Analysis of spanish social housing policies in the last 16 years and preliminary notes on the applicability of similar solutions to Ho Chi Minh City

Abstract

With the increasing inflow of new citizens coming to live in Ho Chi Minh City from the countryside or smaller cities, the still low incomes of most of the existing population and the rapid expansion of the urban area, a solid additional supply of social housing at a more reasonable price to underprivileged people - both residents and immigrants - in Ho Chi Minh City is a must. Social housing policies to adopt have to take into account many factors in order to meet the real demand in both quantity and quality. They should contain the public budget expense and procure the involvement of private developers. In the context of a fast growing city with limited infrastructure, a large number of buildings in need of rehabilitation, and subject to short cycles of high and low sales periods, the steps have to be carefully analysed. The authors focus on understanding social housing policies that have been successfully implemented in Spain over the last 16 years and the results of solutions adopted as circumstances have changed quickly in the country. Despite differences between Spain and Vietnam, some similarities in the socio-economic environment have been found after comparing the fluctuating conditions of the Spanish housing development in the first period with those of Ho Chi Minh City today. The conclusions drawn from Spain have been extrapolated and may be useful to the specificities of Ho Chi Minh City, resulting in a number of recommendations of different solutions for social housing and highlighting the advantages (to learn and apply) and disadvantages (to tackle).

Article history: Received 13 March 2018, Revised 17 April 2018, Accepted 27 April 2018