A Comparative Review of the Affordable Housing Policies in China and the United States: Divergent Paths to Convergent Goals

The international comparison of affordable housing policies has attracted increasing attention, because it can assist countries in making housing strategies tailored to their specific contexts. Both China and the United States have made a wide range of affordable housing policies, making it essential to compare the related policies in these two countries. Although numerous studies have explored various specific aspects of their affordable housing policies, systematic international comparisons remain scarce. To narrow this research gap, this paper briefly compares the affordable housing policies of China and the United States. After introducing the evolution of their affordable housing policies, this paper proposes a comparative framework including three components: subsidy approach, tenure structure, and beneficiary group. This paper finds that the two countries differ in the three components due to institutional arrangements, as well as highlights their similarities such as promoting fair housing. This paper suggests that countries should make affordable housing policies based on their specific political and socioeconomic contexts. This paper can provide a snapshot of the big picture of affordable housing policies in two countries and can inspire researchers to delve deeper into the details.