Presenter: A/P Yi-Ling Chen, Associate Professor, Global and Area Studies and Geography, University of Wyoming
Time: 4pm to 5:30pm
Venue: AS7 Seminar Room 01-17, Shaw Foundation Building, National University of Singapore, 5 Arts Link, Singapore 117570

Abstract:
Since 2010, the strong social rental housing movement has brought housing to the front of social struggles in Taiwan. Bottom-up forces pushed the government to play a bigger role in the housing sector. The ruling party, the Democratic Progressive Party, has promised to increase the ratio of social rental housing. The processes to start social rental housing from ground zero raised several questions:

1.Who should be the major provider of social rental housing – the government, the private sector, tenant organizations, or public corporations?

2.Where is the money to come from?

3.Who has priority?  Should social housing only be offered to low-income people or should it be extended to cover a mixed-income population?

4.How can social acceptance of social rental housing be increased in a predominantly home owner society?

5.What experiences and lessons have Taiwan learned from The Netherlands, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore?

The construction of social housing is an experiment with a lot of uncertainties about whether social housing is a good solution. At this seminar, we will explore how the neglect of housing data and research worsens these uncertainties.

Presenter’s profile:
Yi-Ling Chen is an associate professor in Global & Area Studies and Geography at the University of Wyoming. Her research interest is about the interaction of urban planning and social change, focusing on urban social movements, particularly those concerning housing access. She published works on housing, gender, urban movements, and regional development in Taiwan. She is editing a book on contesting urban space in East Asia (Palgrave MacMillan) and working on a comparative study on the formation of social rental housing in East Asia, Europe and the USA.

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

Registration closes on Wednesday, 11 Aug 2017.
Seats are on a first-come, first-served basis. All are welcome.
For enquiries, please contact Ms Jess Tan