*4.2. Reasons for Unclear Property Rights*

In order to establish an effective governance model for historical building conservation, the form of property rights was clarified in the investigation stage, and then the relationship between different transformation modes and property rights needed to be found. Before that, the following problem needed to be solved: the formation of the confused status of property rights. Knowing the reason behind it, we could then solve the problem of urban renewal thoroughly.

**Type of Property Rights1** 

Publiclyowned

Privately-

Publicly and Privately Owned

Department of housing management

Enterprises and Public Institutions+ Department of housing management

Enterprise and Public Institutions+

Department of housing management+ Individual

Enterprises and Public Institutions+ Department of housing management+ Individual

### 4.2.1. Historical Factor 4.2.1. Historical Factor Several stages of the evolution of property rights in China are described below (Fig-

Several stages of the evolution of property rights in China are described below (Figure 3). ure 3).

In order to establish an effective governance model for historical building conservation, the form of property rights was clarified in the investigation stage, and then the relationship between different transformation modes and property rights needed to be found. Before that, the following problem needed to be solved: the formation of the confused status of property rights. Knowing the reason behind it, we could then solve the

**pair No. Case** 

Quanjin Guildhall, etc.

18 Hanchong Residence, Zheng Residence, Zhu Residence, etc.

18 Aibuchan Residence, Qian Residence. Etc.

<sup>3</sup>Weidaoguanqian Pan Residence, Hongjun Residence and Zhuangci

1 Panzuyin Residence


**Figure 3.** Timeline for changes in property rights (summarised by the authors). **Figure 3.** Timeline for changes in property rights (summarised by the authors).

*Sustainability* **2021**, *13*, x FOR PEER REVIEW 7 of 17

**Table 2.** Property rights of historical relics in Pingjiang Historic Block (summarised by the authors).

Enterprises and Public Institutions Enterprises and Public Institutions 16 Ding Residence6, Huiyin Garden,

Individual Enterprise and Public Institutions 1 Xushichunhui Yizhuang

Department of housing management

Enterprises and Public Institutions+ Department of housing management

owned Individual Individual 6 Yang Residence, Zha Residence, etc.

Department of housing management

Enterprises and Public Institutions+ Department of housing management

**Ownership Management/Responsibility/Re-**

*4.2. Reasons for Unclear Property Rights* 

problem of urban renewal thoroughly.


*of Private Rental Housing* that 'private homeowners could not recover the houses which already rented by the state'. At the time, the property rights structure appeared in three forms, namely, public property, private property, and rental houses. Rental houses were products of the socialist transformation. Former private homeowners could no longer retrieve their property, but the state had not clearly defined the ownership of property. During the Cultural Revolution in 1966, the Red Guards forcibly seized the property rights of private homeowners through violent means. All houses had one property rights attribute, that is, state ownership [27].

4. From 1983 to 2004: Implementation of private housing policy and resolution of the problem of 'standard houses' After the Cultural Revolution, the government implemented the private housing policy and returned the property rights of private houses to private homeowners. However, the government claimed that the property rights of 'rental houses' belonged to the state and implementing the private housing policy was not feasible [27,28]. From the 1980s, historical houses became private properties and rental houses. However, the most dramatic difference during the 1950s was that the property rights of 'rental houses' changed from being private to public property, thereby becoming part of the directly managed public housing, which was the most complex existing property rights structure in China.

In summary, the structure of real estate property rights was extremely complex in 1949 and the new government then issued a series of measures to clarify it. However, the original problem of property rights during the Cultural Revolution was not clarified and was worsened by the political struggle.

After the reform and opening up in 1980s, the government attempted to readdress the problem, but failed to achieve the desired effect owing to insufficient implementation. Since the 1980s, China has entered the stage of large-scale civil construction. In the process of the demolition and reconstruction of old cities, removal and relocation have become significant problems for the government, and the drawbacks of the unclear property rights structure have become apparent. However, no one has been willing to tackle such sensitive topics, and the government and academia have prevaricated with 'problems left over by history', claiming that 'property rights are too complex' to be resolved. Although the awareness of the protection of traditional culture has increased since 2000 and the government has invested large amounts of capital to preserve and renovate historical blocks, property rights problems remain between the ideal and reality, thereby severely delaying the pace of urban renewal. The property rights issue affects the entire process of urban development and cannot be avoided. Therefore, the issue, that is, the existing complex property rights structure in China, should be addressed and resolved with sound theoretical basis.
