Ethnic Migration, Embedded Settlement and the Development of Low-Carbon Willingness: A Field Survey on the Reservoir Emigrants of She Minority and the Inhabitants of Immigration Areas in Longyou County, Zhejiang Province

Abstract

The development of low-carbon willingness is one of the inherent conditions for the construction of low-carbon cities. This paper focuses on a case study of the embedded settlement of She immigrants from Muchen Reservoir (in Zhejiang Province) and inhabitants of immigration areas. Based on a survey sampling of the above-mentioned She emigrants and inhabitants, the author conducts an experimental study, which divides research subjects into four groups: A1 of Han ethnic group settling in single-Han communities in immigration areas; A2 of Han ethnic group settling with She immigrants in immigration areas; B1 of She immigrants settling in single-She communities after migration; B2 of She immigrants settling with Han ethnic group after migration. A1 and B1 are reference groups, while A2 and B2 are experimental groups. The study analyzes and compares the low-carbon awareness of Han ethnic group and She minority in different modes of living (single-ethnic settlement and embedded settlement) in the immigrant area after the reservoir resettlement, so as to identify whether embedded settlement helps foster low-carbon awareness. The results show that Han ethnic group settling with She immigrants consumed less luxuries and is better at applying traditional local knowledge compared with its reference group; meanwhile, She minority settling with Han ethnic group has more low-carbon knowledge and stronger low-carbon willingness. The study proves that when an ethnic minority migrates from a single-ethnicity community to one featuring embedded settlement of different ethnic groups, the communication among them helps to spread and strengthen low-carbon awareness; besides, traditional local knowledge of ethnic minorities contributes to the low-carbon development of the immigration areas.