residential property management(1)

ResidentialpropertymanagementinChina:acasestudyofEnjili,BeijingLANYUANLIM*andSUNSHENGHANSchoolofBuildingandRealEstate,NationalUniversityofSingapore,10KentRidgeCrescent,Singapore119260Received27October1998Revised20April1999Accepted1July1999SummaryChina’seconomicreformhasbredarapidlyexpandingrealestatesector,inwhichresidentialpropertymanagementisanindispensablepart.Thisarticleseekstoexploretheadministrativeset-up,enterprisestructure,managementregulationsandoperationalfocusofresidentialpropertymanagementinChinabyusingacasestudy(theEnjiliResidentialDistrict)inBeijing.Datawerecollectedinthreeeldreconnaissancetrips,duringwhichinterviewswereconductedwithgovernmentofcials,managementstaffandtheresidents.ItisfoundthatpropertymanagementinChinaisanewconcepttobothresidentsandmanagementstaff.Theestablishmentandoperationofmarket-orientatedmanagementrmsisasignicantprogressfromthetraditionalmanagementapproachundertheplannedeconomy.Residentialpropertymanagementrmstintotheexistingadministrativesystembyhavingadualfunctiontoservetheinterestsofbothgovernmentandtheindependentrm.Itremainsinterestingtoseehowpropertymanagementrmscanworkwithgovernmentofcestosatisfytheneedsofbothparties.Keywords:propertymanagement,realestateindustry,economictransition,China,casestudy1.IntroductionPropertymanagementinChinaisarelativelyneweldofservicegrowingoutfromtheconcurrenteconomictransition.Since1978,China,undertheleadershipofDengXiaoping,hasintroducedaseriesofpoliciesandmeasurestoreformthelandandhousingsystems.Thecollective/statelandtenuresystemwasreformedbyintroducingresponsibil-itysystemsintheruralareas,followedbytheestablishmentofabasicstateadministrativesystemonland,andfurtherprogressedtowardsalandmarket(Dowall,1993;WorldBank,1993;Quetal.,1995).HousingreformwasexperimentedinselectedcitiesandthenimplementedalloverChinatoconverturbanhousingfromameritgoodstoacommodity(WorldBank,1992;Chen,1996;WangandMurie,1996).HandinhandwiththelandandhousingreformsweredevelopmentsinChina’slegalandnancialsystems,asnewlawsandregulationswereendorsedwhilstwagelevelsandnancingruleswereadjustedtosupportamarket-orientatedlandandhousingsector(Walker,1991;Lim,1995;Chen,*Authortowhomallcorrespondenceshouldbeaddressed.JournalofPropertyResearchISSN0959-9916print/ISSN1466-4453online©2000Taylor&FrancisLtdJournalofPropertyResearch,2000,17(1)59–731996).Asaresult,arealestatemarket,includingpropertydevelopment,marketingandmanagement,hasevolved(WalkerandLi,1994;Han,1998).China’sveryrstpropertymanagementcompanywasestablishedinShenzhen,aSpecialEconomicZoneneartoHongKong,in1981(Lietal.,1997).Othercities,suchasGuangzhou,ShanghaiandChangzhou,whichwerepioneersinreformingtheeconomicorhousingsystems,welcomedtheideaandintroducedthepracticeofpropertymanagementinthe1980s.Bytheearly1990s,whenthecentralgovernmentstartedanexperimentalprojectonresidentialpropertymanagementalloverthecountry,ShenzhenandGuangzhoudemonstratedtheirleadingrolesinresidentialpropertymanagementbyprovidingmanagementmodels.Indeed,WuyangResidentialDistrictinGuangzhouisawell-publicizedmodelforitssoundpropertymanagementpractice(XuandFang,1996).In1994,propertymanagementassociationswererstestablishedintwoSpecialEconomicZones(ShenzhenandHainan)andinShanghaiandGuangzhou.Whilethesepropertymanagementassociationsarelandmarksfortheevolutionofpropertymanage-mentinChina,thelegaldocumententitled‘AdministrationMethodsforNewly-BuiltUrbanResidentialDistricts’whichwasendorsedbytheMinistryofConstruction,providedfurthergroundingforthedevelopmentofpropertymanagementasaeldofservice.Propermanagementofresidentialpropertiescontributesnotonlytomaintainingahighvalueofproperties,butalsototheformationofcorporateidentity(CI)(Lietal.,1997;Y.P.Li,1997).Todate,thereareapproximately7000propertymanagementrms,withoveronemillionstaffandworkersestablishedin27Chineseprovinces(Dagongbao,6June1998).ResearchersonthenewlyemergedrealestatemarketinChinahaveplacedlittleemphasisonresidentialpropertymanagement,orpropertymanagementingeneral,atall.MajoraspectsofChina’srealestatemarketthatreceivedattentionintoday’sliteratureincludethenewlegalframeworkanditsimplications,stagesoflandandhousingreforms,pricingoflandandhousing,governmentinterventiononthemarket,andregionalvariationsofrealestatedevelopment(Tang,1989;Tolley,1991;Lim,1995;Quetal.,1995;WangandMurie,1996;L.H.Li,1997;Han,1998).Thoughlittleornoeffortsweregiventopropertymanagementdirectly,researchndingsonthevariousaspectsofChina’srealestaterevealthatsocialistprinciples,ideologiesandmarketmechanismsco-existandworktogetheronrealestateoperations(Quetal.,1995;WangandMurie,1996;WongandHan,1998).Indeed,aduallandmarketexistsinChina,whichmakesitdifcultforanyonetoforecastpricesoflandandhousingbyusingpuremarket-orientatedeconomicmodels(Zhu,1994;LiandWalker,1996;WuandYeh,1997).Questionsmayberaisedastohowdoresidentialpropertymanagementcompaniestintothetransitionaleconomy?Howaretheydifferentfrompropertymanagementundertheplannedeconomy?Whataretherulesthatregulatetheiroperations?Whataretheissuesandproblemsinvolvedin