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Real estate development and investment in China has become a strategy rather than an investment opportunity for most of the international investors. However, given the relatively short period of time in the development of the real estate market in China, there are still a lot of deficiencies in the market. One of these is the difficulty in establishing values for real estate assets. The other is the complication of the development procedures which affects property investment analysis. Attempts to examine the problems in carrying out development analysis in this market by analysing a joint venture development in Beijing.

This paper aims to examine the influence of physical housing environments on the learning potential of children. The authors argue for housing design which is attentive to the need for open but personal space with “sufficient physical partitions”.

The research draws on an empirical study of students in two randomly selected Hong Kong secondary schools. The approach includes the use of multiple regression analysis to test the correlation between academic performance and a set of environmental attributes.

Housing design, aspect and size of housing are significant. Academic performance is not dependent on tenure type and this is partly related to mixed tenure, close proximity of differing socio‐economic neighborhoods and the sharing of social capital to provide equal opportunity. However, densely developed high housing is not desirable for children's academic development.

The location of Hong Kong provides a very specific combination of small land mass, a history of high rise living and a social housing sector and the need to optimize physical space for social ends. Home ownership does not play a role of a stabilizer for children, as observed in other places.

This paper prompts a reassessment, by housing providers and commissioners, of the link between housing types and long term educational opportunities and the need to devise appropriate partnerships to ensure that housing adds to academic performance rather than undermine it.

The study of the effects of high rise high density housing on children's learning is underdeveloped and should be reassessed in markets, such as that in the UK, where use of the private rented sector is increasingly used to house families who may in the past have been housed directly by the State.

This research attempts to apply quantitative techniques to provide evidence to policy makers that can be replicated in other housing contexts.

This paper aims at examining the emergence of the current structure of the real estate agency businesses in Beijing in the age of information technology.

The study utilises the analytical framework developed under the Grounded Theory model by coding the interview results with six major real estate agencies in Beijing.

The model explains the metamorphosis development of a new sector of service agents in the society which itself is undergoing colossal changes in the socio‐economic system. The analysis shows that the impact of information technology does not pose a threat to these agents in Beijing in various circles, but works to increase the competitive advantages inducing more collaboration and market innovations.

The research is limited to the city of Beijing only and generalisation of the conclusion from the analysis needs to be qualified carefully for other cities in China, or even other countries.

The advent of information technology, especially in the last decade has set the momentum for changes in various sectors of our society. However, the impact is not felt evenly on each of these sectors in the society. The service industry is a typical example where a wide spectrum of sub‐sectors exists, ranging from close personal services such as hairdressing to information selling. The degree of impact from the new era of information revolution varies with the nature of each sub‐sector.

The development of the real estate market in China has been well‐documented, but one of the most interesting, yet chaotic issues in this market has not been fully covered. It is the problems and opportunities arising from the needs for the management of existing properties. Supply of prime office buildings in the major cities in China has been unprecedented owing to the strong demand from local and overseas companies. To preserve the investment value of the building, there is a great need for good management. However, those who have worked in a socialist country will understand that service industry is always the weakest point of the economy. It is, nevertheless, exactly for this reason that there is a great opportunity for established property management companies to expand their service not only in property management but also in the training of the new generation of local property managers in this potential market.

The purpose of this paper is to study the major pull factors on residents' attachment to their own housing community. This examination will lead to better understanding of consumer behavior in the housing market.

Data were collected through a questionnaire survey and examination of the data was conducted by the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), which was supplemented by multiple regression analysis.

It was found that two major factors determine community attachment and hence housing choice. Safety of community determines residents' attachment to their own housing community. Sense of belonging affects residents' willingness to stay. It implies that residents do have strong perception of what the image of their own community is like, and positive management of community can enhance such image and therefore the sense of belonging.

The database used is relatively small.

Neighborhood attachment has been well‐researched, but not much has been done in Hong Kong where most housing communities are high rise‐high density. An understanding of the factors pulling residents' attachment towards certain housing community will provide more insight into housing choice decision making.

