Purpose -With the rapid increase in both household discretionary income and housing price, how to improve housing affordability is the vital challenge for China, especially for the northwestern region where the household income is lower than that in the eastern region. This paper aims to provide an insight into the housing affordability by analyzing the influence factors of purchasing standard housing in Lanzhou, which is the second largest city in Northwest China. Design/methodology/approach -Price to income ratio (PIR) and housing affordability index (HAI) approaches were applied in this study to measure housing affordability for Lanzhou. Findings -The results show that the PIR values for Lanzhou range from 6.02 to 7.23 between 2001 and 2008. The value exhibits an increasing trend before 2004 and a decreasing trend after 2004. The HAI values vary between 62.0 and 83.2 and are higher from 2001 to 2003 than those from 2004 to 2008. It was observed that the level of influence of the household discretionary income, housing price and the mortgage interest rate on these two values differs significantly in the different studied periods. This indicates that housing affordability in Lanzhou is lower than the acceptable level. Originality/value -The paper establishes an understanding of the level of housing affordability in Northwest China, and provides the basis for the formulation of the new government's housing policy for this region.
For the purpose of understanding whether the formation environment of peat precursor has a meaningful effect on the isotope ratios of thermogenic coalbed gas, pyrolysis experiments were carried out on herbaceous and reed marsh peats derived from high-latitude areas with cold dry climate and a herbaceous peat of low-latitude area with tropical moist climate. Our results show that the hydrocarbon gases generated from the herbaceous swamp peat of the high-latitude area had lighter hydrogen (−56 to −46‰) and heavier carbon (3.3–8.2‰) isotopic compositions than those generated from the low-latitude area peat. As the peat samples were pyrolytically matured to vitrinite reflectance levels of 2.5, 3.5, and 5.5%, respectively, the hydrogen and carbon isotope ratios of the generated hydrocarbon gases increased, and the average hydrogen isotopic differences between them decreased from −32 to −10‰, whereas the carbon isotopic differences increased from 0.9 to 3.6‰, respectively. We suggest that the cause of these differences may originate mainly from the environmental influence on hydrogen and carbon isotopic compositions of the peats. Our results also showed that the influence of the formation environment of the peat precursor on the isotopic compositions of the pyrolysis hydrocarbon gases is less than that of types of peat. A good positive correlation of the δD or δ13C value with maturity as well as the δD value with the δ13C value of the generated hydrocarbon gases exists between the two kinds of samples, respectively, and their mathematical expressions were also established. These results showed that the environmental influence on isotopic compositions of peat should be considered when evaluating the genesis of thermogenic coalbed gas using hydrogen and carbon isotopes.
Purpose Previous studies on housing affordability in China were concentrated in China’s coastal and central regions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate housing affordability of urban residents in Northwest China. Moreover, this paper attempts to understand the consistency and influencing factors of various indicators on the evaluation of housing affordability. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses multiyear data on house sales, residents’ incomes and living expenses from 2011 to 2022. House price-to-income ratio, housing affordability index and residual income approach were calculated by using these data and used as the measure of housing affordability. Findings The results show that there are obvious differences in the housing affordability among the Xi’an, Lanzhou and Yinchuan during 2011–2022, and the housing affordability of residents in cities with small population and economic scale is better. The ability of most urban residents to afford suitable housing is still poor, and the ability to afford small-sized housing is better. Most families with below-middle income have poor housing affordability. It is also observed that although various indicators had similarities in the evaluation of residents’ housing affordability, the comprehensive evaluation results of multiple indicators were more reliable. Social implications The research results provide a basis for the decision-making of the government’s urban housing policy and improvement of residents’ housing conditions. Originality/value The results have a clear understanding of the housing affordability of urban residents in Northwest China. The study found that the geographical location and topography of the city is also a factor affecting the housing affordability.
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