A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering

Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1990

Due to the rapid urbanization and economic boom during the past three decades, more and more urban households are suffering from high housing costs. Providing affordable housing to the market- disadvantaged groups is a most urgent issue for the Government of Taiwan. Because of the shortage of urban l a nd a nd limited finance , the government has responded to the problem by a public housing development policy. However this public housing development has not produced sufficient results over the years, in terms of quantity, quality and allocation. The purpo se of this study is to r evi ew the public hou s ing programme and policy of the nationa l government by s tudying the existing public hous ing system in Ta iwa n a nd the c omparative experience of Hong Kong a nd Singapore , and then to recommend a n efficient public hous ing system for the urban areas in Ta iwa n. The present study reviews and assesses the urban public housing policy in t hese three countries on the following policy e l e me nts : (1) the institutional framework, (2) measures f or hous ing development, (3) strategy for target group, a nd ( 4 ) manageme nt of housing d eve lopme nt and estates , so as to ide ntify the inefficiencies of exi sting urba n public hous ing policy in Taiwan a nd the recommendations fo r its improvement. The result of t his study s hows that urban public ho using policy i s s u ccessfully imp l emented by a s ing l e functional body in both Hong Kong a nd Singapore, and they are empowered to d eve lop and ma naged the ir public housing est ates in a l arge and economical scal e in the ir new towns. These measures h ave e nabled them to ach ieve a s uccessful result. But the urban public hou s ing po l icy in Taiwa n is impl ement ed in a reverse way which is the main factor of its uns u ccessful outcomes. The recommendations a r e ma de on the four elements mentioned for t h e improvement of urban public housing policy in Taiwan.