By Hu Fangjie
Published: 2007-12-07

Commercial housing projects offer another alternative. On November 19, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Land and Resources announced to the media that 6,000 square meters of low-cost housing would be built on the Number 3 Shen parcel of land in Zhongguancun, Haidian district, and that Laiguanggaoxiang's two plots of residential estate in Chaoyang district would be used to construct 25,000 square meters of low-cost housing also. This will be the first time that commercial housing projects will create low-cost housing- and it will occur in the heart of Zhongguancun.

Still, applicants are most concerned about meeting the requirements for subsidized housing-- almost none care about picking their own home. In this age of abundance, low-cost housing comes in various housing designs, with surface areas corresponding to the types of home. But the only freedom that applicants have in choosing low-cost living accommodations is determining what floor of their complex they would like to live on.

"No one is willing to move out to the suburbs. Most retirees want to live in the city," said Zhao. He is 65-years-old this year. The air pollution, noise, and prices of goods in the city are all factors enticing him to leave for the countryside, but he nevertheless refuses to budge.

"Wei Hai homes are more than 2,000 yuan per square meter, and the environment and air quality are great. But if I suddenly get sick, then what? My kids won't be able to come help me," he said. According to Zhao, over 80% of the people in his low-cost housing complex are senior citizens. In fact, senior citizens are the majorit of low-cost housing recipients. There biggest claim to living in the city center is that they need to be closer to health care and related facilities than the young.

With regard to Zhao, the feeling of living in the city center is a deciding factor in his current address. He lives with his wife and two granddaughters, whom he takes care of when his son is pursuing his studies beyond the Sixth Ring Road. And on holidays, a room in his low-rent home turns into a five-star party hall. "Maybe the environment is better in the suburbs, but what is there to do there? A place without people isn't a place where one can live." In his old age, he has grown accustom to his home. This, he says, would not be the case in some remote district's low-cost housing project.

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ARTICLE NOTES:

According to the “Low-cost Rental Housing Protections Regulations” which were passed on Sept 26th 2007, and are effective from Dec 1st 2007, there are two ways the government will help low-income groups with housing:

?1. Through paid subsidies (貨幣補(bǔ)貼), but individuals must find actual housing on their own.
?2. Local government and the landlord will rent out subsidized housing (實物配租) and collect minimal rental fees from qualified applicants.

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