Unlike the developmental model in Singapore, public housing in
Taiwan has been neglected overtime by the government in periods of
rapid economic growth. Most public housing units were built for and
sold to the public servants and the people in the military sector
instead of socially and economically disadvantageous people. Nowadays,
public rental housing for disadvantaged people only occupies 0.09% of
the total housing stock. Therefore it could hardly play the role as
social safety net when the Taiwan society experiences economic
fluctuations. At the same time, the skyrocketing price of housing has
made purchasing a housing unit an unreachable dream for young people.
In addition, discrimination in the housing market also leads to the
difficulties in housing searches for disadvantaged people such as
elderly singletons, the disabled, and poor people.
To address this situation, two years ago a movement urging the
government to provide public rental housing emerged. It could be
viewed as a reincarnation of the housing movement in Taiwan from late
1980s to early 1990s. However, this time the appeal of the movement
has changed from government intervention in leveraging housing prices
in the private market to more public housing or social housing for
rental based on people’s housing rights. This talk introduces the
history of the two periods of housing movements in Taiwan, and gives an
overview of the achievements as well as unachieved agenda of the
recent movement for social housing in Taiwan.
For more information contact: fasrda@nus.edu.sg
Venue: FASS, NUS, at the AS7 Shaw Foundation Building, level 6, in room 06-42, the Research Division Seminar Room.
