外文翻译房屋政策福利与经济发展之间的联系节选.docx

外文翻译房屋政策福利与经济发展之间的联系节选.docx

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外文翻译房屋政策福利与经济发展之间的联系节选

1900单词，10500英文字符，2800汉字

出处：

WeesepJV.Housingpolicy–thelinkbetweenwelfareandeconomicdevelopment[J].JournalofHousingandtheBuiltEnvironment,2000,15

（2）:

165-181.

原文：

Housingpolicy

——thelinkbetweenwelfareandeconomicdevelopment

1.Introduction

TheexpansionofthehousingstockhasbeenoneofthemostvisiblechangesinEuropeancitiesinrecentdecades;newhomesandnewresidentialareasdominatemanyoftheurbanlandscapes.Theincreaseinthenumberofhomesreflectsthedevelopmentoftheeconomyandthesteadilyrisinglevelofaffluence，aswellastheso-calledseconddemographictransitionthathasresultedinanunprecedentedgrowthofthenumberofhouseholds.Thisincreasereadilytranslatedintodemandforhousing.InsomecountriesespeciallythoseinNorthwesternEuropethedemographicchangescameearlierthanelsewhere;therearealsosignificantvariationsinthepolicyresponses，dependingonnationalculturesandpoliticaltraditions，aswellasonthevagariesofthedevelopmentofthenationaleconomies.Butwhereverstateregulationadoptedsomevariantofthewelfare-statemodel，housinghasbeenamajorpolicyingredient.Over60percentofthecurrenthousingstockinNorthwesternEuropewasbuiltafter1945（FeddesandDieleman，1996）.Inoneformoranother，muchofthisconstructionhasbeensubsidized，andthehugeamountofmoneythisrequiredlargelyaccountsforthefactthathomebuildingprogramsandtheirdifferentiationremainedhighonthepoliticalagenda.

2.Changingmodesofregulation

InNorthwesternEurope，housinghaslongbeenconsideredcrucialtothewellbeingofnations.Consequently，theprovisionofaffordablehousingofgoodqualityenjoyedhighpriority.Theextenttowhichthatpolicyagendahasbeenputintopracticeisvisibleinthecompositionofthehousingstockandistangibleintheavailabilityofhousingsubsidies.Becausehousingmarketregulationwasmeanttoensurefairaccessatareasonableprice，ithasfavoredlowincomegroups.Thus，socialhousingaccountedforoverhalfofallnewconstructioninSwedenandtheNetherlandsafter1950.Inbothcountriesaselsewhereresidentialconstructioncostswereloweredbysubsidies，whilehousingexpensesweremadebearablebyhousingallowances.Forthosewhodonotqualifyforsuchdirectbenefits，therearetaxbreaksthatreducehousingcosts.Inadditiontofiscalsubsidies，manyEuropeancountriesspendhugesumsondirecthousingsubsidies;inSwedenandintheNetherlands，thesesubsidiesamountedtomorethantwopercentoftheirGrossNationalProductin1985（FeddesandDieleman，1996）.

3.Characteristicsoftheneweconomy

ThepopulationofEuropeancitieshasalsobecomeincreasinglydiversified.Duringthepastfewdecades，longevity，affluence，women’semancipation，andothersocioculturaldevelopmentshaveledtoanincreaseinthenumberoftheelderly，ariseindivorcerates，adropinbirthrates，a（relative）declineinthenumberoffamilieswithchildren，andaconcomitantincreaseinthenumberofsinglepersonsandtwo-personhouseholds.Demographicchangealtersthesociodemographicprofileofthesittingpopulationanditaffectsthepatternsofpopulationdistributionandmigration（Champion,1994）.Consequently，urbanpopulationseverywhereexhibitagrowingvariationinhouseholdsize，householdcomposition，andlifestyle;theyinclude‘urbanvillagers’aswellas‘cosmopolitans’.InNorthernEurope，high-incomehouseholdstendedtoprefersuburbanlifestyles.Butthese‘careerists’and‘consumers’（Bell，1968）werebackontheurbanhousingmarketinthe1980sand1990s.Singleworkingpersonsanddualcareerhouseholdsprefertoliveclosetotheirplaceofworkinthecitiestotakeadvantageofthewidevarietyoffacilitiesandservicesnearby.Butevenamongthesegroups，therearegrowingnumberswithapreferenceforsinglefamilyhomesinsuburbanareas（VanKempenetal.，1994）.Allthesediversetrendsturnthecitiesintointricateandevershiftingsocialkaleidoscopes.

4.Housingasacompetitiveadvantageintheneweconomy

Economicgeographytreatslocationsasproductionenvironments，comprisingalltheexternalconditionsthataffectthefunctioningofafirm.Someofthesearecloselytiedtotheproductionprocessitself，offeringtheinputsthatdetermineprofitability.Inthenewglobalserviceeconomy，suchinputsarewidelyavailable:

humancapitalcanbecreatedlocally，whileotherinputscanbemovedcheaplytoanysite.

