Opportunities for open building to support China's urban housing production operating on a market model

As China's economy continues to grow, the problem of meeting urban residents' diverse housing requirements has become more and more important for government, housing developers, and architects. In western countries, especially in European countries and Japan, the "open building" concept is increasingly recognized as an alternative to the conventional approach in the housing sector, and many projects have been built. This thesis asks whether changing the housing process in the market-based urban housing production system in China can provide new and profitable opportunities for those business types which already set the stage for open building implementation in selected parts of the Chinese urban housing market.The thesis first studies China's urban housing development history and the current housing market. The changing roles of housing consumers and the characteristics of the market-based urban housing production system indicate that the open building process might be useful at least in some parts of the Chinese housing market.The second focus of this thesis is a study of a townhouse, one of four popular housing types in China. A townhouse in the market is chosen as a reference to demonstrate the principles of the open building process, showing the design and technical possibilities for this method in that context.The third focus is the study of an existing decoration company with successful experience in residential projects and an attempt to show that the open building approach is a possible outgrowth of an already operating process.In conclusion, the thesis seeks to demonstrate that open building will not only benefit companies and housing consumers in China's urban housing sector, but also promote the development of sustainability in the residential sector.Department of ArchitectureThesis (M. Arch.