Youqin Huang

Does commuting distance matter?: Commuting tolerance and residential change

This research uses a longitudinal data set of commuting behavior to test the nature and strength of the association between residential change and employment location. Do households minimize commuting distances when they change residences and what are the differences for one-worker and two-worker households? The analysis utilizes descriptive measures of distance and time to work for pre- and post-residential relocations and develops estimates from a probability model of work-place attraction. We extend earlier research on commuting distances by using a multimodal rather than a monocentric city, by specifically considering the commuting responses of two-worker households and by formally estimating a model of the response to commuting distances. The findings indicate that both one- and two-worker households with greater separation between workplace and residence make decreases in distance and time. Overall, as other studies have shown, women commute shorter distances and are more likely to minimize commuting after a move than are men. The probability model fits the likelihood of decreasing distance with greater separation and provides a more exact specification of the connection between residence and workplace than previous analyses of this relationship.

Waves of Rural Brides: Female Marriage Migration in China

Conventional views on marriage migration consider it primarily family-related, and portray female marriage migrants as mostly passive, tied movers. Marriage as an economic strategy is seldom studied. We argue that a structural framework enables analysis of the complexities underlying female marriage migration, stressing institutional, economic, and sociocultural factors that impose constraints on and provide opportunities for womens mobility. A review of the historical and social roles of marriage in China shows that its transactional nature undermines womens status but offers disadvantaged women an opportunity to achieve social and economic mobility. Based on statistical analyses of a one-percent sample of Chinas 1990 Census, we show that peasant women in poor areas are constrained by their institutional positions, rural origins, and low education and status, shutting them out from cities and the urban labor market. Yet in the face of these constraints, many women, in exchange for economic opportuniti...

A Room of One's Own: Housing Consumption and Residential Crowding in Transitional Urban China

The goal of this paper is to evaluate the level and examine the dynamics of housing consumption and residential crowding in urban China almost a decade after the housing reform was launched. I argue that housing consumption and residential crowding are affected not only by demographic and socio-economic factors, as they are in market economies, but also by institutional factors that are unique to China because of the dualism in housing reform. Using a 1996 national survey, I find that the level of housing consumption is still low and residential crowding is common. A room of ones own continues to be a dream for most Chinese. However, Chinese households now have more control over their housing, and their housing behaviors are beginning to share similarities with the West. For example, life cycle, household income, housing tenure, and city size have similar effects on housing consumption and residential crowding as they do in Western housing markets. It is still clear, however, that the socialist institution—the hukou system—continues to influence housing consumption, although to a lesser extent than in the prereform period. Households with rural or temporary hukou are at a disadvantage in the housing market, in the sense that they occupy less spacious housing and suffer more from residential crowding than do those with urban and permanent hukou. Yet, these last are more constrained by institutional variables such as job and work-unit characteristics, which affect housing consumption differently across cities.

Low­income Housing in Chinese Cities: Policies and Practices

This paper argues that the low-income housing programme in China has so far failed to provide adequate housing for the poor for three main reasons: the central governments failure to define a clear mission; a lack of commitment from local governments; and an exclusionary policy towards migrants. A systematic review of low-income housing policy in China shows that the central government juggles its economic and socio-political goals thereby causing constant changes in low-income housing policy. Meanwhile, the existing public finance system, the performance evaluation system and localization in policy implementation have all resulted in a lack of commitment from local governments to low-income housing. Inadequate provision is made worse by problems with allocation. Despite encouraging changes since 2010, many factors underlying the governments failures remain unchanged, thus the fate of low-income housing remains uncertain.

Gender, hukou, and the occupational attainment of female migrants in China (1985 - 1990)

In this paper, I argue that the occupational attainment of female migrants in China has to be understood in its unique sociocultural and institutional contexts. In addition to the constraints of human capital, the patriarchal culture and the Household Registration (hukou) System greatly constrain the occupational attainment of female migrants. An empirical study based on a 1% sample of Chinas 1990 Census shows that female migrants are at a disadvantage in the labour market not only because of their gender but also because of their rural identities and outsider status, as defined by the hukou system. They can only attain jobs with lower prestige than their male counterparts, such as agricultural work and a few gender-stereotyped, family-related urban jobs.

