Residential mobility within Guangzhou city, China, 1990–2010: local residents versus migrants

Abstract

Drawing on residential history data from two household surveys conducted in Guangzhou in 2005 and 2010, this paper compares the pattern of intra-city residential moves of local residents and that of migrants. The findings show different trajectories of residential moves for the two groups. While migrants showed increasing mobility over time, residential moves of locals first rose until the early 2000s, then declined steadily afterward. Moreover, the determinants of residential moves of migrants differ from those of the local population. Also, whereas residential moves for the local population are subject to changing factors over time, drivers of relocation for migrants remain more or less stable.

The Spatial Pattern of Residential Mobility in Guangzhou, China

“…An overview of the descriptive statistics for movers after relocation is provided in Table . Consistent with the existing literature, compared to stayers, movers on average are younger and better educated; moreover, they tend to be renters (see, for example, Li and Zhu, ). The outer suburbs, had the highest number of youngest local residents, after relocation, of the three distance zones.…”

“…As may be expected, the persistent local versus non‐local hukou divide impinges on patterns of residential flows. Specifically, local hukou holders have shown decreasing residential mobility — in other words, increasing residential stability — in recent years (Li and Zhu, ). Unlike migrants without proper hukou status, local urbanites are entitled to a variety of housing benefits, such as affordable housing or low‐rent housing.…”

“…Wu, ; W.P. Wu, ; Li and Zhu, ), because population groups with differing hukou status are likely to have different concerns and preferences, and tend to be subject to different constraints in residential choice. Clearly, studies of housing consumption and residential location and relocation in urban China need to take hukou status into account.…”

Neighbourhood cohesion under the influx of migrants in Shanghai

“…This is of little surprise when considering that migrants often choose to live in poor neighbourhood due to their affordability and proximity to work (Li and Zhu, 2014). Time and energy investments into the neighbourhood are thus scarce compared to local residents.…”

Migration, mobility, and community change in Chinese cities: introducing the special issue

“…Specifically, Li and Zhu (2015) take on the issue of migrants housing by comparing the propensity to move residences as well as the factors underlying these residential moves between migrants and locals in Guangzhou. The findings show that among those with local hukou, the mobility rate declined in the 2000s after an initial period of relatively Eurasian Geography and Economics 309 high mobility caused by the hugely discounted sales of work-unit housing in the late 1990s.…”