Migrant Workers' Choices for Settlements with the Redevelopment of Urban Villages in China

Abstract

Since the reform and opening-up, China has experienced rapid urbanization and massive migration, and migrant workers are the main part of it. As the low-income group, they used to be farmers but have left rural areas and found jobs in cities. To some extents, they have made a significant contribution to burgeoning labor market and played an important role in speeding up the transition from a planned to a market economy of China. Most of them come from relatively undeveloped areas to developed areas (i.e. Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou). Beijing is one of the cities where most migrant workers live and work. They generally live in the urban villages of Beijing due to low rental costs. Gradually, some problems, such as environmental deterioration, public or social security, illegal building, and so on, have arisen in urban villages. To deal with these problems, Beijing city government carried out a plan of urban village redevelopment, and thus migrant workers have to make choices for their next settlements as well. The study aims at analyzing the migrant workers choices for settlements（four choices: return, another urban village, resettlement, and urban area）with the redevelopment of urban villages in Beijing, and mainly focuses on which factors influence their different choices for settlements, as well as how to influence their choices. For exploring the mentioned questions, the study makes a survey on the six urban villages (Mingguang, Shiliuzhuang, Guanzhuang, Yamenkou, Efang, and Zhongtan) located in six districts (Haidian, Fengtai, Chaoyang, Shijingshan, Daxing, and Changping) in Beijing, interviews 50 migrant workers from each region, and collects 300 copies of questionnaire concerned with the 12 surveyed items designed based on the previous researches and the real situations in urban villages. A method of Multinomial Logistic Regression is used to analyze the factors influencing migrant workers choices. The results show that the independent variables, except redevelopment style, have different extents of effects on migrant workers choices for settlements. The factors rental affordability, social belongingness, working stability, and educational level have large and wide effects on their choices among four settlements

commuting time is found to only influence their internal migration in cities

redevelopment level has comparatively weak impacts on their choices for resettlement or not. Some personal factors (age, sex, marital status, and family structure) strongly affect their choices for return or not. By analyzing the effects of their different choices for settlements on urban development, the study proposes that inducing migrant workers choice to resettle in redeveloped urban village (resettlement) might solve and avoid various urban problems caused by their other choices. To fulfill that, the study recommends some policies based on main findings, referring the education of migrant workers and children, social security and welfare, occupational training, construction of low-rent houses, construction of migrant worker community, and so on.

Keywords: rapid urbanization

urban village

migrant worker

urban village redevelopment

choice for settlement Student ID: 2011-30829