Residential Satisfaction in China's Informal Settlements: A Case Study of Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou

Figures & data

Fig. 1. The sample villages in Shanghai (a), Beijing (b), and Guangzhou (c) (2010).

Table 1. Socioeconomic Variables of the Samples

	Shanghai		Beijing		Guangzhou		Total
Household head (HH) age
0–29	93	23%	140	35%	125	31%	358	30%
30–64	290	73%	249	62%	264	66%	803	67%
Above 65	16	4%	12	3%	11	3%	39	3%
HH gender
Male	343	86%	335	82%	327	82%	1,005	83%
Female	57	14%	72	18%	71	18%	200	17%
Marriage
Single	41	10%	97	24%	97	24%	235	20%
Married	357	90%	310	76%	301	76%	968	80%
Children
Stay with no child	234	59%	247	61%	216	54%	697	58%
Stay with >= 1 child	166	42%	161	39%	184	46%	511	42%
University degree
None	358	90%	336	82%	344	86%	1,038	86%
Hold	42	11%	72	18%	56	14%	170	14%
Hukou status
Other rural hukou	289	72%	243	60%	217	54%	749	62%
Other urban hukou	56	14%	77	19%	71	18%	204	17%
Local rural hukou	5	1%	46	11%	23	6%	74	6%
Local urban hukou	49	12%	40	10%	89	22%	178	15%
Income per month
0–1,999	78	26%	125	33%	154	39%	357	33%
2,000–3,999	166	56%	179	47%	158	40%	503	47%
4,000–5,999	37	13%	54	14%	58	15%	149	14%
6,000–7,999	11	4%	10	3%	13	3%	34	3%
above 8,000	3	1%	13	3%	17	4%	33	3%
HH occupation
State-owned enterprise (SOE)	17	5%	33	9%	22	6%	72	6%
Collective-owned enterprise (COE) or other enterprises	52	15%	56	14%	39	10%	147	13%
Private business	203	58%	201	52%	228	58%	632	56%
Retired	4	1%	3	1%	1	0%	8	1%
Others	76	22%	95	24%	106	27%	277	24%
HH employment
Manager or head	2	1%	11	3%	8	2%	21	2%
Technician	35	10%	46	13%	52	15%	133	13%
Staff	41	12%	15	4%	23	7%	79	8%
Industrial worker	41	12%	57	16%	39	11%	137	13%
Service worker	177	53%	167	47%	175	51%	519	50%
Peasants	12	4%	16	4%	6	2%	34	3%
Others	29	9%	46	13%	39	11%	114	11%

Table 2. Housing Variables of the Samples

	Shanghai		Beijing		Guangzhou		Migrants		Nonmigrants		Total
Variables	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%
Length of residency (N = 1,198)
0–3 year	128	50.0	141	54.0	119	38.3	360	55.8	27	15.0	387	46.9
4–10 year	75	29.3	70	26.8	88	28.3	217	33.6	15	8.3	232	28.1
11–30 year	27	10.5	21	8.0	64	20.6	68	10.5	43	23.9	111	13.5
Above 30 year	26	10.2	29	12.9	40	12.9	0	0.0	95	52.8	95	11.5
Property ownership (N = 1,187)
Rental	348	87.0	338	82.8	314	78.5	945	99.3	47	19.1	992	82.8
Own	52	13.0	70	17.2	86	21.5	7	0.7	199	80.9	206	17.2
House sharing (N = 1,181)
Self-use	377	94.5	343	87.1	324	82.0	817	86.5	220	92.8	1037	87.8
Share	22	5.5	51	12.9	71	18.0	127	13.5	17	7.2	144	12.2
House ownership (N = 1,198)
Rental	348	87.0	338	82.8	314	78.5	945	99.3	47	19.1	992	82.8
Own	52	13.0	70	17.2	86	21.5	7	0.7	199	80.9	206	17.2
Floor space (mean) (N = 1,130)	19.2		40.4		47.8		20.3		94		35.8
Housing type (N = 1,198)
One bedroom	295	81.0	262	75.5	236	59.7	722	83.1	65	28.4	787	71.7
Two bedrooms	51	14.0	40	11.5	113	28.6	116	13.3	87	38.0	203	18.5
Three bedrooms	13	3.6	13	3.7	33	8.4	23	2.6	35	15.3	58	5.3
Others	5	1.4	32	9.2	13	3.3	8	0.9	42	18.3	50	4.6
Built-up time of the house (N = 1,099)
House time pre-1949	2	0.6	4	1.0	8	2.0	6	0.7	8	3.3	14	1.3
House time 1950–1980	117	36.2	16	4.1	22	5.5	124	14.5	30	12.3	154	14.0
House time 1980–1999	187	57.9	208	53.9	224	56.4	468	54.7	145	59.4	613	55.8
House time 2000–2010	17	5.3	158	40.9	143	36.0	257	30.1	61	25.0	318	28.9

Table 3. Residential Satisfaction of the Samples^a

Mean	Shanghai		Beijing		Guangzhou		All
	Migrant	Nonmigrant	Migrant	Nonmigrant	Migrant	Nonmigrant	Migrant	Nonmigrant
Housing	2.89	3.22	2.91	3.68	2.98	3.42	2.92	3.46
Sanitary	2.59	2.02	2.72	2.47	2.84	3.18	2.71	2.70
Security	3.19	2.85	3.15	2.66	3.31	3.32	3.21	3.00
Neighborhood	3.04	2.87	2.74	2.67	3.08	3.33	2.96	3.02
Residential satisfaction index	53.5	54.6	48.4	53.5	56.4	63.4	52.8	58.3
Note: ^aIn the questionnaire the scores of residential satisfaction can be 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, indicating the range between “very dissatisfied” and “very satisfied”; residential satisfaction index is calculated as ∑Si/70 * 100; the range of the residential satisfaction index is 0–100, the higher the score, the higher the satisfaction level.

Table 4. Facility Conditions of the Samples^a

	Shanghai		Beijing		Guangzhou		All
	Migrant	Nonmigrant	Migrant	Nonmigrant	Migrant	Nonmigrant	Migrant	Nonmigrant
Index of facility (mean)	17	62	23	59	48	64	28	62
Kitchen (%)	9.8	90.7	16.8	76.3	71.1	92.8	30.7	86.9
Toilet (%)	7.8	79.6	13.0	53.8	87.5	91.9	33.6	76.7
Shower (%)	5.2	66.7	7.0	57.0	74.6	92.8	26.8	75.4
Gas (%)	76.9	77.8	40.3	73.8	0.0	0.0	66.6	83.7
Air conditioner (%)	13.9	87.0	14.0	62.5	21.6	65.8	16.3	69.4
Heating (%)	0.0	5.7	47.1	73.8	2.8	5.4	16.5	26.9
Internet (%)	15.9	57.4	38.2	58.8	41.5	65.0	31.0	61.2
Note: ^aThe calculation of “Index of facility” is based on the dummy variable (IF) of the ownership of various facilities (yes = 1, no = 0); Index of facility is calculated as ∑IF/7 * 100; the score of the index is 0–100, the higher the score, the higher the facility conditions.

Table 5. Neighborhood Attachment Index of the Samples^a

	Shanghai	Beijing	Guangzhou	Migrants	Nonmigrants	All
Local residents are nice to my family	3.61	3.68	3.52	3.55	3.80	3.60
Neighborhood residents have the same perspectives and habits	3.31	3.19	3.06	3.10	3.56	3.19
I can get help from the neighbors	3.36	3.27	3.10	3.20	3.52	3.25
I know a number of neighbors	3.45	3.24	3.24	3.18	3.99	3.31
Most neighbors know me	3.47	3.27	3.35	3.22	4.06	3.36
I belong to this neighborhood	2.95	2.80	2.99	2.65	4.21	2.92
I care about my neighbors’ perspective upon me	3.05	2.73	2.79	2.82	3.06	2.86
My family participate in neighborhood events	2.64	2.21	2.32	2.30	2.86	2.39
Neighborhood residents may sort out problems together	2.82	2.60	2.86	2.68	3.10	2.76
It is important for me to be a membership of this neighborhood	2.97	2.84	2.96	2.80	3.50	2.92
Neighborhood residents concern about each others	3.09	3.06	3.20	3.05	3.41	3.12
I prefer to staying a long-term in this neighborhood	3.16	3.23	3.20	3.04	3.96	3.20
Index of neighborhood attachment	63.22	60.44	61.01	59.40	71.84	61.56
Note: ^aIn the questionnaire the scores of residential satisfaction can be 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, indicating the range between “very dissatisfy” and “very satisfy”; Index of neighborhood attachment is calculated as ∑Si/60 * 100; the sore of the index is between 0 and 100, the higher the score, the higher the attachment level.

Table 6. Linear Regression for the Determinants of Residential Satisfactions^a

	Beijing				Shanghai				Guangzhou				All
	B	t		Cd	B	t		Cd	B	t		Cd	B	t		Cd
(Constant)	17.075	4.365	***		35.027	9.551	***		21.246	7.436	***		26.058	12.094	***
Hukou status
(reference: other rural hukou)
Local urban hukou
Local rural hukou	−14.961	−2.198	*	0.988
Other urban hukou					−4.576	−2.997	**	0.903
Share holders^†
Homeownership^†
Kitchen^†									3.357	2.416	*	0.840
Toilet^†					5.793	3.056	**	0.933					4.279	4.797	***	0.731
Shower^†
Gas^†	5.525	3.552	***	0.950	−2.817	2.226	*	0.956
Air conditioner^†									3.503	2.328	*	0.868	2.982	2.848	**	0.888
Heating^†													−2.873	−2.597	*	0.938
Internet^†					4.586	3.242	**	0.937
Index of attachment	0.479	7.969	***	0.983	0.301	5.456	***	0.935	0.451	9.162	***	0.885	0.420	12.973	***	0.945
Control variables
HH age
Gender female^†
Married^†
≥1 child ^†
Educational attainment
(reference: college and above)
Primary school and below
High school
Income (reference: above 8,000)
0–1,999									8.277	5.187	***	0.582
2,000–3,999									4.711	3.115	**	0.591	−2.659	−3.251	**	0.817
3,999–5,999													−4.305	−3.623	***	0.819
6,000–7,999					−10.501	−2.983	**	0.977					−6.897	−3.009	**	0.947
Rental
Employment (reference: others)
Manager
Technician	−5.222	−2.377	*	0.985
Staff
Industry worker
Service worker
Peasant
Length of residence
(reference: above 30 years)
0–3 years	3.734	2.325	*	0.932									2.058	2.701	**	0.934
3–10 years					−2.685	−2.299	*	0.904
10–30 years
Self-use floor space									0.048	1.972	*	0.827	0.069	3.202	**	0.736
House built-up time
(reference: after 2000)
Pre-1949
1950–1980
1980–1999					5.256	4.764	***	0.875
N	408				400				400				1,208
d.f.	5				8				6				9
F	17.055	***			11.614	***			31.386	***			33.606	***
Adjusted R ^2	0.249092				0.210218				0.38437				0.256
Notes: ^aCd, Collinerity diagnostics; ^†dummy variable; *Significant at 5%; **Significant at 1%; ***Significant at 0.1%.