Housing Markets, Government Behaviors, and Housing Choice: A Case Study of Three Cities in China

Housing reform in urban China has introduced market mechanisms into a previously welfare-oriented housing system. Although microlevel factors such as household characteristics begin to shape housing behavior in urban China as is the case in the West, macrolevel constraints and opportunities defined by not only housing stocks and housing markets but also local government behaviors continue to be crucial. By studying housing choice in Beijing, Chongqing, and Jiangyin, I find that local governments in different cities behave differently in reforming the housing system, which in turn create different housing stocks and housing markets and thus lead to different patterns of housing behavior. A housing stock dominated by public housing, a tight housing market, and a conservative local government all encourage households to choose public housing and rental, as is the case in Beijing, while a diverse housing stock with affordable housing prices, and an aggressive local government often encourage households to choose private housing and homeownership, indicated by the case of Jiangyin.

Collectivism, Political Control, and Gating in Chinese Cities

This paper provides a conceptual framework emphasizing the role of culture and the state in understanding gating in different countries, and applies it to examine the long-existing and widespread neighborhood enclosure and gating in Chinese cities. It is argued that the collectivist culture deeply embedded in Chinese society and tight political control actively pursued by the government contribute to the widespread character of gating in China, whereas dominant Western-based theories such as the discourse of fear and private provision of public services are less applicable, even though they are becoming increasingly important in the new gated private housing. Gating and neighborhood enclosure in China help to define a sense of collectivism and foster social solidarity. Thus gating per se does not necessarily lead to residential segregation, although it begins to reinforce segregation in the reform era. Gating also facilitates political control through neighborhood-level governments whose jurisdiction often corresponds to enclosed neighborhoods but forms change between different political-historical periods. Thus, while the physical form of gating is similar between China and the United States, the underlying sociopolitical constructs and implications are quite different.

Urban Housing in China: Market Transition, Housing Mobility and Neighbourhood Change

Re-commodification of urban land and housing has produced a highly complex tenure mix and a much more vibrant and differentiated urban landscape. Land leasing, being a major source of fund to urban municipal governments, fuels the expansionary drive and urban sprawl. It also underlies massive redevelopment of inner city districts. On the other hand, institutionalised separation of the urban from the rural, epitomised by the hukou system, has remained largely intact. Massive influx of migrants has produced a two-class urban society comprising de jure residents and migrants. Differential claim to land ownership under the hukou system has turned villages in former suburban areas into migrant enclaves. The six papers in this theme issue examine various aspects of how individuals and households in Chinese cities have coped with the never-ending changes in the policy and built environment. The focus is on housing behaviour, but neighbourhood issues also feature prominently.

Invisible migrant enclaves in Chinese cities: Underground living in Beijing, China

China is experiencing an urban revolution, powered in part by hundreds of millions of migrant workers. Faced with institutionalised discrimination in the housing system and the lack of housing affordability, migrants have turned to virtually uninhabitable spaces such as basements and civil air defence shelters for housing. With hundreds of thousands of people living in crowded and dark basements, an invisible migrant enclave exists underneath the modern city of Beijing. We argue that in Chinese cities, housing has been adopted as an institution to exclude and marginalise migrants, through: (a) defining migrants as an inferior social class through the Hukou system and denying their rights to entitlements including housing; (b) abnormalising migrants through various derogatory naming and categorisations to legitimise exclusion; and (c) purifying and controlling migrant spaces to achieve exclusion and marginalisation. The forced popularity of basement renting reflects the reality that housing has become an institution of exclusion and marginalisation. It embodies vertical spatial marginalisation, with exacerbated contrasts between basement tenants and urban residents, heightened fear of the ‘other’, even more derogatory naming, and the government’s more aggressive clean-up of their spaces. We call for reforms and policy changes to ensure decent and affordable housing for basement tenants and migrants in general.

Residential Mobility in Chinese Cities: A Longitudinal Analysis

This paper aims to understand residential mobility in non-market economies by conducting a case study of Chinese cities, a socialist society in transition. It is argued that residential mobility in China is mainly triggered by changes in housing supply and housing qualification, both of which are determined by housing policies. Using a retrospective survey (1949–94) in 20 Chinese cities, it was found that while the overall mobility is low, it has fluctuated significantly over time with a recent rising trend, which corresponds to historical changes in housing policies. The longitudinal models show that while some factors such as change of marital status and work units have consistent effects on mobility over time, indicating the persistency of the socialist housing system, others such as housing tenure have different effects over time, demonstrating changes in the Chinese housing system. The results share some similarities with the Western models, yet they demonstrate significant differences despite recent market penetrations. A framework that emphasizes the roles of the state and housing policies, and their change over time is needed to better understand residential mobility in China.