Migrant Intra-urban Residential Mobility in Urban China

Migrant housing and mobility patterns are affected by both the unique institutional factors related to migration and a common set of socio-economic characteristics shared by urban residents. China’s unprecedented waves of internal migration are accompanied by long-standing rural–urban and local–nonlocal divides that have been institutionalized through the household registration system. This paper empirically assesses intra-urban migrant mobility in two of China’s largest cities, Beijing and Shanghai. It examines the range and determinants of migrant mobility behaviour and rates, tenure and spatial patterns of migrant intra-urban mobility, and key sources of information and assistance in migrant residential moves. The main findings are based on data drawn from city-wide migrant housing surveys, supplemented by in-depth interviews. Demographic factors such as age and education prove to be significant predictors of both actual moves and prospective mobility. Migrants who rent public housing as their initial housing choice are much less likely to make moves subsequently and experience a lower average mobility rate. Longer-term migrants seem to gain some degree of residential stability, making duration of residence the single most influential factor for mobility rate. However, the high rate of mobility is not necessarily driven by the need for tenure or even amenity as few migrants make the transition from renters to owners after years of living in the cities.