Urban Planning and Housing Market

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Contexts and Urban-Rural Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 February 2023) | Viewed by 30485

Special Issue Editors

Department of Socio-Economic Geography, Institute of Spatial Management and Geography, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Prawocheńskiego 15, 10-724 Olsztyn, Poland
Interests: decision-making process; perception of space; urban development; suburbanization; spatial analyses; real estate market
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Spatial Analysis and Real Estate Market, Institute of Spatial Management and Geography, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Prawocheńskiego 15, 10-724 Olsztyn, Poland
Interests: real estate market; urban development; spatial modeling; geostatistics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The interactions between urban planning and the housing market play a key role in the context of progressing urbanization, urban population growth and the rising demand for housing. The rational distribution of housing resources in cities (and functional urban areas) is one of the key priorities of urban planning. The relevant measures should be consistent with the principles of sustainable development, and the rational management of space and social justice. The existing problems and social needs should be identified and resolved in order to improve the quality of life. 
The identification and evaluation of the processes in the housing market in the economic, social, and spatial dimensions is a key element of urban planning. The development of geographic information systems as well as quantitative and qualitative analytical methods promotes a new approach to evaluations of urban space, where housing resources that meet fundamental human needs play a special role. 
This Special Issue will focus on the extent to which urban planning and management systems address complex and dynamic trends on the housing market. How can urban planning effectively cater to housing needs? Can urban planning improve housing affordability and housing supply? What remedial measures can be implemented to prevent spatial, social, and economic segregation in cities? How and where should new housing estates be planned? Can urban densification be reconciled with a high quality of life?

Prof. Dr. Agnieszka Szczepańska
Dr. Radosław Cellmer
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • urban planning
  • spatial planning
  • housing market
  • housing needs
  • housing demand and supply
  • real-estate value
  • spatial analysis

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Published Papers (12 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 486 KiB  
Article
Macro-Level Factors Shaping Residential Location Choices: Examining the Impacts of Density and Land-Use Mix
by Mohammed M. Gomaa
Land 2023, 12(4), 748; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12040748 - 27 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1472
Abstract
Many published papers have delved into the factors affecting the residential location choices of households using various logit models. Nonetheless, only a few pieces of literature have attempted to examine those associative attributes from a macroscopic view. Thus, this article investigates the factors [...] Read more.
Many published papers have delved into the factors affecting the residential location choices of households using various logit models. Nonetheless, only a few pieces of literature have attempted to examine those associative attributes from a macroscopic view. Thus, this article investigates the factors that influence households’ preference to reside in densely populated locations or regions with a wide variety of land-use types using ordered choice models (ORM). This study proposes three indicators that are reflective of residential areas, namely population density, housing density, and land-use mix index, based on prior research. Population density and housing density are modeled at census block and tract levels to explore households’ sensitivity to different geographical scales. Regarding land use, this research classifies the diversity index into four categories: uniform, moderately diverse, more diverse, and the most diverse. Similarly, the study is predicated on 0.25-mile and 0.5-mile buffer zones. The findings are consistent with earlier research and highlight macro-level issues that influence residential location decisions. As for the residential preference for housing density, significant factors are the structure of households, the number of vehicles per household, and household income. Regarding the residential choices of population density, significant attributes refer to demographic characteristics, household income, and housing types. Concerning the residential choices based on land-use mix, the most influential factors turn out to be the interacting terms between demographics and housing-related index, household income, and housing-related indexes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Planning and Housing Market)
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18 pages, 2803 KiB  
Article
Beyond Homeownership? Examining the Mediating Role of Housing Tenure on Young People’s Subjective Well-Being
by Haitong Mo, Yung Yau and Yuting Liu
Land 2023, 12(3), 678; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12030678 - 14 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1636
Abstract
Young people around the world are facing similar housing challenges, trapped between a costly and unaffordable homeownership sector and an unstable (private) rental sector. China has opted to promote renting as an alternative to homeownership to alleviate the housing difficulties of young people [...] Read more.
