I think Singapore has a very notable affordable housing system (There's some short docus on youtube that should be easy to find) which probably holds back a lot

I think Singapore has a very notable affordable housing system (There's some short docus on youtube that should be easy to find) which probably holds back a lot of such problems. In Dubai I believe the locals are also pretty damn well off whilst an insane amount of the population is expatriates which I'd imagine get kicked out the moment they're seen as a problem or lose their job, etc. No clue about Shangai. I know Chinas police in other cities can be rather heavy handed (beating people out of bars with batons where words could have probably done the trick for example) Plenty of other factors can play a role tho. From Chinas political patronage system leading to leaders having their jobs/prospects tied to not letting such issues go too far to a less individualistic culture or simply lots of low bar employment options and housing. Better a run down cramped place shared with too many people (You can find some shocking images of this from shangai) than the street.