Understanding Residential Mobility in Urban China: A Comparative Analysis of Hukou Residents and Temporary Migrants in Shanghai

As an avenue toward achieving better housing conditions and meeting individual and family needs, residential mobility is critical for migrants’ integration into the host society. Previous studies have examined the levels and determinants of residential mobility of (im)migrants and local/native residents separately, but few have directly compared the levels and determinants of mobility across these two groups or distinguished residential mobility for different reasons. Using recent data from the Shanghai Urban Neighborhood Survey, this study compares the levels and main determinants of residential mobility for work, family and housing reasons between local hukou residents and temporary migrants. Results show that migrants are much more likely to move than hukou residents, especially for employment reasons. Life-course factors have weaker impacts on family-related moves of migrants than those of hukou residents. There are educational gradients in housing-related moves among hukou residents but not among migrants. Household income affects migrants’ moves to meet family needs, rather than moves to improve housing quality. Furthermore, home ownership, residential crowding, and residential duration also have different influences on residential mobility between migrants and hukou residents. Our results contribute to on-going policy discussions to promote residential stability of temporary migrants in China.