Housing problems in the public housing sector of Macau: an analysis of urban planning and land issues

Abstract

The history of public housing in Macau started in 1928. Yet, the performance level of the public housing sector is relatively lower compared to the nearby cities, whereas their public housing sectors were commenced at a later stage. The return of sovereignty of Macau in 1999 becomes the major turning point of the city. Since then, the economic landscape of the city has dramatically changed by the liberalization of the gaming industry in 2002. The vibrant economy has directly led to an upsurge of the real estate market, resulting an unaffordable private housing market. In addition, the city has also initiated the demand of more public housing by the local residents. With the sudden increase in the demand of more public housing units, the government has decided to launch the “19,000 Public Housing Units” Programme. With this phenomenon recently occurred in Macau, it will be worth visiting the current performance level of the public housing sector in Macau; aiming to find out if the public housing sector has met the expectations of different stakeholders, with quantity, quality and affordability as the assessment criteria. Negative results have been shown while assessing the criteria of quantity and quality and a positive result has been reflected for affordability. After knowing the weaknesses of the public housing sector, it will be worth looking into the possible factors influencing its performance with land supply and urban planning as the critical components. Recommendations to improve the performance of the public housing sector through better land and planning policies have been established to conclude this dissertation.