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МОНГОЛЫН ХҮН АМЫН СЭТГҮҮЛ Дугаар (367) 20, 2011
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The Mongolian government currently has
engaged in several projects aimed at providing
solutions to the housing challenge. One such
endeavor was setting up the Sustainable
Development Tasks Force, and providing
support for the “40,000 Family Housing
Project” between 2004 and 2009; the Project
helped build new apartments for families
working for the government of Mongolia
(Bayarsaihkan 2010).
Between the years 2000 and 2009, construction
companies and private businesses have
built from 680 to 8574 apartments annually
(Bayarsaihkan 2010), many for investment
purposes. According to the Population
and Housing Census, 22.8 per cent of the
population owns housing units with plumbing,
electricity, and separate bathrooms and
kitchens; and yet, with all the construction,
only 12,000 individuals have moved to these
apartments, with the rest in dire need of new
homes (Bayarsaihkan 2010). More than half
of the total population of Mongolia lives in
Ulaanbaatar. Here, the majority of residents
live in the outskirts of the city in courtyard-
type buildings known as
ger
, built on one
level. They are comprised of 1 or 2 room
houses with electricity, but with no plumbing
and heating – they rely on coal for heating,
which creates a high level of air pollution. It is
a high priority for the Mongolian government
to move the population from these court-yard-
type buildings into high-rise apartments with
central heating systems.
In addition to high-rise apartments,
individuals who can afford it are also able to
purchase single family two-story houses and
townhouses. Many are able to purchase these
homes and apartments with remittances from
family members working abroad – nearly
one fifth of the labor force works abroad (Lee
1993) and sends remittances to facilitate the
purchase of apartments or houses.
Building the Builder Brand
When searching for an apartment,
Mongolian
consumers
evaluate
their
prospective purchases on many of the same
dimensions as Western buyers – prices,
apartment style, neighborhood, number of
rooms, and so on. The builder’s reputation
in particular is an important consideration.
Builders are keen on finding available lots in
the center of Ulaanbaatar, in the
Tool
River
basin, and the
Bogd Khan
Mountain area, a
protected park located in the Red Nature Book
of Preserved Lands, a scenic area 15 miles
from the center of Ulaanbaatar. There appears
to be a hierarchy of builders, from the point
of view of Mongolians, with the top-ranking
construction companies from Japan, followed
by Korean and then by Chinese companies.
Builders advertise their building projects on
television, in weekly newspapers, and on
billboards in the city center, and offer open
houses to market their homes to prospective
buyers. They also use real estate agencies
to market new apartments, homes, and even
districts. To differentiate their offerings,
builders have created new communities
marketed as "Japan town," "Marshal town,"
or "Digital town". Mongolian names often
have references to traditions – for example,
"Sun Rise town", "Krystal town," and "Rich
Mongolian town." This is in sharp contrast to
names under the socialist rule, where districts
were designated using numbers, such as first,
third and forty thousand neighborhood, to
name a few.
In 2006, the "Japan town" district offered
homes with a price of $650 per square meter,
with the kitchen installed and with built-
in entertainment center furniture. Then, a
competing Mongolian Construction Company
followed suit to offer garages for cars to the
first families who purchased. In 2009, builders
also focused on creating playgrounds, sheds
where the elderly could congregate, a more
modern interior design, and so on.
In creating these new living environments,
builders largely ignored the middle class
consumer. The government is keenly aware
that low-income families are underserved
when it comes to housing opportunities.
As Table 1 indicates, prices for apartments
in Ulaanbaatar have practically doubled in
the last decade, making the purchase of an
apartment a challenge for most middle-class
families.