Housing Migrant Workers in Rapidly Urbanizing Regions: A Study of the Chinese Model in Shenzhen

China has experienced a huge wave of rural to urban migration over the last 25 years; however, Chinese cities do not have the large-scale slum settlements found in other developing countries. Has China found a new way to solve the housing problems of migrants and the urban poor? This paper addresses this question and reports the findings of a recent research project carried out in Shenzhen City. In general, Chinese migrants are poor in comparison with official urban residents. The majority of them live in shared rooms or small apartments in the so-called urban villages. Housing poverty, especially overcrowding, is a serious problem. This paper also highlights the positive contributions made by urban villages and private landlords in housing the large number of migrants in cities.     

人口流动特征对流动人口住房选择影响机制分析——以广东省为例

基于2017年广东省流动人口动态监测调查数据,采用无序多分类Logistic模型,分别分析流动时间、流动范围、流入城市类型对流动人口住房选择的影响.研究发现:流动时间、流动范围、流入城市类型均对其住房选择影响显著,流动时间长的省内流动人口更可能拥有自有产权住房,三、四线城市的跨省流动人口更倾向于选择免费住房,而一、二线...     

Social Capital and Migrant Housing Experiences in Urban China: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis

Rural–urban migration and housing for the urban poor have attracted worldwide attention from both scholars and policy makers. In China, empirical studies have revealed tremendous discrimination experienced by temporary migrants in the urban housing system, but most have emphasized constraints by formal institutions such as the hukou system. This paper adopts a sociological theory of social capital and employs structural equation modeling to investigate, simultaneously, the impacts of social capital on migrants' housing experiences in Chinese cities, as well as the causal relationships between a migrant's socioeconomic status and his/her social capital profile. Based on data from a twelve-city migrant survey conducted in 2009, statistical analysis revealed that, although migrant workers in general possess a small and truncated network of social ties in the city, those migrants who are connected to individuals with local hukou, rather than connected to more people, have higher access to formal housing and tend to enjoy better housing conditions.     

Migration and foreign direct investment: education matters

The rapid growth in the foreign-born population in many high- and middle-income countries in recent decades has prompted much research on the socio-economic determinants and impacts of immigration. This paper investigates the relationship between the stock of foreign population by nationality living in the UK and the bilateral stock of foreign direct investment (FDI), both inward FDI into the UK and outward FDI from the UK. This study contributes to the literature on the above-mentioned association between migration and FDI, by using the UK annual data from 2001 to 2007 for 22 countries on the inward volume of FDI and for 27 countries on the outward volume of FDI. Our study finds a significant and positive relationship between migration and outward FDI. This result also holds, if we correct for endogeneity by using an instrumental variable approach. If we then include the education level of migrants living in the UK, our results indicate that the more educated migrants from a certain country are, the stronger positive effect they have on FDI in both directions (inward and outward).     

Relational and gendered selves: older Irish migrants’ housing and employment histories in the north and East Midlands of England

Most accounts of migration stress the economic necessity, but generally blur the role of migrants themselves in the process. It is also rare to consider male and female migrants together, or to explore the relational aspects of masculinity and femininity in migration histories. This paper explores the relational aspects of Irish (‘Irish’ is used throughout this article to refer to our participants who self-identified as ‘Irish’. It is further noted that all of the participants were from the Republic of Ireland and hence does not include Northern Irish migrants. Where ‘Ireland’ is used it refers to the Republic of Ireland) migrants’ residential and work histories using narrative enquiry. First, we explore the complex relationship between housing and employment in Irish women and men’s stories focusing particularly on the early phase of migration. Second, we argue that these narratives, especially the ‘intertwining personal, sub-cultural and cultural stories’ are essential in understanding Irish migrants’ experiences. Third, we posit that gender emerges as a significant factor with qualitative differences in Irish women’s and men’s trajectories. Our analysis focuses on the self-in-relation, housing pathways and gendered housing and employment strategies.     

