Small town urbanization in Western China: Villager resettlement and integration in Xi’an

Abstract

This paper investigates land-related resettlement and integration institutions and policies in small town urbanization from the perspective of affected villagers, focusing on their socioeconomic opportunities and life transformation. Based on the conceptual discourse on rural-urban societal differences, institutional boundaries, and resource redistribution, it examines the process and outcomes of rural villagers’ transformation under land-related local policies and the market, and articulates affected villagers’ viewpoints regarding compensation, resettlement, and integration. By the case of three small towns in metropolitan Xi’an, the paper discusses educational attainments and occupations, household earnings, income compositions, home-workplace commuting patterns and modes, social security programs, and attitudes towards land acquisition and resettlement. The study calls for villager-centered hybrid governance for humanistic planning and management of resettlement communities in small town urbanization.