丁香园AV

鈥淲hen I moved to Canada I was amazed by the escalating housing unaffordability in Vancouver,鈥� says Yushu Zhu, one of 丁香园AV's newest professors. Professor Zhu has been jointly appointed to the Urban Studies Program and the School of Public Policy, both within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

鈥淭he housing crisis is not only a local issue,鈥� says Zhu. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more about the global financialization of housing that鈥檚 happening across the world including Canada and China.鈥�

Born and raised in China, Zhu鈥檚 graduate research was in human geography at Sun Yat-sen University. There, she explored the urban migrant enclaves in China that formed after economic reforms in 1979 set millions of people migrating from the countryside to megacities and transformed the nation.

Zhu鈥檚 global mindset along with her expertise in housing and community issues in rapidly changing urban settings informs a wider view of the polarizing issue of foreign ownership in Vancouver鈥檚 heated housing market. She has heard the claims that foreign buyers, especially Chinese buyers, are pushing up housing prices, but suspects that there are other structural forces at play.

鈥淲e need more transparent information about foreign buyers to figure out the driving forces before we make any concrete housing policies,鈥� Zhu says. She plans to study this diverse group of immigrants to get a more nuanced understanding of their housing behaviours in Canada.

Zhu鈥檚 future research will inform and shape policies that make cities more affordable and liveable at a time when competition between industrial and residential users for urban land grows more intense.

鈥淭he needs of disadvantaged groups鈥攖hose suffering from mental health issues, refugees and low-income populations鈥攁re usually not high on policymakers鈥� agenda in today鈥檚 land-driven urbanization process,鈥� Zhu says. 鈥淣ational policy makers may not consider housing to be a human right. That鈥檚 the fundamental issue that we need to address.鈥