‘Once you come, you are a Shenzhener’? Multifaceted and variegated sense of place among migrants in Shenzhen

Huimin DU*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal PublicationsJournal Article (refereed)peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

To what extent is contemporary Chinese urbanism cohesive and integrative? This study delves into the multifaceted and variegated nature of sense of place among internal migrants in Chinese cities, with a focus on Shenzhen, a city at the forefront of policy experimentation and a quintessential immigrant city. The findings reveal different levels of sense of belonging/attachment, local identity and sense of home among natives, hukou migrants and non-hukou migrants. The sense of belonging/attachment is mainly influenced by the relational factor, while local identity is predominantly determined by the legal factor, and sense of home is primarily influenced by the economic factor. Meanwhile, hukou migrants place greater importance on the relational factor, while non-hukou migrants emphasise the economic factor. Furthermore, the research identifies five types of sense of place among migrants based on different configurations of belonging/attachment, local identity and sense of home. This study sheds light on the complexity of sense of place and the nuances of belonging, attachment, identity and home in contemporary Chinese urbanism.

当代中国城市化在多大程度上具有凝聚力和整合性?本文深入探讨中国城市内部移民的地域感的多面性和多样性,重点关注深圳这个政策试验的前沿城市和典型的移民城市。研究结果显示,本地人、有户口移民和无户口移民的归属感/依恋感、地方认同感和家的感觉程度不同。归属感/依恋感主要受关系因素的影响,地方认同感主要受法律因素的影响,家的感觉主要受经济因素的影响。其中,有户口移民更看重关系因素,无户口移民则更看重经济因素。此外,本文根据归属感/依恋感、地方认同感和家的感觉的不同配置,确定了移民的五种地域感。本文揭示了当代中国城市化中地域感的复杂性以及归属感、依恋感、身份认同和家的感觉的细微差别。
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)127-143
Number of pages17
JournalUrban Studies
Volume62
Issue number1
Early online date27 May 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2025

Bibliographical note

The author would like to thank Prof. Ngai Ming Yip for his valuable comments and suggestions on an earlier version of this article.

Publisher Copyright:
© Urban Studies Journal Limited 2024.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (grant no. 11608115) and Lingnan University, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.

Keywords

  • attachment
  • belonging
  • home
  • hukou
  • identity
  • sense of place
  • 依恋
  • 归属感
  • 户口
  • 身份认同
  • 地域感

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