Evolution of affordable housing estates in Guangzhou: a social sustainability perspective

Abstract

The social sustainability performance of residential communities in China is still an under-researched area. This paper aims to construct a conceptual framework for evaluating the social sustainability performance of affordable housing estates (AHEs) in Guangzhou for furnishing recommendations to enhance residential planning to make AHEs more social sustainable. Initially, the evolution and the social issues of Guangzhou’s AHEs are discussed. It then reviews the literature on social sustainability. A model is built for examining the social sustainability performance of Guangzhou’s AHEs. It then constructs a framework to investigate the underlying forces and processes influencing the planning of AHEs. This paper argues that given the peculiar issues associated with the reforms of the land and housing systems in China, improvements in the planning of residential communities for enhancing social sustainability must be based on an in-depth and critical understanding of the forces and processes underlying the planning system and planning practices.