全球城市居民承受巨大住房壓力

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.

麥肯錫全球研究所(McKinsey Global Institute)發佈的一份報告稱，世界各地的城市居民每年在住房方面的支出超出負擔能力6500億美元。

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.

該報告表示，全球一些主要城市地區面臨最大的住房成本問題，紐約、東京和倫敦屬於遭受影響最嚴重的城市。北京、聖保羅和布宜諾斯艾利斯屬於較低收入城市中面臨最大壓力的城市。

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.

麥肯錫研究了住房成本佔家庭收入的比例，從而顯示出城市居民面臨多大的財務壓力。

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.

聯合國(UN)的數據顯示，全球逾一半人口居住在城市地區，這是有史以來的第一次，而且該比例到2050年將升至三分之二。

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.”

麥肯錫全球研究所高級研究員、報告的作者之一簡•米斯基(Jan Mischke)表示，住房負擔能力已經成爲“影響數十億人的巨大社會和經濟問題，越來越多的城市正迅速發展，它們很可能爲人才和勞動者展開競爭”。

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

麥肯錫發現，在世界各地，有3.3億城市家庭缺乏體面的住房或者正削減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.

該報告稱，到2025年，這一數字將增至4.4億，佔到全球城市人口的三分之一，除非各國政府採取更多措施建造住房並提供補貼。

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

該報告建議降低房屋建造和維護成本，並降低買房者和住宅開發商的融資成本。

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，各國政府還應該採取更多措施釋放開發用地，全球主要城市的土地成本高達住房建造成本的60%。他補充稱：“這絕不是一個運行良好的有效市場。”

“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.”

“土地市場往往由政府控制，要麼是直接控制，比如新加坡，要麼是像倫敦和紐約那樣，政府是大地主，在監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，一些城市正在採取措施降低住房成本，並着重指出紐約市長比爾•德布拉西奧(Bill de Blasio)在未來十年建造20萬套住房的計劃，以及德國的租金控制系統。

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.

美國智庫城市土地研究所(Urban Land Institute)表示，全球“門戶”城市（全球主要城市地區）正艱難努力爲它們的勞動力大軍提供負擔得起的住房。

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

英國ULI董事長安迪•馬丁(Andy Martin)表示，倫敦和紐約等城市是“它們自身成功的受害者”。

“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.”

“這些城市承受着巨大的壓力，因爲它們是增長的輪機艙。如果沒有足夠的住房供給，讓教師、護士、巴士司機和清潔工等關鍵勞動者可以居住在工作地點的通勤範圍之內，城市不可能生存下去。”