Low-Wage Migrants in North-Western Beijing: The Precarious Tenancy and Floating Life

Abstract

This chapter covers the housing survey of the low-wage migrant tenants, who have been viewed as hikers or sojourners in the urbanization and growth process. It begins with a review of the hukou policy, explaining how the hukou system has functioned as a selective entry mechanism for migrant workers into the host cities. A housing survey was conducted from February to April 2011 in Beijing’s Great Zhongguancun Area, which reflects the effects of a new wave of city-branding movements (including plans for a world-class IT centre) and tightening of residency controls since the late 2000s. The survey examines the migrants’ housing and re-housing experiences in north-western Beijing and their adaptive response to the demolition of illegal rented housing. Results have indicated that the low-wage migrant tenants, who are ‘transient residents’ with few rights or protections, can be easily forced out of areas identified as prime sites for city-branding projects.