Join the Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics as we host Lan Deng, professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Michigan. She has been studying housing and real estate development in both China and the U.S. Her research examines the different types of interventions the two countries have developed to provide decent housing and quality neighborhoods for their residents. Professor Deng is the North American editor for the international journal Housing Studies. She is also a co-founder of the Collective for Equitable Housing initiative at the University of Michigan. Professor Deng holds a PhD in city and regional planning from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s and bachelor’s of science from Peking University, China.

Abstract: “Housing is a major source of inequality. While extensive research exists on housing market outcomes like affordability and wealth disparities, studies on how housing is produced are limited. Much of the existing work focuses on regulatory barriers to development. Few have examined the role of the homebuilding industry in shaping housing market outcomes. This gap largely stems from a long-held assumption in housing economics: that homebuilding is a highly competitive sector that, if left alone, will produce whatever the market demands. As a result, the industry is often viewed as a passive actor in urban development process.

This study challenges this assumption. We argue that the structure and behaviors of the real estate development industry play important roles in shaping housing market outcomes. This is especially salient in China, where the industry has become highly concentrated, with major developers controlling an increasing share of national housing production. Using mixed methods, this study examines the dynamics driving these structural changes in the Chinese real estate development industry, with a particular focus on how these changes have affected local housing production. Our findings reveal the changing nature of real estate development, how it has amplified risks in Chinese housing markets and contributed to the widening of regional inequality.”