土地改革、住房保障与城乡转型发展——集体土地建设租赁住房改革的机遇与挑战

分析了我国城乡二元土地制度对住房市场和城乡空间分异的影响,提出以集体土地进入城市租赁住房市场改革为突破口,逐步搭建在中国主要人口流入地城市加快培育市场化定价的租赁住房体系,并进而建立城乡转型发展的整体制度框架.通过市场化手段,为流动人口和城市“夹心层”居民提供可支付的体面租赁住房,同时优化城乡结合部的空间利用效率,提升环境品质,最终实现土地更有效率利用基础上的人口完全城镇化.     

Housing and the Migration Turnaround in Ireland

This article examines how changing patterns of migration in Ireland affected housing markets. It identifies a dramatic migration turnaround in the Republic of Ireland as net migration loss was replaced by high levels of net inward migration after 1996. The migration turnaround comprised less outward migration and a strong inflow, including return migrants (first and second generation) and overseas-born non-citizen immigrants. The migration turnaround resulted in greater ethnic diversity and, combined with other economic and demographic changes, boosted already-growing housing demand. Northern Ireland, by way of contrast, had net migration loss during the 1990s and lower growth in housing demand.     

Housing quality and resilience in New Zealand

There is extensive research on the negative health impacts of poor housing quality. However, little is known about the potential health benefits of high-quality housing in poor neighbourhoods. Neighbourhoods with unexpectedly good health outcomes despite high levels of deprivation have been deemed resilient places and housing quality in these areas may be a contributor to this resilience. This study aimed to evaluate whether an indicator of neighbourhood housing quality was associated with a previously quantified resilience index (RINZ) in New Zealand. It was found that areas with high housing quality tended to have higher median income, greater proportions of partnered people and shorter-term residents, and very low proportions of Māori. A positive association was found between housing quality and resilience, after adjustment for deprivation. There was no indication of differences by heterogeneity in housing quality within the aggregate unit of analysis. These findings pose the hypothesis that improving housing quality in similarly deprived areas that have poor health outcomes could potentially boost health. To extend this understanding, further development of a more sophisticated housing quality indicator is recommended.     

新市民住房租购选择意愿的影响因素研究——来自广州的实证

基于2019年对广州市新市民展开的住房需求问卷调查数据,采用二元Logit回归模型来探索广州市新市民对于住房租购选择意愿的影响因素.研究发现:新市民家庭收入水平普遍偏低;具有城镇户籍的新市民购房意愿更强;文化程度越高、现住房面积越大、家庭留穗意愿越强的新市民购房意愿更强;随着年龄的增长新市民的购房意愿呈下降趋势;适龄儿...     

我国流动人口住房租购选择及其影响因素——基于 2017 年 CMDS 的实证分析

基于 2017 年中国流动人口动态监测数据,从就业因素、流动因素、个人因素和城市经济因素四方面构建全国和不同层级城市的流动人口租购选择影响因素评价模型,并运用 Logit 回归法进行分析。结果表明:流动人口住房选择以租房为主,不同层级城市流动人口租购选择比例有差异。其中一线城市流动人口的购房比例最小,租房比例最大;四线城市购房比例最大,租房比例最小。上述四方面因素对流动人口的租购选择有显著影响。不同因素对不同层级城市流动人口的租购选择影响存在差异,尤其城市经济因素中房价要素差异显著。一二三线城市房价与租购选择呈现正“U”型关系,四五线城市呈现倒“U”型关系。     

Transnational migration,remittances and the financialization of housing in Colombia

Recently, various Latin American governments have sought to render migrants as development agents by channelling remittances to specific sectors such as housing and finance. The available literature has yet to articulate how these developments are reconfiguring the political economy of housing in the region. The paper draws on empirical data collected at both ends of the Colombia–UK migration network. It argues that the Colombian Government’s efforts to incorporate migrants into the polity through a renovated housing policy aim to institutionalize migrant households’ transnational practices and their links with global circuits of capital and finance. They are underpinned by the repositioning of housing away from consumption into an investment item and driver of economic growth and the financial sector as the main medium for households’ access to public and private housing, and other basic services. These developments have taken place in the context of a broader process of financialization of the global development agenda in the last three decades.     

