Housing Crisis

Housing Crisis in Hong Kong resulted in astounding low fertility compare to all other countries.

Finland reduce the long-term homelessness by distribute housing to homeless people with a housing policy they started in 2008 ¹ . They are treated like tenants: they pay the tents to the government, sign a contract, and able to apply for house benefits. To keep up with the housing demands and at the same time provide enough housing for the homeless people, Helsinki, the capital of Finland, buy flats, build blocks, and convert old night shelters into permanent homes which are comfortable to live in. As the result, the number of homelessness people plummeted 35%.

Note: Long-term homeless people have substantial risk of having addictions, mental health issues and medical conditions. Therefore, medical resources should be allotted accordingly.

The city deploys a strict housing mix, where there needs to be 25% social housing, 30% subsidised purchase and 45% private housing. Additionally, the houses, albeit have different prices, doesn’t differ visibly from their external look. Furthermore, there is no income ceiling for these social housing, so everyone could apply to live in such place. Subsequently, every 1 in 7 residents in Helsinki live in social housing.

The government spends around 250 millions Euros for houses and support workers. However, recent study found that this housing policy have saved 15,000 Euros annually for every homeless people in social housing.

References

The Housing Crisis is the Everything Crisis, BritMonkey

Footnotes

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jun/03/its-a-miracle-helsinkis-radical-solution-to-homelessness

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Urban Planning

For suburban, medium-dense houses with walkable distance of workplace are desirable. It is not only improve the aesthetic of the suburban, but also reduce the obesity around that area as people would prefer walking rather than using cars. The public transportation should also cover the suburban area for the residents to have easy access to the urban facility. This strategy can be used to tackle down the 202205031222#.