Social Relations and Place Identity of Development-Induced Migrants: A Case Study of Rural Migrants Relocated from the Three Gorges Dam, China
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Theoretical Framework
2.1. Conceptual Foundations: Place Identity and Forced Migration
2.2. Special Features in Rural China and Evaluation Dimensions
2.3. Influencing Factors for Place Identity
2.4. The Bridging Role of Social Relations
3. Materials and Methods
3.1. Study Region and Data
3.2. Methods
3.3. Variables
3.3.1. Exogenous Latent Variables
3.3.2. Mediating Variable
3.3.3. Endogenous Latent Variable
4. Empirical Analysis
4.1. Overview of Migrants’ Basic Characteristics and Place Identity
4.2. Analysis of Factors Influencing Place Identity Among Migrants
4.2.1. SEM Validation
4.2.2. Measurement Model Path Analysis
4.2.3. Paths Affecting Place Identity
4.2.4. The Mediating Role of Social Relations
5. Conclusions and Discussion
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Indicator | Category | Number | Proportion |
---|---|---|---|
Gender | Male | 268 | 75.92% |
Female | 85 | 24.08% | |
Age | 0–14 | 0 * | 0.00% |
15–64 | 306 | 86.69% | |
65 and above | 47 | 13.31% | |
Education | Primary school or below | 152 | 43.06% |
Junior high school | 160 | 45.33% | |
High school | 28 | 7.93% | |
College or above | 13 | 3.68% | |
Occupation | Worker | 257 | 72.80% |
Business owner | 17 | 4.81% | |
Other | 10 | 2.83% | |
Self-employed farmer | 69 | 19.54% | |
Resettlement Year | 1999 | 17 | 4.82% |
2000 | 101 | 28.61% | |
2001 | 104 | 29.46% | |
2002 | 75 | 21.25% | |
2003 | 5 | 1.42% | |
Land Status | No land | 54 | 15.30% |
Possessing 0–4 mu | 185 | 52.41% | |
Possessing 4–10 mu | 91 | 25.78% | |
Possessing over 10 mu | 23 | 6.51% |
Latent Variable | Measurement Variable | Coding Scheme |
---|---|---|
Personal Characteristics | Gender | Female: 1; Male: 2 |
Age/year | Below 40: 1; 40–49: 2; 50–59: 3; 60–69: 4; sbove 70: 5 | |
Relation to migrants | Migrant: 1; descendant of migrant: 2 | |
Education | primary school or below: 1; junior high school: 2; high school: 3; college or above: 4 | |
Occupation | self-employed farmer: 1; worker: 2; business owner: 3; other: 4 | |
Family Features | Household size/person | 3 or fewer: 1; 4–5: 2; 6–7: 3; 8 or more: 4 |
Residential continuity | Refer to Table 3 | |
Proportion of employed family members | Below 25%: 1; 26–50%: 2; 51–75%: 3; 76–100%: 4 | |
Socio-Economic Characteristics | Urban economic gap (based on GDP of affiliated prefecture—level cities in 2022)/RMB trillion | Below 2.5: 1; 2.6–5.9: 2; 6.0–14.9: 3; above 15.0: 4 |
per capita disposable income of migrant household/RMB | Below 10,000: 1; 10,001–19,999: 2; 20,000–29,999: 3; 30,000–49,999: 4; above 50,000: 5 | |
Land and Housing Factors | Housing status | Allocated as the only housing: 1; with extra self-built or purchased housing: 2 |
Per capita housing area/m2 | Below 40: 1; 40–60: 2; 60–80: 3; above 80: 4 | |
Land dependence | Landless: 1; owned but uncultivated: 2; cultivating less than 30% of allocated land: 3; cultivating 31–99% of allocated land: 4; cultivating all allocated land: 5; renting additional land for agricultural activities: 6 |
Absence Time | No Out-Migration | Short-Term Out (Less than 3 Months per Year) | Intermediate Out (3–6 Months per Year) | Long-Term Out (6–12 Months per Year) | Permanent Out | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Residence | ||||||
Village/Community | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | |
County | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | |
Province | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0 | |
Across Provinces | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0 |
Measured Indicator | Coding Specification |
---|---|