Aging Baby Boomers and the Generational Housing Bubble: Foresight and Mitigation of an Epic Transition

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Transit-oriented developments (TODs) often consist of new housing near rail stations. Channeling urban growth into such developments is intended in part to reduce the climate change, pollution, and congestion caused by driving. But new housing might be expected to attract more affluent households that drive more, and rail access might have smaller effects on auto ownership and use than housing tenure and size, parking availability, and the neighborhood and subregional built environments.

I surveyed households in northern New Jersey living within two miles of 10 rail stations about their housing age and type, access to off-street parking, work and non-work travel patterns, demographics, and reasons for choosing their neighborhoods. The survey data were geocoded and joined to on-street parking data from a field survey, along with neighborhood and subregional built environment measures. I analyzed how these factors were correlated with automobile ownership and use as reported in the survey.

Auto ownership, commuting, and grocery trip frequency were substantially lower among households living in new housing near rail stations compared to those in new households farther away. But rail access does little to explain this fact. Housing type and tenure, local and subregional density, bus service, and particularly off- and on-street parking availability, play a much more important role.

Takeaway for practice: Transportation and land use planners should broaden their efforts to develop dense, mixed-use, low-parking housing beyond rail station areas. This could be both more influential and less expensive than a development policy oriented around rail.

Research support: Data collection and initial research were funded under contract with the New Jersey Department of Transportation.     

Quality matters: housing and the mental health of rural migrants in urban China

Abstract

This study goes beyond housing ownership and investigates how housing size, quality, and location affect the mental health of rural migrants in urban China. By using the RUMiC data, the results show that in addition to housing ownership, living space and housing quality are also significantly associated with the mental health of rural migrants. Moreover, with an increase in living space, the mental health of rural migrants who live in private rental housing tends to improve significantly slower than rural migrants who live in dormitories. Furthermore, housing quality and housing location do not moderate the effect of housing ownership on the mental health of rural migrants. This study highlights that it is important to go beyond homeownership and pay more attention to other attributes of housing when studying the mental health of rural migrants. Particularly, this study underscores that improving housing quality is an effective way to improve the mental health of rural migrants in urban China.     

Housing entry pathways of refugees in Vienna,a city of social housing

This article presents the findings of an empirical study investigating refugees’ difficult entry into Vienna’s ‘tight’ housing market. Arguing that newcomers’ access to housing can be better understood by a closer look at the actors involved in the housing search process, an actor-centred approach is used. Complementing the constructivist pathway framework with a model of search based on Bourdieu’s theory of practice, four types of housing entry pathways could be identified. This study draws on semi-structured in-depth interviews with forced migrants who arrived in Austria in recent years. The analysis of newcomers’ housing entry pathways not only sheds light on the coordination structures at work in a city of social housing, but also on ‘good’ and ‘bad’ rental housing submarkets that have emerged in the course of the recent refugee movement. The paper concludes that a high proportion of social housing does not provide any indication that newcomers are granted better access to secure affordable housing.     

Residential Satisfaction in Housing Estates in European Cities: A Multi-level Research Approach

This paper mainly focuses on the determinants of housing and estate satisfaction in post-Second World War housing estates. Multi-level linear regression models were applied to estimate the impacts of individual, dwelling and estate characteristics on resident satisfaction levels, using a unique dataset from 25 post-Second World War estates in nine European countries. It is concluded that satisfaction with the dwelling is higher for the elderly and residents with higher incomes, and in situations where the dwelling has been renovated and is sufficiently large. The presence of children and a longer duration of stay have negative impacts, and renters are generally more negative than owners. Estate satisfaction is highest among immigrant households or when the dwelling is renovated, and among lower educated inhabitants. Individual characteristics and opinions on the estate are more important than estate characteristics in explaining estate satisfaction. The overall conclusion is that attempts to improve post-Second World War areas may result in new areas, but does not necessarily improve the overall satisfaction.     

