Spatial pattern of homeowners associations in urban China

Spatial distribution of urban institutions or property rights is an interesting but little studied topic. This paper analyzes the spatial pattern of homeowners associations (HOAs) in Chongqing, China. By combining data from different sources including a telephone survey, logit models are estimated for the incidence of HOAs. It is found that distance to the nearest subcenter is negatively associated with the probability of forming an HOA in a private community. In contrast, distance to the city center is not significant. A fundamental dilemma is also identified with regard to structural variables such as community size and heterogeneity of interests. Although bigger and more heterogeneous communities have higher potential demand for HOAs to facilitate collective decision-making, forming an HOA is by itself a collective decision that is more difficult to make in those communities. The results of the tradeoff, in the case of Chongqing, are that community size is positively associated with the incidence of HOAs while the number of building types, a measure of heterogeneity of property interests, is negatively associated with the probability of forming an HOA.