Number of Contacts (s) | 1: 1–2 persons; 2: 3–5 persons; 3: 6–10 persons; 4: 11–20 persons; 5: >20 persons |
Interaction Frequency (q) | 1/1: Nearly every day; 1/2: approximately once per week; 1/3: approximately once per month; 1/4: once every several months; 0: none |
Interaction Depth (d) | 0: None; 1: daily-life exchange, leisure, work-related contact; 2: consultation, emotional support; 3: borrowing money, handling affairs |
Score | Share (%) | ||
---|---|---|---|
Group Identity | Permanent Settlement Intention | Expectations for Children | |
1 | 4.53% | 1.42% | 1.42% |
2 | 11.90% | 2.27% | 3.68% |
3 | 22.38% | 30.88% | 29.46% |
4 | 40.79% | 46.46% | 42.49% |
5 | 20.40% | 18.98% | 22.95% |
Mean | 3.61 | 3.79 | 3.82 |
Factor | Variable | Unstandardized Loading | Standardized Loading | z | S.E. | p |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Place Identity | Group identity | 1.000 | 0.528 | - | - | - |
Permanent settlement intention | 0.456 | 0.330 | 2.667 | 0.171 | 0.008 *** | |
Expectations for children | 1.211 | 0.777 | 4.531 | 0.267 | 0.000 *** | |
Personal Characteristics | Gender | 1 | 0.129 | - | - | - |
Age | −0.772 | −0.114 | −0.825 | 0.937 | 0.41 | |
Education | 16.503 | 0.932 | 1.102 | 14.977 | 0.271 | |
Occupation | −7.859 | −0.556 | −1.192 | 6.593 | 0.233 | |
Relation to migrants | 2.233 | 0.468 | 2.143 | 1.042 | 0.032 ** | |
Family Features | Household size | 1.000 | 0.723 | - | - | - |
Residential continuity | 0.049 | 0.471 | 4.084 | 0.012 | 0.000 *** | |
Proportion of employed family Members | 0.874 | 0.689 | 5.693 | 0.153 | 0.000 *** | |
Socio-Economic Characteristics | Urban economic gap | 1.000 | 0.909 | - | - | - |
Per capita disposable income | 0.100 | 0.766 | 0.530 | 0.188 | 0.006 *** | |
Land and Housing Factors | Housing status | 1.000 | 1.000 | - | - | - |
Per capita housing area | 2.816 | 0.874 | 7.076 | 0.398 | 0.000 *** | |
Land dependence | 0.368 | 0.277 | 2.297 | 0.16 | 0.022 ** | |
Social Relations | Number of total contacts | 1.000 | 0.735 | - | - | - |
Home-tied social relations | −0.060 | −0.181 | −1.678 | 0.036 | 0.093 * | |
Geographical social relations | 1.215 | 0.747 | 5.958 | 0.204 | 0.000 *** | |
Carried-over social relations | 0.115 | 0.463 | 4.297 | 0.027 | 0.000 *** |
Mediating Path | Effect Value | 95% CI | p |
---|---|---|---|
Personal characteristic → social relations → place identity | −0.384 | (−0.019, 0.031) | 0.037 |
family features → social relations → place identity | 0.024 | (0.015, 0.073) | 0.004 *** |
socioeconomic characteristics → social relations → place identity | 0.019 | (0.027, 0.043) | 0.017 ** |
land and housing factors → social relations → place identity | 0.032 | (0.003, 0.065) | 0.006 *** |
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Gao, Y.; Gao, X.; Zhao, Y. Social Relations and Place Identity of Development-Induced Migrants: A Case Study of Rural Migrants Relocated from the Three Gorges Dam, China. Sustainability 2025, 17, 4690. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17104690
Gao Y, Gao X, Zhao Y. Social Relations and Place Identity of Development-Induced Migrants: A Case Study of Rural Migrants Relocated from the Three Gorges Dam, China. Sustainability. 2025; 17(10):4690. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17104690
Chicago/Turabian StyleGao, Yiran, Xiaolu Gao, and Yunning Zhao. 2025. "Social Relations and Place Identity of Development-Induced Migrants: A Case Study of Rural Migrants Relocated from the Three Gorges Dam, China" Sustainability 17, no. 10: 4690. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17104690
APA StyleGao, Y., Gao, X., & Zhao, Y. (2025). Social Relations and Place Identity of Development-Induced Migrants: A Case Study of Rural Migrants Relocated from the Three Gorges Dam, China. Sustainability, 17(10), 4690. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17104690