Abstract
AbstractThechallengefacingurban policymakersis how to tackle the long-standing differences in social welfareand basic public services provision for migrant and incumbent workers arising from the dual-household registration system. In this chapter, we quantify inequalities in access to basic public services between migrant workers and the local urban population across different regions of China. We consider both inequalities within urban areas, and inequalities that exist between urban and rural areas. For urban areas, we find large inequalities in access to basic public services between the indigenous urban population and migrant workers. There are also significant differences between urban and rural areas. The level of basic public services in the West of China lags behind other regions. Across China as a whole, the gap within regions is greater than the gap between regions. Internal variations within a region arise mainly from inequality in access to basic public services between urban and rural populations and across urban neighbourhoods. Chinese public services are characterised by ‘dualisation’ in urban–rural provision and ‘fragmentation’ across regions in terms of the level and quality of service. These two features constitute a formidable obstacle for the ‘citizenisation’ of migrant workers. We provide detailed examples from across China of countermeasures and strategies currently being implemented to reduce inequalities in public service provision.
Highlights
In this chapter, we investigate the inequalities in access to public services that have emerged as a result of the urbanisation process over the past 40 years
Services for migrant workers in urban areas are poorly available and narrow in scope and these are the main reasons for the sense of a lack of belonging and integration among these groups in Chinese cities
There is an urgent need for improving service quality in education and medical health provision in rural areas
Summary
We investigate the inequalities in access to public services that have emerged as a result of the urbanisation process over the past 40 years. They have become industrial workers and made a great contribution to urban construction and development. New models of urbanisation must encompass an increase in the number of towns, the expansion of urban space and the higher proportion of the population living in cities They must deal with the transformation of human production and living standards through improvements in the quality of urban development. The aim is to transform them into urban residents and
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