Legal title, tenure security, and investment-An empirical study in Beijing

Small property rights (SPR) housing is an informal way to provide housing for residents in Chinese cities. In this paper, we examine the institutional framework and development of SPR properties in China. Using survey data collected in Beijing, we investigate perceived tenure security and the relationship between legal title and investment in home improvements. We consider both the importance and the limitations of the legal dimension, as well as de facto situations of urban land uses, in order to gain a better understanding of property rights and urban development issues. Our results reveal that the characteristics of buildings and residents in SPR communities are not much different from those of commercial housing properties. The residents have a fairly high degree of tenure security even when their properties are not formally recognized by the state. Nevertheless, our results indicate that the absence of a legal title is effective to discourage the owners of SPR housing properties to invest in their properties.Environmental StudiesUrban StudiesSSCI0ARTICLElanlanwa@usc.edu81117-11382