Neighbourhoods in shaping migrant integration: A study of peri-urban Beijing

Abstract

The question of how (im)migrants integrate into their host societies has long been a focus of scholarly research. This article adds to this body of knowledge by examining how different types of neighbourhoods shape the integration experience of migrant residents and their daily practice in peri-urban Beijing. The study was conducted by non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews in four peri-urban Beijing neighbourhoods. The findings suggest that migrant integration has a spatial dimension, with integration differences being enhanced and fixed through residential differentiation. Specifically, a migrant’s position in the urban economy predetermines their integration path and neighbourhood preference, with the neighbourhood further impacting their social integration through embedded lifestyles and ideologies. Neighbourhoods serve as essential places of shared experience in which distinct migrant social groups are formed. Theoretically, the study contributes to the debate between ethnic enclaves and mixed neighbourhoods by arguing that mixed neighbourhoods foster stronger sentiments toward host cities among migrant residents. The failure of integration is not necessarily a result of a neighbourhood’s homogenous tenure and population but rather because residents are not involved in the formal urban economy. Unlike ethnoburbs in America, urban villages in peri-urban Beijing cannot generate upward social mobility because of the informality. Low-skilled migrant entrepreneurs struggle to develop their informal businesses facing unpredictable demolishment of urban villages.