Young people around the world are facing similar housing challenges, trapped between a costly and unaffordable homeownership sector and an unstable (private) rental sector. China has opted to promote renting as an alternative to homeownership to alleviate the housing difficulties of young people in big cities. However, the influences of promoting rental housing on the subjective well-being of different groups have not been well understood. Therefore, this study examines the mediating role of housing tenure in the relationship between individual attributes and subjective well-being. The study is based on 1,149 questionnaires conducted on the housing situations of residents in Guangzhou, and 618 samples were extracted for analysis based on the purpose of this study. It is found that individual, marital status, (local/nonlocal) hukou status, and income level have significant indirect effects on subjective well-being, with housing tenure as the mediator. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the influencing mechanisms of subjective well-being associated with housing tenure and human heterogeneity and specifies the key points for future research and policymaking. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Planning and Housing Market)
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22 pages, 3396 KiB  
Article
Why Did the “Missing Middle” Miss the Train? An Actors-In-Systems Exploration of Barriers to Intensified Family Housing in Waterloo Region, Canada
by Dawn Cassandra Parker, Shahab Valaei Sharif and Kaitlin Webber
Land 2023, 12(2), 434; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12020434 - 07 Feb 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1905
Abstract
(1) Background: Missing Middle (MM) housing may be critical to address decreasing housing affordability and to achieve critical density in transit-oriented neighborhoods; however, its production is in decline. We report on a case study of housing development around a new light-rail transit line [...] Read more.
(1) Background: Missing Middle (MM) housing may be critical to address decreasing housing affordability and to achieve critical density in transit-oriented neighborhoods; however, its production is in decline. We report on a case study of housing development around a new light-rail transit line in the Region of Waterloo, Canada, investigating the puzzle of how a residential building boom coincided with decreasing housing affordability. (2) Methods: Following participatory co-creation and communication of background research characterizing housing demand with stakeholder partners, we created a data narrative arguing that MM housing was desired by residents and profitable for developers and then used it to guide semi-structured interviews with planners and real estate industry stakeholders. Based on these interviews, we developed a qualitative system map and causal loop diagrams that demonstrate interactions between key actors (residents, brokers, planners, developers, and investors) as mediated by boundedly rational real estate demand expectations. (3) Results: Our interviews identify multi-faceted barriers, beyond demand perception, to MM housing development. Systems analysis illustrates how high-density, small-unit high-rise development can become locked in, concurrently locking out MM housing. (4) Conclusions: Our research identifies barriers to MM housing supply by articulating the systemic feedbacks between the planning and land/housing market realms and reveals key leverage points, empowering planners to develop policies that catalyze hoped-for housing market supply responses to increase housing affordability. Based on these findings, we suggest targeted interventions: multi-unit base residential zoning, MM site plan typologies, non-profit and co-op financing, unit-mix requirements, pre-build MM condo purchase by municipalities or non-profits, and MM demonstration projects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Planning and Housing Market)
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13 pages, 2085 KiB  
Article
Poorer Regions Consume More Undeveloped but Less High-Quality Land Than Wealthier Regions—A Case Study
by Vlaďka Kirschner, Daniel Franke, Veronika Řezáčová and Tomáš Peltan
Land 2023, 12(1), 113; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12010113 - 29 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1183
Abstract
Despite the efforts of developed countries to protect undeveloped land, development continues to expand beyond urban boundaries. High-quality land needed for food production is often consumed. This study aims to verify possible causes of undeveloped land and high-quality land consumption within regions (NUTS3) [...] Read more.
Despite the efforts of developed countries to protect undeveloped land, development continues to expand beyond urban boundaries. High-quality land needed for food production is often consumed. This study aims to verify possible causes of undeveloped land and high-quality land consumption within regions (NUTS3) using a new approach to building growth monitoring. It investigates residential (RBs) and commercial buildings (retail and industrial buildings, RIBs). The development between 2006 and 2016 in the Czech Republic, a country in Central Europe, is used as a case study. Population growth and gross domestic product per capita (GDP) within regions are considered two potential causes of land consumption; this hypothesis is verified using a linear regression model. Only GDP showed statistically significant results. It correlated negatively with RBs and RBs + RIBs built on undeveloped land and positively with RBs + RIBs and either RBs or RIBs built on high-quality land. Based on the results, we recommend that land protection policies be differentiated according to regional specifics to be more effective. Regions with lower GDPs should obtain more support in protecting undeveloped land against residential development. The protection of high-quality land should be emphasized by supporting residential and commercial development on brownfield sites in regions with higher GDPs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Planning and Housing Market)
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22 pages, 5100 KiB  
Article
Spatial Pattern of the Determinants for the Private Housing Rental Prices in Highly Dense Populated Chinese Cities—Case of Chongqing
by Guiwen Liu, Jiayue Zhao, Hongjuan Wu and Taozhi Zhuang
Land 2022, 11(12), 2299; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11122299 - 14 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1351
Abstract
The private housing rental market has rapidly developed and demonstrated its outstanding contribution to improving affordability for the floating population in China. However, the forming pattern of private housing rental prices (PHRP) remains poorly understood in China’s highly dense populated cities. This study [...] Read more.
