Urban Villages in China: A 2008 Survey of Migrant Settlements in Beijing

Zheng, Siqi; Long, Fei; Fan, C. Cindy; Gu, Yizhen

doi:10.2747/1539-7216.50.4.425

Cited by 190 publications

(138 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…It is therefore not surprising that the sense of familiarity was very similar among urban hukou holders in Old Village and the Commercial Compound and comparatively low among rural-to-urban migrants. In stark contrast to the literature, which assumes that rural-to-urban migrants are reluctant to stay in the city (Fan, 2008a(Fan, , 2008bFan & Wang, 2008;Zheng et al, 2009), the majority (57%) of interviewed rural-to-urban migrants in the Old Village wanted to stay forever. This willingness is indicated in the subdimension "commitment" which reflects expectations and aspirations for the future and the desire to maintain living in the current environment.…”

Section: Spatial Imaginations and Perceptions Of The Othercontrasting

confidence: 43%

“…Simultaneously, migration restrictions were relaxed and "farmers", initially welcomed as a cheap and exploitable labour force, began to move to the city to find work in factories and at construction sites (e.g., Goodkind & West, 2002;Li, 2004;Solinger, 1995Solinger, , 1999. To date, municipal governments have failed to provide a satisfactory form of urban housing for the masses of rural-to-urban migrants (Mobrand, 2006;Jianfa Shen & Huang, 2003;Wu, 2002Wu, , 2006Wu, , 2008Wu, Zhang, & Webster, 2013b;Zhang, 2001Zhang, , 2002Zhang, Zhao, & Tian, 2003;Zheng, Long, Fan, & Gu, 2009). Only a few accounts exist to document the lived experience of migrants in the city and the ways in which they succeed in finding informal solutions to their housing problem, for instance, in the basements or on the rooftops of formal housing blocks (Wu, 2007;Wu & Canham, 2008 provide insightful documentation on migrant living conditions in Beijing and Hong Kong).…”

Section: Sociospatial Transitions In Shanghaimentioning

confidence: 99%

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Borderland urbanism: seeing between enclaves

Iossifova

2014

Urban Geography

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Recent scholarship on the characteristics of Chinese urbanism engages with the practices and possible consequences of so-called enclave urbanism, said to generate cities as agglomerations of patchworked enclaves. Acknowledging that inequality becomes explicit in supposedly self-contained enclaves, in this paper, I seek to advance the initial debate by shifting the focus onto the spaces and processes in-between the enclaves. I draw on fieldwork in Shanghai to argue that perceptions of inequality, individual and group identities, everyday cultures and, ultimately, new ways of being in and making the city are shaped amidst the in-between spaces that essentiate emerging cities in China and elsewhere: urban borderlands. I outline a research agenda around the current and future urban condition and propose the exploration of borderland urbanism as a timely new direction in urban geography.

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Section: Spatial Imaginations and Perceptions Of The Othercontrasting

confidence: 43%

Section: Sociospatial Transitions In Shanghaimentioning

confidence: 99%

Borderland urbanism: seeing between enclaves

Iossifova

2014

Urban Geography

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“…Migrants tend to agglomerate with their relatives, friends, and colleagues from the same province or even the same rural town, causing migrant neighborhoods to emerge in many cities, especially at the periphery of Chinese metropolitan areas [71]. These settlements are spatially as well as ethnically segregated from their surrounding areas migrant [25].…”

Section: Migrants In Chinamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These settlements are spatially as well as ethnically segregated from their surrounding areas migrant [25]. The most important reason for the formation of migrant neighborhoods in China is that migrants have no access to the formal real estate market because they lack a local hukou, and most of them could not afford to buy a house in the city [24,71]. Therefore, renting houses in villages adjoining or on the fringe of cities becomes their most viable way to live near the city while keeping living costs low [72].…”

Section: Migrants In Chinamentioning

confidence: 99%

Restrained mobility in a high-accessible and migrant-rich area in downtown Beijing

Zhao

2017

Eur. Transp. Res. Rev.