How to determine the financial possibilities of Dutch housing associations

The mission of Dutch housing associations is to helpfulfil the social housing tasks in the Netherlandswithout endangering their financial continuity.Furthermore, any financial resources that they do notneed to secure their financial continuity must be usedin the interest of social housing. Therefore it isimportant to determine the financial scope ofhousing associations. Their financial possibilitiesare dictated largely by the value of their housingstock. The estimated value of the stock, and thereforeof the financial possibilities, is partly determinedby the method that is used to value the housing stock.This paper will focus on the relationship between thefinancial position of the housing associations and thevaluation of their housing stock.     

Global exposure and Auckland's housing market

This is a story of how economic reforms in New Zealand since the mid-1980s changed conditions for investment in the property sector and have periodically distorted Auckland's housing market. The contribution of immigration and funds that migrants have brought with them, and their strong preference for Auckland as a destination, also help to account for the growth of Auckland and activity levels in the housing market. The opening up of the New Zealand economy in the last two decades has exposed Auckland to growth pressures that are now evident in the city's labour and housing markets.     

Global exposure and Auckland's housing market1

This is a story of how economic reforms in New Zealand since the mid‐1980s changed conditions for investment in the property sector and have periodically distorted Auckland's housing market. The contribution of immigration and funds that migrants have brought with them, and their strong preference for Auckland as a destination, also help to account for the growth of Auckland and activity levels in the housing market. The opening up of the New Zealand economy in the last two decades has exposed Auckland to growth pressures that are now evident in the city's labour and housing markets.     

The Political Economy of Social Housing Reform—A Framework for Considering Decentralised Ownership, Management and Service Delivery in Australia

Several State Housing Authorities in Australia are currently examining models of devolved management and ownership of social housing stock and addressing reduced Commonwealth State Housing Agreement funding (or have already done so). These changes in the provision and mode of below-market accommodation are reflective of two broad trends: firstly, a greater reliance on market and not-for-profit provision of public services; and, secondly, a change in the role and mode of bureaucratic intervention at various levels of government. In this article we illustrate a framework for analysing these changes by focusing on the transfer of some 86 000 properties from the Glasgow City Council to the Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) in 2003 and also provide an interpretation of how the restructuring of social housing in the UK reflects the political economy of property rights, and the governance and incentive structure through which the restructuring of advanced economies is implemented. We conclude by briefly drawing implications from the British case for Australia. The analysis is conducted in a new institutional tradition that assesses property rights and the provision of social housing, and associated policy goals, under comparative institutional arrangements or governance structures. We argue that stock transfer in essence is a policy of delineating ownership of different attributes of the housing stock and that such a delineation is crucial to the functioning of the emerging governance structure and the ability of stakeholders to extract value from ownership. We draw on a series of interviews conducted by the authors as part of research into the 2003 GHA transfer. These interviews were conducted with policy makers and politicians (past and present), the regulator in Scotland, GHA staff and representatives of the community-based housing association sector in Glasgow.     

Housing ownership and housing wealth: new evidence in transitional China

Ever since housing was transformed from the most important welfare benefit to the most valuable form of private property through radical housing reform in 1998, housing allocation mechanisms in China have been characterized by the coexistence of market logic and socialist legacy. Thus, the Chinese housing system exhibits a transitional nature as the country moves away from a socialist housing system towards a privatized housing system. Using the 2011 Chinese Household Finance Survey, we not only examine these changes in private ownership of housing, but also give an updated evaluation of the privatization process with new empirical evidence. We develop a conceptual framework and an empirical analysis to shed light on distinct housing inequality patterns in transitional urban China. Our results show that both socioeconomic characteristics and socialist institutions contribute to housing inequality, but they follow different paths in the reform and have different impacts on housing inequality.