IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v36y2004i1p27-43.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Life Course and Residential Mobility in Beijing, China

Author

Listed:
  • Si-Ming Li

    (Department of Geography, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the residential mobility rate in Beijing over the period 1980–2001 as revealed by retrospective residential histories collected by a questionnaire survey conducted in early 2001. The results show that there was a sharp increase in residential mobility in the early reform period; however, from the mid-1980s onwards the mobility rate has been oscillating, with a slightly downward trend. Adjusting the gross mobility rate observed by means of logit regression estimation shows that this downward trend is more than a statistical artefact. Structural forces are at work continually to restrain residential moves under the reform. The regression results also show that, although there are similarities between the effects of various life-course variables on residential mobility in Beijing and those in cities in market economies, substantial differences are also found. Age exhibits similar curvilinear effects but mobility peaks at a somewhat later age. Homeownership with partial property rights deters mobility by an even greater margin in Beijing than in cities in the West. Change in marital status is important, but does not automatically bring about a change in residence. Birth of a child, moreover, appears to carry minimal weight in residential change. In this sense, the thesis that residential mobility is a housing-adjustment process is less applicable to the case of Beijing than it is in cities in the West.

Suggested Citation

  • Si-Ming Li, 2004. "Life Course and Residential Mobility in Beijing, China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 36(1), pages 27-43, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:36:y:2004:i:1:p:27-43
    DOI: 10.1068/a35243
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a35243
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/a35243?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Si-ming Li, 2000. "Housing Consumption in Urban China: A Comparative Study of Beijing and Guangzhou," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 32(6), pages 1115-1134, June.
    2. Jieming Zhu, 1999. "Local Growth Coalition: The Context and Implications of China’s Gradualist Urban Land Reforms," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 534-548, September.
    3. Weinberg, Daniel H. & Friedman, Joseph & Mayo, Stephen K., 1981. "Intraurban residential mobility: The role of transactions costs, market imperfections, and household disequilibrium," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 332-348, May.
    4. W A V Clark, 1992. "Comparing Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analyses of Residential Mobility and Migration," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 24(9), pages 1291-1302, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhao, Pengjun & Zhang, Yixue, 2018. "Travel behaviour and life course: Examining changes in car use after residential relocation in Beijing," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 41-53.
    2. Bing Xu & William A.V. Clark & Eric Fong & Li Gan, 2020. "Introduction to the special collection on life course decisions of families in China," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(5), pages 129-142.
    3. Li, Bingqin & Duda, Mark & Peng, Huamin, 2007. "Low-cost urban housing markets: serving the needs of low-wage, rural-urban migrants?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 21772, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Lingling Su & Suhong Zhou, 2022. "Long-Term Residential Environment Exposure and Subjective Wellbeing in Later Life in Guangzhou, China: Moderated by Residential Mobility History," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-18, October.
    5. Pengyu Zhu, 2016. "Residential segregation and employment outcomes of rural migrant workers in China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(8), pages 1635-1656, June.
    6. Sanqin Mao & Jie Chen, 2021. "Residential Mobility and Post-Move Community Satisfaction: Empirical Evidence from Guangzhou, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-14, July.
    7. Fulong Wu & Nicholas A Phelps, 2011. "(Post)Suburban Development and State Entrepreneurialism in Beijing's Outer Suburbs," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 43(2), pages 410-430, February.
    8. Si-ming Li & Sanqin Mao & Huimin Du, 2019. "Residential mobility and neighbourhood attachment in Guangzhou, China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 51(3), pages 761-780, May.
    9. Can Cui & Stan Geertman & Pieter Hooimeijer, 2015. "Residential Mobility of Skilled Migrants in Nanjing, China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 47(3), pages 625-642, March.
    10. Donggen Wang & Si-Ming Li, 2004. "Housing Preferences in a Transitional Housing System: The Case of Beijing, China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 36(1), pages 69-87, January.