The private housing rental market has rapidly developed and demonstrated its outstanding contribution to improving affordability for the floating population in China. However, the forming pattern of private housing rental prices (PHRP) remains poorly understood in China’s highly dense populated cities. This study aims to comprehensively investigate the determinants of PHRP and depict their spatial pattern, considering the diverse functions of different areas within the city. A theoretical framework of the factors that influence PHRP has been developed based on an extensive literate study. Taking Chongqing city as a case, a Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) analysis based on data from Lianjia.com and 58.com was conducted to investigate the spatial pattern of those influencing factors. The PHRP in Chongqing were mainly shaped by the factors of traffic condition and the neighborhood environment. The main findings highlighted that the influence of traffic condition on rental prices is more dominating in the industrial and financial zones, and the neighborhood factors represent spatial heterogeneity in the educational and commercial zones. This study provides a comprehensive examination of the spatial pattern of PHRP’s determinants in highly dense populated Chinese cities, extending the understanding of factors influencing housing rental prices. Practically, it provides scientific and reliable recommendations for the local governments and housing agencies in developing housing properties that consider the needs of the floating population. Moreover, tenants in highly dense populated cities benefit from suggestions about looking for proper accommodation with high value and accessibility in different functional zones of the city. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Planning and Housing Market)
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20 pages, 1003 KiB  
Article
Effect of Housing Support Programs on Residential Satisfaction and the Housing Cost Burden: Analysis of the Effect of Housing Support Programs in Korea Based on Household Attributes
by Saehim Kim, Joonwon Hwang and Myeong-Hun Lee
Land 2022, 11(9), 1392; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11091392 - 24 Aug 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1998
Abstract
Korea is implementing housing support programs such as public rental housing and housing allowances to improve the housing welfare of low-income households. In this study, we empirically analyzed the effects of the public rental housing program and the housing allowance program on residential [...] Read more.
Korea is implementing housing support programs such as public rental housing and housing allowances to improve the housing welfare of low-income households. In this study, we empirically analyzed the effects of the public rental housing program and the housing allowance program on residential satisfaction and the housing cost burden of policy beneficiaries. In accordance with household attributes, we analyzed how the status of using these programs affected each group’s residential satisfaction and housing cost burden. We used the data from the 2020 Korea Housing Survey conducted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. We examined the housing support programs’ effects on each of the following household groups: all households, one-person households, households of newlywed couples, young adult households, and households of the elderly. The status of residing in public rental housing positively affected the residential satisfaction among all households, one-person households, and households of the elderly. It reduced the housing cost burden for all household types. The status of receiving the housing allowance negatively affected the residential satisfaction for all households and increased the housing cost burden for young adult households. We present policy implications for future housing support programs based on the findings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Planning and Housing Market)
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31 pages, 7241 KiB  
Article
Analyzing Spatial Location Preference of Urban Activities with Mode-Dependent Accessibility Using Integrated Land Use–Transport Models
by Asif Raza, Muhammad Safdar, Ming Zhong and John Douglas Hunt
Land 2022, 11(8), 1139; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11081139 - 24 Jul 2022
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2552
Abstract
Accessibility is the ease of reaching opportunities (goods, services, activities, and destinations). Accessibility of desirable locations such as households and commercial locations, is typically scaffolded by land use patterns and transportation infrastructure. It can reflect people’s travel convenience, cities’ viability, sustainability, and mitigate [...] Read more.
