Salford to Shanghai: Cities Take Back Housing
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- The University of Manchester published a global comparative study in the journal Urban Studies examining how six cities—Salford, Shanghai, Nairobi, Paris, Casablanca, and Rome—are responding to the housing affordability crisis, led by Dr. Tom Gillespie.
- Salford redirected developer contributions into a council-owned company beginning in 2016 to build new social housing, letting units at below-market "Salford rents" and exempting them from the national "right to buy" to shield them from speculative pressure.
- Shanghai shifted from decades of market-driven housing growth to active state intervention, using shantytown renewal, shared ownership schemes, and subsidized rental housing to tackle rising prices and support social stability.
- The study identified common themes across all six cities, including what motivates government intervention and how new financial tools—land value capture, public-private partnerships, and state-backed financial mechanisms—are redistributing risk in housing markets.
- Dr. Tom Gillespie said the research shows states are "once again becoming central players" in tackling the global affordable housing crisis, but stressed this is not a return to old public housing models but rather a range of new experimental approaches balancing social needs with financialised urban development.
Why it matters: The study provides one of the first global frameworks for comparing state-led housing interventions, offering policymakers a concrete toolkit of approaches—from Salford's council-owned developer model to Shanghai's land-control system—at a time when billions lack adequate housing and private markets have not delivered.
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