In recent decades, Chinese cities have experienced profound social, economic and spatial transformations. In particular, Chinese cities have witnessed the largest housing boom in history and unprecedented housing privatization. This book shows how China's spectacular housing success is not shared by all social groups, with rapidly rising housing inequality, and residential segregation increasingly prevalent in previously homogeneous Chinese cities.

Youqin Huang is Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Planning at the State University of New York at Albany, USA.

Si-ming Li is Chair Professor of Geography and Director of the David C. Lam Institute for East-West Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University.

Part I: Housing Inequality and Residential Differentiation 1. Housing Inequality, Residential Differentiation, and Socio-spatial Stratification: Chinese Cities in the Early 21st Century 2. Residential Change and Housing Inequality in Urban China in Early 21st Century: Analysis of Guangzhou Survey Data 3. Mobility, Housing Inequality and Residential Differentiation in Transitional Urban China: A Case Study of Wuhan 4. Neighborhood Differentiation and Inequality in Nanjing: Implications for Planning a Harmonious Society Part II: Housing for Migrants and the Urban Poor 5. Migration and the Dynamics of Informal Housing in China 6. Housing Access, Sense of Attachment, and Settlement Intention of Rural Migrants in Chinese Cities: Findings from a Twelve-City Migrant Survey 7. Effectiveness, Efficiency and Equity - An Empirical Evaluation of the Cheap Rental Housing System in Beijing, China Part III: Housing for the Middle Class and the Rich 8. The Gated Communities of Châteaux in China: Back to Feudalism? 9. The Imagination of Class and Housing Choices of the Middle Class: Case Studies in Shanghai and Beijing 10. Living the Networked Life in the Commodity Housing Estates: Everyday Use of Online Neighborhood Forums and Community Participation in Urban China Part IV: Neighborhood Governance under Housing Commodification 11. The Contentious Democracy: Homeowners Associations in China through the Lens of Civil Society 12. Managing the Nouveaux Riches: Neighborhood Governance in Upmarket Residential Developments in Shanghai13. Uneven "Right to the City": Theorizing the New Communal Living Space and a New Form of Urban Politics in China