Accessibility is the ease of reaching opportunities (goods, services, activities, and destinations). Accessibility of desirable locations such as households and commercial locations, is typically scaffolded by land use patterns and transportation infrastructure. It can reflect people’s travel convenience, cities’ viability, sustainability, and mitigate the negative effects on the environment and public safety. Consequently, it is recognized as a fundamental principle in urban sustainable development policies worldwide. In the literature, most of the studies have used a static or partially dynamic approach with a single mode such as a car or public transportation by using conventional models. These “static” models assume that household locations are static and that transportation supply and opportunities for social practice activities are fixed in time and space, which can lead to biased or even misleading assumptions in accessibility models. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of dynamic spatial accessibility through Mode-Dependent Accessibility (MDA) on the location choice behaviors of urban activities such as households and commercialin the City of Wuhan, China. This study employed the Mode-Dependent Travel Demand Model (M-TDM) to measure the impact of short-term MDA on household and commercial activities for the years 2012 and 2015. Additionally, an integrated spatial economic (ISE) model such as PECAS (Production, Exchange, Consumption, Allocation, System) in order to investigate location preferences of urban activities over space and time. Regarding household and commercial location choice, the ISE modeling results revealed that households and commercial activities are sensitive to MDA, especially using transit. The ISE method predicted that the R2 for household and commercial location choice models was 0.84 to 0.90 for transit-based accessibility, whereas the R2 for logsum-based static models was 0.48 to 0.72. In addition, their findings suggest that highly accessible locations that are well served by auto are more appealing for household and commercial activities. The findings of this study will help urban planners, transportation planners, and policymakers take into account the dynamic nature of short-term MDA when zoning and allocating urban activities and public amenities, instead of using static accessibility. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Planning and Housing Market)
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15 pages, 37439 KiB  
Article
Research on the Measurement Method of Benchmark Price of Rental Housing
by Hao Xi, Lin Tang and Changchun Feng
Land 2022, 11(5), 759; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11050759 - 22 May 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1802
Abstract
China’s rental housing market has just started to develop in recent years. It is relatively imperfect and lacks a clear reference for the pricing of rents, which is not fully transparent. A study on the rent formation mechanism of rental housing has policy [...] Read more.
China’s rental housing market has just started to develop in recent years. It is relatively imperfect and lacks a clear reference for the pricing of rents, which is not fully transparent. A study on the rent formation mechanism of rental housing has policy implications for the construction of a guiding price for the rental housing market and the establishment of a reference basis for the pricing of subsidized housing. Referring to the definition of a benchmark land price, we use data from Beijing to innovatively introduce the concept of benchmark rent. Based on hedonic price theory and the driving factors of benchmark rent, a system of indicators is constructed to explore the mechanism of influencing factors at meso and micro levels on the benchmark rent of market-based rental housing. After LaGrange and robustness tests, it is found that the spatial error model (SEM) is more suitable for benchmark rent determination. We conclude that benchmark rents are affected by spatial relationships caused by spatial heterogeneity and dependency, and that there is significant spatial variation in the factors affecting market-based rental housing benchmark rents. The determination of the benchmark rent can be used as a guiding signal for the market, as a clear signal expectation for the market, government, and tenants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Planning and Housing Market)
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17 pages, 777 KiB  
Article
The Dysfunctional Rental Market in Portugal: A Policy Review
by Luís Mendes
Land 2022, 11(4), 566; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11040566 - 12 Apr 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3625
Abstract
In Portugal, due to the rental market’s inability to respond to the constant mismatch between supply and demand over the course of decades, things have become increasingly residual and dysfunctional within the scope of the homeownership market. Through analysis of various laws and [...] Read more.
In Portugal, due to the rental market’s inability to respond to the constant mismatch between supply and demand over the course of decades, things have become increasingly residual and dysfunctional within the scope of the homeownership market. Through analysis of various laws and legislative changes over the last century, as well as the participant observation acquired by the author’s two-and-a-half years of experience as a stakeholder in the sector, this paper aims to review rental policies in Portugal and the multiple impacts they have had on reproducing various weaknesses in the rental market. The paper concludes with some policy recommendations that advocate how government action is decisive in shaping housing and rental policy, establishing a legal and regulatory framework able to transmit credibility, stability and security to the contractual forms between supply and demand, in keeping with an effective right to housing through affordable renting. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Planning and Housing Market)
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14 pages, 297 KiB  
Article
Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) as an Effective Method of Research into Social Preferences in Urban Space Planning
by Małgorzata Gerus-Gościewska and Dariusz Gościewski
Land 2022, 11(1), 102; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11010102 - 08 Jan 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4278
Abstract
The appearance of urban space is most often determined by planners, urbanists, and officials who fail to consider social preferences in the planning process. According to recent scientific research, spatial design should take into account people’s preferences with regard to its shape, as [...] Read more.
