The changing shape of the East Asian housing model

While patterns of housing policy, production and occupation are quite diverse, housing interventions in developed East Asian economies have historically focused on high volume housing output targeted at economically productive, male-headed family households. This focus has been associated with the demandsb of ‘developmental’ states and ‘productivist’ welfare regimes characteristic of the region. Volume and speed of housing construction has been exceptional compared to Europe and North American societies reflecting the abilities of development orientated governments to appropriate land and mobilize the resources of public agencies and private corporations in the supply of new housing. Nonetheless, in recent years there has been evidence of significant reorientations in housing approaches in some contexts, often in harmony with welfare regime shifts and, in some cases, in line with the emergence of a ‘postdevelopmental state’. The objectives of this article are twofold. In the first half we elaborate on various modes of housing found among East Asian nations as a means to assess the viability of a particular model that can be considered characteristic to the region and distinct from those found in advanced Western economies. The objective of the second half is to identify recent developments that have begun to challenge the East Asian housing model. Indeed, the severity of economic cycles, demographic trends - particularly declining marriage and fertility, and increased social ageing - and the manifestation of ‘new social risks’ have begun to test both the viability and sustainability of established housing and policy frameworks.