The Changing Context of Middle-Class Housing in Japan's Major Cities

本研究项目的重点是城市中产阶级家庭住房状况的变化。战后日本的住房制度一直以扩大住房所有权为导向，伴随着经济的蓬勃发展和政府的住房政策，加速了业主自住住房的大规模建设。然而，在过去的二十年里，泡沫经济的兴衰、社会分化的加剧以及住房政策向强调市场在提供和融资住房方面的作用的转变，共同破坏了中产阶级住房所有权的稳定，尤其是在大城市。该研究项目通过对城市中产阶级家庭的问卷调查和统计调查，发现并证明了城市住房所有权的以下趋势：拥有一所房子，过去可以产生可观的资本收益，现在产生大量的资本损失，特别是在二手公寓部门；与婴儿潮一代随着经济高速发展而相对平稳地爬上住房阶梯不同，年轻一代是在后泡沫时期进入劳动力市场的，当时严重的、长期的经济衰退笼罩着整个国家，他们的住房和住房所有权前景现在非常不确定；公共部门的住房措施转变为强调以市场为基础的住房供应，这明显削弱了中产阶级拥有住房的传统条件。

The focus of this research project is on transformations in the housing condition of urban middle-class households. The Japanese housing system in the post-war period has been oriented towards the expansion of home ownership, associated with vigorous economic development and the government's housing policy to accelerate the mass construction of owner-occupied housing. However, over the past two decades, the rise and fall of the bubble economy, the increased fragmentation of society and the shift of housing policy towards accentuating the role of the market in providing and financing housing have combined to destabilize the circumstances surrounding middle class home ownership particularly in major cities.The research project, thorough a questionnaire survey on urban middle class households as well as statistical surveys, has found and demonstrated the following trends in urban home ownership: owning a house, which used to produce considerable capital gains, now generates substantial capital losses particularly on the second-hand condominium sector; unlike the baby-boomer generation which climbed up the housing ladder relatively smoothly along with high-speed economic development, the young generation entered the labor force market during the post-bubble period when the serious, long-standing recession encompassed the country, and their prospects of housing and home ownership are now extraordinary uncertain; transformations in the public sector's housing measures towards an emphasis on market based housing provision have noticeable eroded the traditional condition of middle class home ownership.