Social segregation and integration of migrants in a peri-urban region of globalizing China

Leiwen Jiang, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Shenghe Liu, China Academy of Sciences

Peri-urbanization driven by Global market forces becomes an important form of urban growth in southeast China. Enterprises funded by foreign direct investment have expanded and attracted an enormous influx of migrants into its peri-urban areas. Migrants are largely denied from local social welfare, social participation and political right, which cause spatial segregation and social inequality, and become a major obstacle for further socioeconomic development and healthy urbanization. Based on the fieldworks and panel studies of 500 sampled migrating workers and native residents in Dongguan Municipality in 2003 and 2007, this research analyzes interactions between migrants and local residents, explores their acceptance of each other and the major barriers, and visions of inclusion of migrant workers into the local society. This paper pays particular attention to the recent changes in social segregation and integration between the migrants and local people, encountering the new development in socio-demographic and economic dynamics and institutional reform.