    11. Brian Lee & Paul Waddell, 2010. "Residential mobility and location choice: a nested logit model with sampling of alternatives," Transportation, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 587-601, July.
    12. Xiaoting Jia & Jun Lei, 2019. "Residential Mobility of Locals and Migrants in Northwest Urban China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-23, June.
    13. Bangkim Biswas & Bishawjit Mallick & Nasif Ahsan & Rupkatha Priodarshini, 2022. "How Does the Rohingya Influx Influence the Residential Satisfaction and Mobility Intentions of the Host Communities in Bangladesh?," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 1311-1340, September.
    14. Ruoniu Wang & Rebecca Walter & Abdulnaser Arafat & Jie Song, 2019. "Understanding the role of life events on residential mobility for low-income, subsidised households," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(8), pages 1628-1646, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fulong Wu, 2007. "The Poverty of Transition: From Industrial District to Poor Neighbourhood in the City of Nanjing, China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(13), pages 2673-2694, December.
    2. Quigley, John M., 2002. "Transactions Costs and Housing Markets," Berkeley Program on Housing and Urban Policy, Working Paper Series qt6pz8p6zt, Berkeley Program on Housing and Urban Policy.
    3. Siu Wai Wong & Bo-sin Tang & Jinlong Liu & Ming Liang & Winky K.O. Ho, 2021. "From “decentralization of governance†to “governance of decentralization†: Reassessing income inequality in periurban China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(6), pages 1473-1489, September.
    4. Edward A. Baryla & Leonard V. Zumpano, 1995. "Buyer Search Duration in the Residential Real Estate Market: The Role of the Real Estate Agent," Journal of Real Estate Research, American Real Estate Society, vol. 10(1), pages 1-14.
    5. Siyi Chen & Zhigang Chen & Yan Shen, 2021. "Can improving law enforcement effectively curb illegal land use in China?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(2), pages 1-17, February.
    6. Mark Dynarski, 1986. "Residential Attachment and Housing Demand," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 23(1), pages 11-20, February.
    7. Lu, Shenghua & Wang, Hui, 2023. "How revolving-door recruitment makes firms stand out in land market: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    8. Brigitte Waldorf, 2003. "Spatial Patterns and Processes in a Longitudinal Framework," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 26(3), pages 269-288, July.
    9. Yongshen Liu & Yung Yau, 2020. "Urban Entrepreneurialism Vs Market Society: The Geography of China's Neoliberal Urbanism," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(2), pages 266-288, March.
    10. Anna Damm & Michael Rosholm, 2010. "Employment effects of spatial dispersal of refugees," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 105-146, March.
    11. Teresa Casey & Christian Dustmann, 2008. "Intergenerational Transmission of Language Capital and Economic Outcomes," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 43(3), pages 4660-4687.
    12. John M. Quigley, 2001. "Monetary Policy and Homeowner Mobility: The Effect of Mortgage interest Rates," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 4(1), pages 1-10.
    13. Renato Aguilar & Bo Sandelin, 1988. "Qualitative Response Estimations of the Selling Behaviour in the Swedish Market for Owner-Occupied Houses," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 25(1), pages 77-84, February.
    14. Mette Deding & Trine Filges & Jos Van Ommeren, 2009. "Spatial Mobility And Commuting: The Case Of Two‐Earner Households," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 113-147, February.
    15. Somayeh Ahani & Hashem Dadashpoor, 2021. "Urban growth containment policies for the guidance and control of peri-urbanization: a review and proposed framework," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(10), pages 14215-14244, October.
    16. Li, Shuqi & Xu, Nuo, 2024. "Fair Competition Review System and cross-regional capital flow: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    17. Danielle Labbé & Clement Musil, 2014. "Periurban Land Redevelopment in Vietnam under Market Socialism," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(6), pages 1146-1161, May.
    18. Shenjing He & George CS Lin, 2015. "Producing and consuming China’s new urban space: State, market and society," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 52(15), pages 2757-2773, November.
    19. Eva Gutiérrez-i-Puigarnau & Ismir Mulalic & Jos N. van Ommeren, 2016. "Do rich households live farther away from their workplaces?," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 177-201.
    20. Díaz Serrano, Luis & Stoyanova, Alexandrina Petrova, 2009. "Mobility and Housing Satisfaction: An Empirical Analysis for Twelve EU Countries," Working Papers 2072/42895, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:36:y:2004:i:1:p:27-43. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.