Perspectives of Socio-Spatial Differentiation from Soaring Housing Prices: A Case Study in Nanjing, China

Launched in 1998, the market-oriented reform of urban housing has given urban housing the dual attributes of residence and investment, and led to the rapid growth of housing prices as well as the intensification of its spatial differentiation within cities. However, the spatial patterns of the differentiation and its mechanism as well as socio-spatial effects are rarely touched. This paper studies 3963 urban residential districts in central Nanjing and explores the socio-spatial differentiation pattern and process of the urban housing prices and its growth in Nanjing based on the sample data of housing transactions over 30 quarters during the period of 2009–2017. The paper concludes that, by splitting the research duration into phases of six quarters each, the average housing prices in Nanjing alternates between “rapid growth” and “relatively stable” phases. At the same time, this paper finds that the spatial heterogeneity of housing prices in the city has been enhanced constantly, and the price gap in different types of residential housing has been clearly widened. In combination with the price level, location characteristics and architectural attributes of residential districts, this paper has categorized housing in Nanjing into nine typical types in a comprehensive manner. Based on the differences in their spatial attributes such as location, comfort and scarcity etc., different types of residences exhibit different pricing and price-to-rent ratio growth models. Based on those findings, we discussed the mechanism of the socio-spatial differentiation of housing prices in Nanjing from the housing reform and strategies of urban renewal and expansion. Beyond that, we discussed the role of urban housing consumption in the process of (re)production of urban classes, and its negative effects on urban young people, rural immigrants and other disadvantaged families. At the end of the paper, the policy suggestion about the supply-side reform of the housing market to promote socio-spatial equity and sustainable development is also presented.