Abstract

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In the Yangtze River Delta area, the mobile population is increasing due to the advance development of high-speed trains and the government’s plan to develop the area as a holistic metropolis zone. As the mobile population is growing, the demand for transient housing is increasing accordingly. The current mainstream choices range from the rental apartments, long-term rent apartment/youth communities / serviced apartments, and company-provided temporary dorms. However, none of these housing options are optimal for the mobile population with less stability. Fortunately, there’s an incentive to develop short-term housing products from the market and the government has the capacity to help improve the situation through policy implementation.

Both the public and the private realm have started to take action to address the housing problem of the mobile population. In 2017, eight departments for the government released Notice on Accelerating the Development of Rental Housing Market in Medium and Large Cities with Population In-Flow, followed by a series of policies promoting rental markets in around 50 provinces. Meanwhile, the new co-living model, which treats housing as a product instead of a commodity, emerged on the market, including YOU+ Youth Community, Mofang, etc.

The paper argues that the policy aims to address the long-term migrant population, but more attention should be paid to the housing of the less stable mobile population because the problem is acute, and the policy provides a good opportunity for the growth of shorter-term housing products.