Urban amenity and settlement intentions of rural-urban migrants in China.

Liping Liao,Chunchao Wang,Mingxing Chen

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0215868

Abstract

The existing literature concentrates on the relationship between amenities and migrants or residents. However, only a few studies have focused on the role of city amenities in determining the intentions of rural–urban migrants. Such a relation is a key issue in Chinese urbanisation development. The current study investigates the effects of urban amenities on the settlement intentions of rural–urban migrants in China. We find that medical amenities have a significantly positive effect on rural–urban migrants’ intentions. We also indicate that educational amenities and transportation services attract rural–urban migrants to settle in cities. Furthermore, we explore the heterogeneous effects of amenities on different cohorts by education and age. High- and low-skilled rural–urban migrants focus on transportation amenities, while young and middle–aged migrants are attracted by urban educational amenities. Results suggest that increasing access to urban amenities for rural–urban migrants and improving urban amenities enhance the willingness of rural–urban migrants to stay in cities.

Highlights

In recent years, the number of rural–urban migrants has been steadily increasing and eventually reached 277.47 million in 2015 (a 1.3% increase from 2014)
After controlling whether rural–urban migrants have participated in medical insurance, we find that medical services have a positive effect on settlement intentions
We investigate whether the skill–sorting phenomenon exists among rural– urban migrants in China and whether high–skilled rural–urban migrants tend to live in cities with higher wages and improved amenities

Summary

Introduction

The number of rural–urban migrants has been steadily increasing and eventually reached 277.47 million in 2015 (a 1.3% increase from 2014). Rural labourers often migrate to cities to make a living, they may not settle in the cities because of institutional and economic conditions. Hukou (household registration) impedes rural migrants from flowing freely to cities [1]. Farming income is negatively correlated with the probability of migration, while the least and most educated workers are likely to stay in their villages [2]. Apart from the aforementioned determinants, the issue of whether the urban amenity environment affects residents’ willingness to stay in cities has rarely been investigated. We explore how different amenities influence rural–urban migrants’ decision to settle in cities for a midterm period. We determine whether these amenities have a heterogeneous influence on different cohorts

Objectives

Results

Conclusion