Residential Mobility of Locals and Migrants in Northwest Urban China

Xiaoting Jia,Jun Lei

doi:10.3390/su11133507

Abstract

With the increase in urbanization, intraurban residential mobility, which underlies urban growth and spatial restructuring, is gradually becoming an integral part of migration in China. However, little is known about the differences in residential mobility between locals and migrants, especially in urban areas in Northwest China. In this study, we aimed to fill this void by investigating the residential mobility patterns among Urumqi’s locals and migrants based on data from a survey and face-to-face interviews that were conducted in 2018. The results first show that the migrants with low homeownership rates relocated more frequently, but had less intentions to move within Urumqi, compared with the locals. A larger proportion of migrants than locals was forced to migrate. Evidence also suggests that the migration directions of locals and migrants differ: both locals and migrants tended to relocate from the southern areas, like Tianshan and Saybark Districts, to northern areas, like Xinshi and Midong Districts, which show the northward migration process of the urban population center in Urumqi. In contrast to the locals, whose net migration direction was from marginal areas to the central area, the net migration direction of migrants was from the central area to the marginal areas, contributing to the formation of migrant communities in the suburbs and spatial segregation between locals and migrants. Lastly, the locals’ intentions to move were widely influenced by age, ethnic group, type of employment, family population, housing area, and residential satisfaction; the migrants’ mobility intentions were mainly influenced by housing type and residential satisfaction. To attract more migrants to the urban areas in Northwest China, a more relaxed migrants’ household registration policy should be implemented, and the inequalities of the social security system and housing system between migrants and locals should be reduced to bridge the gap between migrants and locals.

Highlights

China has witnessed large-scale and high-intensity rural-urban and interregional population mobility since 1978, which has resulted in rapidly growing migrants in China’s metropolises [1]
We first compared the basic characteristics of the locals and migrants in Urumqi based on the data from the intraurban relocation investigation in 2018, and analyzed the spatial consequences of intraurban relocation of locals and migrants based on the spatial assimilation theory
Our results show the following: (1) Regarding the characteristics of locals and migrants who had relocated in Urumqi, overall, the migrants were younger than the locals, and the education level of migrants was significantly lower than that of the local population

Summary

Introduction

China has witnessed large-scale and high-intensity rural-urban and interregional population mobility since 1978, which has resulted in rapidly growing migrants in China’s metropolises [1]. China’s urban population mainly consists of two parts: the locals with local household registration (hukou) and the migrants without it, as specified by the specific household registration system [2]. Migrants in China’s cities, especially rural migrants, are faced with many disadvantages, including institutional barriers (no local hukou), social discrimination, low level of education (usually primary and junior middle schools), low income, poor social security, lack of legal protection, and low access to education, social security housing, and basic public health services [3]. Residential mobility is the adjustment process of family housing consumption It underlies much of urban growth and change [6], and is central to understanding urban dynamics and changing social and spatial stratification in cities [7]. With the rise of housing mobility in urban China, urban studies and urban development must examine the residential mobility of locals and migrants in urban areas in Northwest China [9]

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion