Belonging to a Place: An Analysis of the Perceptions of Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China^*

ABSTRACT

The predominant trend has been rapid and unprecedented migration from rural to urban China since the mid-1980s. This dramatic demographic change has profoundly reshaped the migrants’ sense of the newly settled place. By examining the perceptual changes that have occurred in this usual context, we attempted to analyze the impact of social connection on the migrants’ sense of belonging to the host cities. In order to accomplish this, we conducted an empirical study featuring 12,807 rural-to-urban migrants across eight Chinese cities. We found that their contact with residents who were not related to them was positively linked to the development of a sense of belonging in the host cities, whereas contact with only nonresidents had the opposite effect. In addition, we also observed that one’s sense of belonging is mostly fostered by one’s direct interaction with a place, but it could be also be indirectly mediated via social contacts. Furthermore, the context of place will affect one’s affinity for it. Also, the availability of public services generates positive feelings regarding the new place, whereas large population size has the opposite effect. This study deepened our understanding about migrants’ subjective sense place and revealed the inherent complexity in this relationship.

Keywords:

• social contact
• rural-urban migrant
• sense of belonging
• hukou
• public services
• urban China

Notes

  ¹There are two major insurance programs in the Chinese context: one is health insurance – insurers pay a small amount each month, when if they are seriously ill the insurance companies will pay for their bills; the other one is pension-insurers pay a certain amount each month and then receives refunds above a certain age.

  ²Although most scholarly efforts have historically been paid to the negative effects of mobility on sense of belonging (e.g., Relph 1976), its positive effects are increasingly emphasized these days.