The emergence of affluence in Beijing: Residential social stratification in China's capital city

Since 1987, the Chinese government has begun to liberalize its approach to land markets, allowing for the development of commercial residential housin g and sparking greater distinctions in housing quality. At the same time, t here have been growing income differentials among Beijing's residents. This paper discusses how Beijing's new urban affluent have begun to take advant age of greater housing choices. It reports on a survey conducted in 1997 th at uncovers the occupational characteristics, consumption patterns, housing characteristics, and residential locations of affluent residents. The resu lts indicate that Beijing's new urban affluent are beginning to share some of the consumption features of middle-class Westerners. At the same time, s ocial segregation is still nascent in Beijing. There is now only a sprinkli ng of affluent neighborhoods in the city, and a slight majority of wealthie r respondents continue to live in public housing. Moreover, few are able to afford detached single-family housing or a private automobile. The continu ation of current vends could both deepen and broaden social segregation in Beijing, as class divisions come to be manifested in separate neighborhoods .