism: The transformation of urban
governance in late capitalism. Geografiska
Annaler 7B: 3–17.
Haughton G, Allmendinger P, Counsell D, et al.
(2009) The New Spatial Planning: Territorial
Management with Soft Space and Fuzzy Bound-
aries. London: Routledge.
He Y (2010) Affordable housing should not be
privileged housing. Outlook 15: 17.
Huang Y (2012) Low-income housing in Chinese
cities: Policies and practices. The China Quar-
terly December: 941–964.
International New Town Institute, The (INTI)
(2012) New new towns. Why we need to rethink
city of tomorrow today. Available at: http://www.
newtowninstitute.org%2fspip.php%3farticle918
&ru=http.
Jessop B and Sum N (2007) An entrepreneurial
city in action: Hong Kong’s emerging strategies
in and for (inter-) urban competition. Available
at: http://www2.cddc.vt.edu/digitalfordism/
fordism_materials/papers/jessop/jessop,%20sum.
htm (accessed 1 February 2011).
Li G and Yi F (2011) Urbanisation of capital or
capitalisation on urban land? Land develop-
ment and local public finance in urbanising
China. Urban Geography 32(1): 50–79.
This content downloaded from
131.111.5.182 on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:39:07 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
1557
Litao Z and Jinjing Z (2009) China’s talent
schemes: Initiatives from central to local gov-
ernments. East Asian Policy 1(4): 34–41.
Logan J, Fang Y and Zhang Z (2009) Access to
housing in urban China. International Journal
of Urban and Regional Research 33(4): 914–935.
Lowndes V (2009) New institutionalism and
urban politics. In: Davies J and Imbroscio D
(eds) Theories of Urban Politics. London:
Sage, pp. 91–105.
Kupke V (2009) Key workers and housing afford-
ability. Australian and New Zealand Property
Journal 2(4): 218–225.
McKinsey and Company (2005) China’s looming
talent shortage. McKinsey Quarterly. Available
at: http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Chinas_
looming_talent_shortage_1685.
Malpass P and Rowlands R (eds) (2010) Housing
Markets and Policy. London: Routledge.
Monkkonen P (2011) Housing markets with Chi-
nese characteristics. Asia-Pacific Network for
Housing Research Newsletter 15(June): 4.
Morrison N (2010) Securing key worker housing
through the planning system. In: Monk S and
Whitehead C (eds) Making Housing More
Affordable: The Role of Intermediate Tenures.
London: Blackwells, pp. 120–134.
Morrison N (2012) Key worker housing policy.
In Smith S (ed.) International Encyclopaedia of
Housing and Homes. Oxford: Elsevier, pp.
139–144.
Morrison N (2013) Reinterpreting the key worker
problem in a university town: The case of
Cambridge, England. Town Planning Review
DOI:10.3828/tpr2013.28.
Morrison N and Monk S (2006) Job-housing mis-
match: Affordability crisis in Surrey, South
East of England. Environment and Planning A
38: 1115–1130.
Mossberger K (2009) Urban regime analysis. In
Davies J and Imbroscio D (eds) Theories of
Urban Politics. London: Sage, pp. 40–54.
National People Congress (NPC) (2011) China’s
12th Five Year Plan. Available at: http://cbi.
typepad.com/china_direct/2011/05/chinas-twelfth-
five-new-plan-the-full-english-version.html
Naughton B (2010) The turning point in housing.
China Leadership monitor 33: 1–10.
Office of Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) (2004)
Key Worker Living Programme. London: ODPM.
1558
People’s Republic of China (PRC) (2010) Official
announcement. Available at: http://www.gov.
cn/english/2010–07/01/content_1643266.htm.
Raco M (2008) Key worker housing, welfare
reform and the new spatial policy in England.
Regional Studies 42: 737–751.
Sampan Newspaper (2011) Shenzhen: the new sili-
con valley. Available at: http://sampan.org/
2011/11/shenzhen-the-new-silicon-valley
(accessed 2 March 2012).
Scanlon K (2010) The international experience.
In: Monk S and Whitehead C (eds) Making
Housing More Affordable: The Role of Inter-
mediate Tenure. Blackwells: London, pp.
37–56.
Shen W (2010) Globalising Shanghai: International
Migration and the Global City. United Nations
University Working Paper No. 2010/79, pp.
1–25.
Shenzhen Municipal Government (SMG) (2006)
Shenzhen’s Five-year Development Plan (2006–
2010). Shenzhen: SMG.
Shenzhen Municipal Government (SMG) (2010a)
The implementation of the decision of talents
housing projects. Government Bulletin 2010,
No. 23 (total no. 703). Available at: http://
www.sz.gov.cn/zfgb/2010/gb703/201007/t20100705_
1550762.htm (accessed 2 September 2012).
Shenzhen Municipal Government (SMG) (2010b)
Housing Provident Fund Temporary Manage-
ment Plan. Shenzhen: SMG.
Shenzhen Municipal Government (SMG) (2011)
Shenzhen’s Five-Year Development Plan
(2011–15). Shenzhen: SMG.
Shenzhen Municipal Government (SMG) (2012)
Shenzhen’s Real Estate Yearbook 2012. Shenz-
hen: SMG.
Shenzhen Statistics Bureau (SSB) (2013) Shenzhen
Statistical Yearbook 2013. Beijing: China Sta-
tistics Press.
Shenzhen Residential Leasing Management and
Service Centre (SRLMSC) (2013) Talents
application requirements. Available at: http://
www.szzulin.cn/g/d/content_117.shtml
(accessed 4 April 2013).
State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs
(SAFEA) (2013) 1000 Talent Plan. Available
at: http://1000plan.safea.gov.cn.
This content downloaded from
131.111.5.182 on Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:39:07 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Urban Studies 51(8)
Stephens M (2010) Locating Chinese urban hous-
ing policy in an international context. Urban
Studies 47(14): 2965–2982.
Tang B, Wong S and Liu S (2011) Institutions,
property taxation and local government
finance in China. Urban Studies 48(5):
847–875.
Vigar G, Healey P, Hull A, et al. (2000) Planning,
Governance and Spatial Strategy in Britain.
London: Macmillan.
Valentine G (2005) Using interviews as a research
method. In: Flowerdew R and Martin D (eds)
Methods in Human Geography. Englewood
Cliffs NJ: Prentice Hall, pp. 110–127.
Wang F (2011) China affordable public housing
dogged by problems. Available at: http://
www.english.cnstock.com%2frealestate%2
freheadline%2f201109%2f1565594 (accessed 2
September 2013).
Wang M, Meng X and Li G (2001) Shenzhen:
The pioneer city of China’s economic transi-
tion. In: Williams J and Stimson R (eds) Inter-
national Urban Planning Settings: Lessons of
Success. Kidlington: Elsevier Science, pp.
157–182.
Wood A (1998) Making sense of urban entrepre-
neurialism. Scottish Geographical Magazine
114(2): 120–123.
Wu F (2007) Re-orientation of the city plan: Stra-
tegic planning and design competition in
China. Geoforum 38: 379–392.
Wu F and Zhang J (2010) Planning the competi-
tive city-region: The emergence of strategic
development plan in China. In: Bridge G and
Watson S (edss) The Blackwell City Reader.
London: Blackwells, pp. 428–431.
Yeung S and Howes R (2006) The role of the
Housing Provident Fund in financing afford-
able housing development in China. Habitat
International 30: 343–356.
Yin R (2012) Case Study Research: Design and
Methods. New York: Sage.
Zhao R (2013) Shenzhen public rental market
rents for sixty per cent, acceptance rate of fifty
five per cent.