Reducing housing vulnerability and injustice? An evaluation of Chongqing’s public rental housing policy and its impact on migrant workers

Source abstract

The rapid increase in population mobility, coupled with the institutional barriers imposed by the hukou system in major Chinese cities, has raised significant concerns about distributive injustice in housing provision. Migrant workers, who are excluded from housing entitlements tied to urban citizenship, are among the most vulnerable groups experiencing institutionalized social exclusion. In 2010, Chongqing launched China’s largest public rental housing (PRH) program, removing hukou restrictions within the public housing system. This paper applies the capabilities approach to evaluate housing justice by examining the impact of this large-scale policy intervention on migrant workers’ housing circumstances in Chongqing. Drawing on qualitative evidence, the findings indicate that PRH contributes to improvements in residents’ capabilities and mitigating housing vulnerability by addressing institutional bias in the public housing system and enabling the pursuit of valued lifestyles through improved access to resources and opportunities. However, the study also identifies persistent policy deficiencies rooted in the broader sociopolitical context of urban China. This paper contributes to housing policy research by operationalizing the capabilities approach as a normative evaluative framework, offering nuanced insights into housing justice in non-Western, transitional contexts.