The appearance of urban space is most often determined by planners, urbanists, and officials who fail to consider social preferences in the planning process. According to recent scientific research, spatial design should take into account people’s preferences with regard to its shape, as it is they who are the target audience. Moreover, legal regulations in many countries require the public’s inclusion into the space planning process. This paper outlines the legal status of the issue of social participation in spatial planning and provides an overview of the methods and techniques applied in the research into preferences. The aim of the article is to determine the strength of the relationship between the features adopted for the study using the grey system theory and to investigate the model’s behaviour for varied input data. It also presents the results of a study into the effect of geospatial features on the perception of the sense of security within urban space. The features were extracted using a heuristic method for solving research problems (i.e., brainstorming) and the survey was conducted by the point-scoring method. The survey results were processed by the grey system method according to the grey system theory (GST) of the grey relational analysis (GRA) type to yield a sequence of the strength of dependence between the analysed features. The study was conducted five times, with the order of entering the survey results being changed. The conducted analyses indicated that a change in the order of data from particular surveys applied for calculations resulted in the order of the epsilon coefficients in the significance sequences being changed. The analysis process was modified in order to obtain a stable significance sequence irrespective of the order of entering survey results in the analysis process. The analysis results in the form of a geospatial feature significance sequence provide information as to which of them have the greatest impact on the phenomenon under consideration. The research method can be applied to solve practical problems related to social participation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Planning and Housing Market)
17 pages, 1511 KiB  
Article
Residents’ Demands for Urban Retail: Heterogeneity in Housing Structure Characteristics, Price Quantile, and Space
by Pengyu Ren, Yuanli Li and Kairui You
Land 2021, 10(12), 1321; https://doi.org/10.3390/land10121321 - 01 Dec 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1481
Abstract
A thorough understanding of residents’ demands plays an important role in realizing the rational distribution of urban retail (UR) and promoting the habitability of cities. Unfortunately, these demands for UR are currently under-researched. To solve this problem, this study aims to [...] Read more.
A thorough understanding of residents’ demands plays an important role in realizing the rational distribution of urban retail (UR) and promoting the habitability of cities. Unfortunately, these demands for UR are currently under-researched. To solve this problem, this study aims to quantify the capitalization effect of UR on housing prices and explores the impact of heterogeneity in housing structure characteristics, price quantile, and space on the residents’ demands for UR according to the hedonic price model, quantile regression, and geographically weighted regression in Chengdu. The results of these models show the following: (1) good property management and building sound insulation can reduce the negative influence of UR on residents’ lives; (2) only the owners of low-price houses are willing to pay a premium for UR; and (3) residents’ demands for UR increase from the central area to the peripheral area of Chengdu, and an inverted U-shaped relationship was found between housing prices and the UR level. A comprehensive analysis of the heterogeneity of residents’ demands for UR can provide a reference for planning departments, real-estate developers, and UR owners and promote the sustainable development of UR. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Planning and Housing Market)
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29 pages, 36008 KiB  
Article
Research on the Evaluation of Real Estate Inventory Management in China
by Weiwei Li, Lisheng Weng, Kaixu Zhao, Sidong Zhao and Ping Zhang
Land 2021, 10(12), 1283; https://doi.org/10.3390/land10121283 - 23 Nov 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3965
Abstract
Inventory management not only determines the health of the real estate market development, but also affects the regional economy and the capacity of sustainable social development. In this paper we use the DPSIR framework to integrate multi-dimensional influence factors, such as economic, social, [...] Read more.
Inventory management not only determines the health of the real estate market development, but also affects the regional economy and the capacity of sustainable social development. In this paper we use the DPSIR framework to integrate multi-dimensional influence factors, such as economic, social, and environmental factors, to construct a real estate inventory management performance evaluation and obstacle diagnosis model, and conduct an empirical study on 31 Chinese provinces and cities. The results show that: first, China’s real estate inventory is huge in size, with significant spatial heterogeneity and agglomeration; second, China’s real estate inventory management performance is unsatisfactory and still shows no improvement despite the strong policy intervention of the central and local governments; third, the obstacle factors of real estate inventory management are becoming increasingly diversified and complicated, with great differences among provinces—significantly, Profits of Real Estate Enterprises, Disposable Income of Urban Residents, Financial Revenue, Per Capital GDP, Resident Population, Gross Domestic Product, Total Retail Sales of Social Consumer Goods, Financial Expense, and Loans Balance of Financial Institutes are critical obstacle factors; and fourth, it is suggested that, on the basis of mastering the actual conditions of supply and demand in the real estate market, differentiated and precise response strategies should be formulated by integrating near-term and long-term goals, direct and indirect forces, and administrative and market instruments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Planning and Housing Market)
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