Evolutions of German Urban Housing Problems and Policy Interventions

The current research on the German urban housing policy interventions in China has seldom taken into account the combined effects of urbanization and socio-cultural traditions in Germany. The historical sociology research on German housing problems and policy actions shows that the housing problems and housing policy actions emerged in the early urbanization stage; in the middle urbanization stage, housing problems expanded and housing public policy actions dominated; in the late urbanization stage, housing social policy actions began to play a critical role. Only in the post-urbanization stage after World War II did German finally eradicate the problem of housing shortage and formed the regime of social housing. The German case embodies "the industrialization logic" and "the institutionalization logic" of evolutions of housing problems and the housing policy action during urbanization, which is an important inspiration for the housing problem in modern China.