全球城市居民承受巨大住房压力

City dwellers around the world pay $650bn more in housing costs than they can afford yearly, as rapid urban growth meets a constrained supply, according to a report.

麦肯锡全球研究所(McKinsey Global Institute)发布的一份报告称，世界各地的城市居民每年在住房方面的支出超出负担能力6500亿美元。

Some of the world’s leading urban areas face the biggest housing cost problems, with New York, Tokyo and London among the worst affected, the McKinsey Global Institute said. Beijing, São Paulo and Buenos Aires are among those facing the biggest crunch among lower income cities.

该报告表示，全球一些主要城市地区面临最大的住房成本问题，纽约、东京和伦敦属于遭受影响最严重的城市。北京、圣保罗和布宜诺斯艾利斯属于较低收入城市中面临最大压力的城市。

McKinsey looked at the cost of housing as a proportion of household income, showing the extent to which a city’s residents face financial pressure.

麦肯锡研究了住房成本占家庭收入的比例，从而显示出城市居民面临多大的财务压力。

For the first time in history, more than half the world’s population lives in urban areas and the proportion is set to rise to two-thirds by 2050, according to the UN.

联合国(UN)的数据显示，全球逾一半人口居住在城市地区，这是有史以来的第一次，而且该比例到2050年将升至三分之二。

Housing affordability has become “a huge social and economic issue affecting billions”, said Jan Mischke, a senior fellow at McKinsey Global Institute and one of the report’s authors. “More and more cities are growing fast, they are quite likely competing for talent and workers.”

麦肯锡全球研究所高级研究员、报告的作者之一简•米斯基(Jan Mischke)表示，住房负担能力已经成为“影响数十亿人的巨大社会和经济问题，越来越多的城市正迅速发展，它们很可能为人才和劳动者展开竞争”。

Around the world, 330m urban households lack decent housing or are cutting back on basic spending to cover their housing costs, McKinsey found.

麦肯锡发现，在世界各地，有3.3亿城市家庭缺乏体面的住房或者正削减基本支出以支付住房成本。

By 2025, this number will grow to 440m – a third of the world’s urban population – unless governments do more to build and subsidise housing, the report said.

该报告称，到2025年，这一数字将增至4.4亿，占到全球城市人口的三分之一，除非各国政府采取更多措施建造住房并提供补贴。

The study recommends reducing building and maintenance costs and cutting the cost of finance for both home buyers and housing developers.

该报告建议降低房屋建造和维护成本，并降低买房者和住宅开发商的融资成本。

Governments should also do more to free up sites for development, with land costs in leading global cities accounting for up to 60 per cent of the cost of ­building a home, according to Mr Mischke. “This is not by any means an effective, well-functioning market,” she added.

米斯基表示，各国政府还应该采取更多措施释放开发用地，全球主要城市的土地成本高达住房建造成本的60%。他补充称：“这绝不是一个运行良好的有效市场。”

“Land markets tend to be government controlled, either directly – for example Singapore – or as in London and New York where the government is a significant landowner and the prime actor in regulating land use.”

“土地市场往往由政府控制，要么是直接控制，比如新加坡，要么是像伦敦和纽约那样，政府是大地主，在监管土地使用方面扮演主要角色。”

Some cities are taking steps to reduce housing costs, Mr Mischke said, singling out New York mayor Bill De Blasio’s plan to build 200,000 homes in the next decade, and Germany’s system of rent controls.

米斯基表示，一些城市正在采取措施降低住房成本，并着重指出纽约市长比尔•德布拉西奥(Bill de Blasio)在未来十年建造20万套住房的计划，以及德国的租金控制系统。

The Urban Land Institute, a US-based think-tank, said global “gateway” cities, the world’s leading urban areas, were struggling to provide affordable housing for their workforces.

美国智库城市土地研究所(Urban Land Institute)表示，全球“门户”城市（全球主要城市地区）正艰难努力为它们的劳动力大军提供负担得起的住房。

Andy Martin, chairman of ULI in the UK, said cities such as London and New York were “victims of their own success”.

英国ULI董事长安迪•马丁(Andy Martin)表示，伦敦和纽约等城市是“它们自身成功的受害者”。

“These cities are under significant pressure because they are engine rooms for growth.“Cities cannot survive unless they have adequate provision for key workers like teachers, nurses, bus drivers and cleaners to live within commuting distance of their work.”

“这些城市承受着巨大的压力，因为它们是增长的轮机舱。如果没有足够的住房供给，让教师、护士、巴士司机和清洁工等关键劳动者可以居住在工作地点的通勤范围之内，城市不可能生存下去。”