Severalcruciallocationfactorsappeartobelargelybeyondthereachofpolicy，whichmeansthatthesuccessofinterventionmustberelatedtosecondaryfactors.Becausemostplacesnowmeetthebasicrequirementsoffirms，othercharacteristicswilltiltthescales.Thoughthesefactorsmaybeunrelatedtotherequirementsoftheproductionprocessitself，theystillcount，albeitinlesstangibleways.Thecitiesthatweresuccessfullyrestructuredofferedtheprivatesectorsecondaryyetsignificantassets，suchastheonesmentionedinthevignetteatthebeginningofthispaper.Goodhousingandattractiveresidentialenvironmentsarenottheleastoftheseassets（Parkinsonetal.，1992）.

5.Housingandtheeconomy

Mostcitiesofferawiderangeofhousingwithrespecttosize，price，type，andamenities.Housingismorethanshelter.Italsoprovidestheoccupantswithanopportunitytocultivateadesiredlifestyle.Itslocationdeterminesopportunitiesforworkandaccesstoservicesandfacilities.Manypeoplearesensitivetothephysicalandsocialcharacteristicsofaresidentialenvironmentwhentheychooseaplacetolive.Therocketing-upofcommercialhousingstandardsfurtherdepriveslow-incomehouseholdsofaccesstohousingviathemarket.Thisleadstotheredefinitionofthestate’sroleinhousingprovision,withanincreasingfocusonhelpinglow-incomegroupsinsociety.

Theneighborhoodinfluencesthequalityoflifeandthesocialstatusoftheresidents.Neighborhoodsarealsoimportantasframeworksforsocialinteraction;somepeoplethereforepreferthelivelinessofmixedneighborhoods，otherstheprotectionofliving‘amongtheirownkind’.Asurbanpopulationsbecomeincreasinglydiversified，morepeopleseektoprotectthemselvesfromconflictualsituationsbywithdrawingintotheprivacyofcloseknitcommunities，withorwithoutgatestolocktherestofsocietyout.Thedegreeofresidentialsegregationsaysagreatdealaboutthecharacterofasociety.

Thepreliminaryoutcomesoftheresearchsupporttheassumptionthathousingandpropertyingeneralcaninfluencethecompetitivenessofcitiesthroughdirectandindirecteffects.Forinstance，migrationdecisionsofindividualsbasedonthestrengthoftheirpositioninthehousingmarketaffecttheavailabilityofskillsincities，whichinturnaffectproductivityandunitlaborcosts.Theseeffectsarereinforcedbytheimpactofhousingoncommutingpatterns.Theauthorsofthereportunderlinethefactthatcumulativecausationcanleadtofurtherdivergencebetweenpartsofurbanareas.Buttheyalsobelievethatthetrendscanbereversed.Theremediationoftheurbanenvironmentalconditionsthathaveledtopopulationandjoblossescanhaveastrongcumulativeeffectovertime.

6.Housingandsocialequity

Howandwhyhigh-densitylivinghasstartedoutastheprovisionofbasichousingneedsandhas，overtime，evolvedintoasophisticatedpoliticalandsocialengineeringprocessassociatedwithamodelofsustainablehousingmeritsfurtherinvestigation.Economicdevelopmentcreatespolicydilemmas.Aparticularlycompellingonefortoday’scitiesresultsfromtheirongoingpushforeconomictransformation.Localgovernmentsreacttothechangingrealityoftheneweconomybypromotingeconomicrestructuring.Theirpoliciesareintendedtoyieldbenefitsforthelocalpopulation.Buttheharderthecitiespushtotransformtheireconomy，themoresocialinequalityislikelytoresult.Then，thecitieshavetodealwithsocialgroupsthatareoftenindirectcompetitionforspaceinthecityThatconflictwillbeinthewayofreachingbroadagreementonthemostlikelycourseforaction.Thepolicydilemmafacingthecitiesisthattheywanttogrow，butwithoutgrowingpains.

7.Conclusions

Inanysociety，housingitspopulationisacomplexandmulti-facetedissue.Intheimplementationofhousingpolicies，sufficientlandandfundingalonecannotguaranteesuccess.InSingapore，carefulmatchingofadministrativeandtechnicalcapacitytothescaleoftheprogramme，settingandimplementingsocialandenvironmentalobjectivesandmeasuresaswellaslinkingthemwithviableeconomicoperationsareneededtoachievesustainablehousingdevelopmentinthreedimensions:

social，economicandenvironmental.

Withthelegislativeprovisions，apubliclandbankhasbeenbuiltupforcomprehensiveandcohesivedevelopment.Thishasbeensupportedbyanothermechanism–theCentralProvidentFund，whichhasprovedinstrumentalinrealisingover85percentofhomeownership.Thecomprehensiveandintegratednewtownplanninganddevelopmentprocesshasprovidedatotalenvironmentforhome，work，andplayintandemwiththesustainedeconomicgrowthoverthelastfourdecades.Thoughsustainablepublichousinghasneverbeenpubliclyclaimed，thewaysinwhichstrongandcontinuousgovernmentalcommitmentshavebeenactedupon，andinwhichpublichousinghasevolvedtomeetrisingaspirationsareamanifestationofsustainabledevelopment.

Wherehousingcompeteswithotherpolicyfieldsforlimitedresources，housingofficialsareoftencalledupontodemonstratethebenefitsofinvest-mentinhousing.Atpresent，localauthoritiesseemtobepreoccupiedwiththetaskofrevitalizingandrestructuringthelocaleconomy.Theyhavelessi