Quantitative SWOT Analysis of Public Housing Delivery by Public–Private Partnerships in China Based on the Perspective of the Public Sector

Abstract

Facing the challenges of the global financial crisis, the Chinese government planned to build far more public housing than can be provided by the government alone. Meanwhile, the capability of Chinese governments to provide quality public housing on their own is being questioned and reassessed at various levels and in different forms. Accordingly, the introduction of private sector into the development of public housing should be promoted by the Chinese public sector by adopting the public-private partnership (PPP) model. In order to help the Chinese government formulate an appropriate strategy to develop PPP housing in a complex political, financial, legal, and regulatory environment, 16 strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat (SWOT) factors are identified on the basis of an extensive literature review. A structured questionnaire survey from the perspective of the public sector is conducted to analyze and integrate its perceptions of the SWOT factors. On the basis of a survey on SWOT factors, the methodology of quantitative SWOT analysis composed of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is proposed to analyze strategy for the Chinese government to develop public housing by PPPs. The results indicate that the strongest facilitating factors are “solving the problem of public sector budget restraint” and the “huge needs for public housing,” and the strongest hindering factors are “low profits for the private sector to participate in PPP housing” and the “inadequate legal framework and unclear responsibility for both the public and private sectors.” The public strategic direction and intensity are consequently determined according to the results of the proposed method. Furthermore, an aggressive and active strategy formulation is carried out to help government facilitate the construction of public housing. The proposed suggestions to the public sector would be viewed as guidelines for the public sector to adopt PPPs in public housing appropriately, and also can be used to encourage the private sector to participate in public housing development.