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Purpose Immigrant travel has become an emerging research field in transportation planning. A handful of scholars have studied the travel behavior of residents in immigrant enclaves in North America. However, thus far, there has been no analysis of the travel behavior of residents living in migrant-rich neighborhoods in China. Additionally, previous studies rarely explored whether these (im)migrants could benefit from resources outside the neighborhoods, and the determinants of their travel to destinations outside the neighborhoods. This study aims to fill these research gaps in the literature. We used a migrant-rich area in downtown Beijing as a case study to understand the daily mobility and the determinants, and strategies to enhance mobility of neighborhood residents. Method To answer the above questions, in-depth interview in Dashilar was used in this study. Eighteen migrant workers were recruited by using snowball sampling, and six local residents were recruited as Bobservers^to view the mobility of migrant workers from another perspective. The interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed and coded. Results The research results show that the interviewees had restrained mobility, limited to the area within Dashilar. Their work location was near residence, and they seldom made recreation and social trips. One of the major reasons for this was that their social ties were highly restricted to people from the same hometown. Additionally, time and financial poverty further limited their mobility. Institutional barriers also segregated migrant workers with local people in job market, urban welfare and daily life. In order to improve physical mobility, migrant workers used electric bicycle as their daily travel facility. The use of mobile phone also improved their virtual mobility by facilitating information flow and extending social networks. Moreover, community initiatives such as community activities and volunteers helped to improve their mobility. Conclusions Dashilar is an area with abundant transport resources and activity destination choices, but migrant workers living there still restrained their daily travel within the neighborhood. Although resources within the neighborhood facilitated daily necessities of migrant workers living in Dashilar, they seldom benefited from the resources outside the neighborhood, which played a larger role in promoting their social and cultural assimilation in the city. Their limited local social ties, individual time and money constraints, and institutional factors all contributed to their limited destination motivations and aspirations. To cope with these challenges, migrant workers and communities both adopted several strategies. These strategies could address the above challenges to some extent, but their limitations also fixed mobility of migrant workers. Combination of Internet of mobile phone and community initiatives was a feasible way to link migrant workers and local people, and help them to improve enlarge mobility space.

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“…But some studies suggest that migrants did not necessarily live in poorer housing conditions than non-migrants in urban areas (Jiang 2006), and some migrants were willing to pay the same per unit of space, or higher rent than, local residents (Zheng et al 2009). Therefore, it is important to consider both objective and subjective measures of housing quality in order to effectively appraise the impacts of housing conditions on wages.…”

Section: Analytical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do neighbourhoods have effects on wages? A study of migrant workers in urban China

Cheng

Wang

2013

Habitat International

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Rural-to-urban migrant workers have contributed enormously to the Chinese economy and society in the past three decades. Many of them have concentrated in disadvantaged neighbourhoods and physically and socially suffered from poor residential environment. However it is unclear how the neighbourhoods-as the provision of shelter, social and public service, and community organizing-influence migrant workers' labour market outcomes. To fill this gap, this paper researches the way in which urban neighbourhoods have affected migrant workers' wages. Factors such as housing quality, social interaction and trust, and neighbourhood organization and participation were examined. Results show that five of eight neighbourhood characteristics had statistically significant effects on wages. Robustness tests were conducted to address endogeneity problems of self-selection and unobserved individual ability. Test results demonstrated that our main findings were generally robust, and thus the causality was solid. Abstract: Rural-to-urban migrant workers have contributed enormously to the Chinese economy and society in the past three decades. Many of them have concentrated in disadvantaged neighbourhoods and physically and socially suffered from poor residential environment. However it is unclear how the neighbourhoods-as the provision of shelter, social and public services, and community organizinginfluence migrant workers' labour market outcomes. To fill this gap, this paper explores the way in which urban neighbourhoods have affected migrant workers' wages. Factors such as housing quality, social interaction and trust, and neighbourhood organization and participation were examined. Results show that five of eight neighbourhood characteristics had statistically significant effects on wages. Robustness tests were conducted to address endogeneity problems of self-selection and unobserved individual ability. Test results demonstrated that our main findings were generally robust, and thus the causality was solid.

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Urban Villages in China: A 2008 Survey of Migrant Settlements in Beijing

Cited by 190 publications

References 21 publications

Borderland urbanism: seeing between enclaves

Borderland urbanism: seeing between enclaves

Restrained mobility in a high-accessible and migrant-rich area in downtown Beijing

Do neighbourhoods have effects on wages? A study of migrant workers in urban China

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