TY - JOUR
T1 - The Spatial Pattern of Residential Mobility in Guangzhou, China
AU - Li, Si Ming
AU - Mao, Sanqin
N1 - Funding Information:
The data used in this study are based on a household survey we conducted in Guangzhou in late 2012 in conjunction with a team of scholars from Hong Kong Baptist University, Sun Yat-sen University and Duke University. Guangzhou, one of the largest and fastest growing metropolises in China, has experienced both massive urban redevelopment and tremendous physical expansion since the early 1990s (Li and Liu,). The basic development strategy here was one of ?advancement in the east, linkage with the west, expansion in the south and optimization in the north? (Guangzhou Municipal Government,). Many large-scale housing projects were developed in the eastern and southern suburbs. Tianhe District to the east of the old city has been the focus of urban growth since the founding of the Guangzhou Economic and Technical Development Zone in 1984. Subsequent mega projects included Tianhe Business Center and Zhujiang New Town, the city's new central business district (CBD); Pazhou Convention and Exhibition Center; and Guangzhou High-Tech Development Zone (Li and Liu,). In Panyu District, across the Pearl River in the south, mushrooming new commodity housing estates are drawing more and more residents, facilitated by the construction and extension of the metro lines and elevated expressways to these districts. According to the Guangzhou Statistical Bureau (;), 1.5 million square meters and 2.4 million square meters of commodity housing in Panyu were sold in 2008 and 2012, respectively. Concomitantly, the old city witnessed wholesale redevelopment of residential neighborhoods that predate the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, as well as of work-unit compounds constructed in the socialist era. The survey was primarily designed to allow us to examine homeowners? associations (HOAs) in China. In Guangzhou, under the guidance of the municipal and district governments and in the name of building a harmonious society, HOAs have been formed in a large number of neighborhoods. Out of a total of 2,426 residential neighborhoods in Guangzhou, 603 had established HOAs by late 2013 (He,). A wide range of residential neighborhoods were covered in the survey: newly developed suburban commodity housing estates, former work-unit compounds populated by migrant workers, and inner-city residential districts. Urban villages or neighborhoods with informal housing in (former) rural villages surrounded by urban developments, where migrants from the country's vast rural hinterlands congregate, were the only significant absence in this survey. Thus, rural migrants are likely to be under-sampled.
PY - 2019/9
Y1 - 2019/9
N2 - In urban China, residential mobility behaviors have changed fundamentally in recent decades. While research has been undertaken on the trends and causes of residential relocation for different population groups, less attention has been paid to micro-level processes of residential change, yet the latter underscore urban dynamics. This study addresses this through a survey conducted in Guangzhou in late 2012, which analyzes the spatial flows of residential shifts within and between three distance zones—inner core, inner suburbs and outer suburbs—to reveal complex mobility trends. In particular, hukou or household registration status, socio-economic status, the nature and rank of employment, and tenure were found to have varied effects on the probability of inward and outward shifts. More specifically, while outward shifts in recent years mainly involved local hukou holders, families with higher education levels, a higher socio-economic status or those working for government departments and public institutions were found to be more likely to settle in high-rise commodity housing in the inner core. The majority of non-hukou migrants, by contrast, moved within the same street or between adjacent streets within the same suburban area, while age, socio-economic status and homeownership were found to increase an individual's chance of an inward shift.
AB - In urban China, residential mobility behaviors have changed fundamentally in recent decades. While research has been undertaken on the trends and causes of residential relocation for different population groups, less attention has been paid to micro-level processes of residential change, yet the latter underscore urban dynamics. This study addresses this through a survey conducted in Guangzhou in late 2012, which analyzes the spatial flows of residential shifts within and between three distance zones—inner core, inner suburbs and outer suburbs—to reveal complex mobility trends. In particular, hukou or household registration status, socio-economic status, the nature and rank of employment, and tenure were found to have varied effects on the probability of inward and outward shifts. More specifically, while outward shifts in recent years mainly involved local hukou holders, families with higher education levels, a higher socio-economic status or those working for government departments and public institutions were found to be more likely to settle in high-rise commodity housing in the inner core. The majority of non-hukou migrants, by contrast, moved within the same street or between adjacent streets within the same suburban area, while age, socio-economic status and homeownership were found to increase an individual's chance of an inward shift.
KW - Guangzhou
KW - hukou
KW - residential mobility
KW - spatial sorting
KW - urban China
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85053223383&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/1468-2427.12625
DO - 10.1111/1468-2427.12625
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85053223383
SN - 0309-1317
VL - 43
SP - 963
EP - 982
JO - International Journal of Urban and Regional Research
JF - International Journal of Urban and Regional Research
IS - 5
ER -
