ABSTRACT
The Chinese Communist Party leaders who emerged in the late 1970s were well aware that after two decades of deteriorating urban conditions, suppressed demand for improvement could only be ignored at the regime's peril. The post-Mao regime has brought very different attitudes to every aspect of the construction of a socialist society in China. Under Mao—as for Stalin before him—there was a tendency to see the purpose of production as being enhanced future production. The post-Mao regime is no less driven by the desire to rapidly develop a strong and modern industrial base than was its predecessor. The basic standard of urban housing in post-1949 China is per capita 'living space', a measure which excludes all corridors, stairways, as well as kitchens and latrines. The effectiveness of the new housing programme is evident in the contrast between the 1978 completion figure and that of 1979.
