Duke Kunshan University (DKU) Library and the Division of Social Science are pleased to invite you to the latest event in the DKU Library Author Talk Series, titled “Mengqi Wang: Anxious Homes: Inflexible Demand and China’s Housing Market.” This event explores the complex relationship between “inflexible demand”(刚需, gangxu), homeownership, and China’s rapidly changing urban housing market.
We are privileged to have Dr. Mengqi Wang, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at DKU, to introduce her newly published book on May 15, 2026. Dr. Scott MacEachern will serve as the moderator of the event.
*Light refreshments will be provided.
Editor: Dr. Mengqi Wang
Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Duke Kunshan University
Assistant Professor of the Practice of Interdisciplinary Studies at DKU Unit, Duke Kunshan University
Dr. Mengqi Wang is a cultural and economic anthropologist specializing in housing and the urban environment. She is the author of Anxious Homes: Inflexible Demand and China’s Housing Market (Cornell University Press, 2026). Her research examines homeownership, housing markets, and urban transformation in contemporary China, and has been published in peer-reviewed journals including Positions: Asia Critique, Journal of Cultural Economy, and Urban Studies.
Moderator: Dr. Scott MacEachern
Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, Duke Kunshan University
Professor of Archeology and Anthropology, Duke Kunshan University
Professor of the Practice of Interdisciplinary Studies at DKU Unit, Duke Kunshan University
His main research interests are Central and West African archaeology, state formation, and archaeogenetics. His research explores African archaeology and population history, with attention to the development of complex societies and states in the Lake Chad region.
Explore the Book
Anxious homes: inflexible demand and China’s housing market
Author: Wang, Mengqi
ISBN: 9781501786808
Publisher: Ithaca New York: Cornell University Press
Year of Publication: 2026
Call number: HD7287.82.C5 W36 2026
Electronic book: https://www-degruyterbrill-com.dkuproxy.lib.duke.edu/document/doi/10.1515/9781501786839/html
Overview:
Anxious Homes: Inflexible Demand and China’s Housing Market is an ethnographic study of homeownership and the housing market in contemporary urban China. Focusing on the vernacular concept of “inflexible demand,” or gangxu (刚需), the book examines how homeownership has come to be understood as an essential need for urban citizens. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted at the urban periphery of east Nanjing, Dr. Mengqi Wang follows government officials, developers, real estate brokers, homebuyers, and sellers to explore how different actors use and construct the idea of “inflexible demand.” Rather than viewing the housing market solely through economic policies and property transactions, the book investigates how ideas about homeownership, social aspirations, and urban belonging contribute to the making of China’s housing market. It offers valuable insights into China’s urban transformation and reveals how homeownership can become both a promise and a trap for families aspiring to secure a place in the city.
Poster: Liang Yue
