Reporter's Case Files 004: The Cage Era

With wages failing to keep pace with soaring housing prices and incomplete policy reforms failing to curb housing speculation, the housing market has undergone a dramatic transformation, transforming homes from a safe haven into a battlefield for capital competition. For many young people, the dream of owning their own home has become a pipe dream.

The non-profit online media outlet, The Reporter, delved into the real estate speculation industry, visiting tiny homes worth tens of millions of yuan and 10 square meters (approximately 10 ping). The report documents how young Taiwanese, faced with unaffordable housing prices and rising rents, are forced to enter the "tiny house era." As affordable living space steadily declines, and quality of life becomes even less of a concern, has the Taiwanese concept of "starting a family" become increasingly confined to a cage-like world?

──Editorial Report──
The real estate speculation industry chain in the era of small houses under high housing prices has been renovated and upgraded with the skyrocketing housing prices. The low-threshold and high-reward real estate speculation model has attracted a large number of investors. Countermeasures have emerged one after another in response to policy changes, and housing prices have spiraled out of control. However, the salary of most people will never keep up with the housing prices, and the second-best small houses have entered the house purchase market. The declining living standards have become the reality of contemporary young people.
"The Reporter" editor-in-chief Fang Delin shares her experience reporting on housing in Taiwan in a special article, writing about the current social situation in the gaps between high-rise buildings.

Graphic Journalism
In her signature meticulous style, Ning Lu, a cartoonist from the Bird's Nest era, combines visual stories from reporting with interviews to depict the mundane yet profound worries and dilemmas faced by today's young people as they navigate family life. The desire to build a family, yet leave it, is met with the weight of reality, like a towering tower, blocking the path to their dream of a family.

In-Depth Reporting
A 10-square-meter house worth tens of millions of yuan, a 6-square-meter apartment for raising children—images of youth living in the cage age. "The Reporter" documents the landscape of real estate under policy changes, deeply exploring investor groups and how they form a self-contained ecosystem to drive the real estate speculation industry; physically visiting construction sites and viewing houses, analyzing the current state of real estate transactions with actual cases and historical data; and in-depth interviews with contemporary young people about the helplessness they face when buying a house and the realities of their lives.

──Story Behind the Story──
Reporter's Notes: The Birdcage in Our Eyes. On-site Cartoonist's Notes: In an Era Where We Can't Advance, We Can't Retreat. Drawing from their own experiences, the reporting team shares the desires and challenges most people face in starting a family. Savings can't keep up with down payments, and the conditions for viewing properties are becoming increasingly challenging... These issues are deeply personal, presenting difficult choices that must be faced. Cartoonist Ning Lu also captures her empathy and reflections on these issues, considering how to transform media to resonate with young people amidst the harsh realities of life.

Features of this book

★ Independent media "Reporter" x cartoonist Ning Lu
★ The evolution of the housing market affects living standards, and living in a cage has become a social reality.

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2025-06-04

蓋亞

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