Privatisation of services from the public sector is topical currently mainly because of the potential savings and efficiency to be gained. In the aspect of property management, the Hong Kong Housing Authority owns more than 600,000 units of public housing flats and the requirement for good and efficient property management services is enormous. The current policy of privatising these services to the private management agents has proved to be a correct direction in terms of retaining the growth of the public sector, and also improving the level of services to the tenants. While the privatisation scheme might bring in more opportunities for growth of the property management companies in the private sector, it is more important for the government to forge a proper transitional arrangement to switch to full private management in order not to endanger the already low morale in the public sector.

This paper sets out to examine the inflation‐hedging ability of housing properties in Shanghai.

This paper examines both the short‐term and long‐term hedging characteristics of Shanghai residential properties against three types of inflation: actual, expected, and unexpected in the test period of 1997‐2005 by using the OLS model. Two methods, the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) and the Hedrick‐Prescott Filter, are used to estimate the expected inflation.

The results show that, while the Shanghai housing property market does not provide a hedge against actual expected and unexpected inflation during the period, a positive real rate of return is reported in all cases.

Data limitations are due to lack of complete market transaction records and it is necessary to rely on property indices produced by the private‐sector firms as a proxy for market movements.

The paper shows that government policy in this market is still a dominant factor affecting the rate of return and it has therefore implications for the construction of an efficient investment portfolio by institutional investors.

The purpose of this paper is to examine land price changes in Beijing 1993‐2004. Examination of attributes of land price changes seeks to illustrate whether this market is overshadowed by government regulations and controls leading to immature development and uncertainties.

Land price changes in Beijing within the study period are examined by statistical analyses as well as spatial observations using a GIS platform.

Land prices in Beijing are influenced by common market indicators such as GDP growth and investment, although market transactions of land in this city are not entirely open and the so‐called market prices are largely price levels agreed between the private developer and the authority under private treaty grant, instead of open auction or tender.

The analyses of market land prices in Beijing in this paper show, however, that land prices do follow generally market principles and the highest and best use principle is more or less observed.

The paper shows that it is possible for a market mechanism to be established as long as the authority is resolved to achieve a steady reform progress in the urban land use system; however the basic conditions of a market mechanism may not be completely ready.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the feasibility of adopting a market‐based land use model, Transfer of Development Rights (TDR), which is very popular in America and other countries as a positive land use control mechanism for conservation, in an evolving socialist land economy, namely China.

This paper utilizes a case study approach, supplemented by a cost‐benefit model, to estimate the feasibility of establishing a TDR model in Chongqing, China.

From the analysis, it is found that a market‐based land use mechanism can serve to maximize the benefits of all parties and can balance the interests between development pressures and conservation needs. However, this is based on a number of conditions, including: that a well‐developed legal framework should be set up, to clearly delineate property rights; that a good and enforceable planning system should be in place; and that a mature land market mechanism should be developed that allows open market prices to be realized in the trading of development rights.

This case study is based on a hypothetical situation of one case. More data are needed to support the argument in the future.

Conservation is a major concern for the local governments in China, given the recent high speed economic growth. A model that can balance development pressure, while allowing the market to compensate fully for the infringement of property rights in the process of urban regeneration, is worthy of the authority's attention in future policy formulation.

This paper shows that the society as a whole can strike a balance between the need for economic development and conservation of historic sites, provided some conditions can be met.

This paper fulfills an identified need to study the establishment of a market‐based land use model in the conservation policy of land in China.

The purpose of this paper is to understand how design of housing development affects a sense of neighbourhood.

Questionnaire surveys were carried out in two residential communities in Hong Kong with very different design concepts and the results were analysed by ANOVA model.

The residential community with substantial open space allocation creates a greater sense of neighbourhood, even though this community is located in a rather remote part of the city.

The sample size is relatively small and in the future more communities should be included. In addition, international comparison can be made, especially with other Asian cities.

The findings provide a new perspective to the private developers in their design practice. To the government, more encouragement should be given to the private sector in promoting good community design,

This is one of the few papers that looks at the correlation between housing design and residents' feelings of their neighbourhood in Asia.