There is no doubt about the distribution of housing in the DPRK. We do not know what the housing situation is in other parts of the country. As far as the capital Pyongyang is concerned, everyone has a place to live. When you visit the DPRK, you will be impressed by the fact that the roads are lined with residential buildings, and the DPRK has constructed a large number of housing units. North Korean tour guides are most proud of the fact that housing is distributed free of charge. Most of the housing in the DPRK is middle and high rise. One of the conditions for North Koreans to be allocated housing is that they are married. If you are not married, you cannot be allocated housing.
So, if a North Korean is single, it means that they have to live with their parents because there are basically no houses for rent in North Korea. Housing in Pyongyang is distributed between newly built upscale apartments and older neighborhoods. The new upscale apartments are represented by the Future Scientist Street and Kurata Street. These two neighborhoods have better greenery and more complete facilities. Only people with a certain status can move into these neighborhoods, such as outstanding university professors, who may be allocated high-class apartments.
Residential buildings in Pyongyang are mainly old neighborhoods. The old neighborhoods have no greenery and the environment is average. Because of the age of the houses, many of the elevators in the old neighborhoods do not work.
Even if there is an elevator, it causes a lot of trouble because of frequent power outages. Therefore, for North Koreans who live in old neighborhoods, they prefer to live on lower floors. The lower the floor, the more dignified, life is more convenient, do not have to climb the stairs every day. Especially twenty or thirty floors of high buildings, there is no elevator, the elderly on really inconvenient.
In North Korea, housing is allocated according to the position of the individual and the size of the family. Just married young, small family size, low position. The allocated house is very small. When the future promotion, have children, you can apply for a large house. Housing in rural areas of the DPRK is also distributed, and people in rural areas of the DPRK prefer tile houses to buildings. They prefer tiled houses to buildings because they can have their own land.
Although there are five or six-story buildings in the countryside, they are not popular among rural people. This is because their privacy and ease of living are not as good as tiled houses. Rural Koreans rarely change their housing after it is allocated to them, which is different from the city. This is different from urban dwellers, who are subject to job transfers, and rural dwellers, who are not.
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