The Housing Boom 1978–90

Abstract

With the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976 and the death of Mao Zedong, the Chinese government began to implement a programme – the ‘Four Modernizations’. Calls were made for greater ‘self-reliance’ in agriculture, the upgrading of key sectors in industry, the revitalization of technology and science and the rationalization of the armed forces. The exact meaning and contents of this approach were not clear until the return of Deng Xiaoping to power. In December 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the Xlth Chinese Communist Central Committee initiated several new developments. Economic reform in the rural areas, replacing the collective management of communes by a family based ‘responsibility’ system, contributed to the revival of agriculture in the early 1980s. The restitution of small businesses, and a shift from productive investment (‘accumulation’) to non-productive investment (‘consumption’ or social investment) had important consequences for cities and for urban housing development.