Search Results (11)

The resettlement of development-induced migrants is a complex socioeconomic and cultural process. The levels of place identity among migrants may profoundly affect their long-term stability and sustainable development in host communities. For long-distance displaced migrants, their social relations undergo drastic changes, and the extent of social-relations reconstruction determines their place identity in the resettlement area. Previous studies mainly concentrated on migrant compensation schemes, housing, and land allocation, and livelihood restoration. However, insufficient attention has been paid to the mechanism by which social-relations reconstruction shapes place identity. Drawing on sample survey data collected during 2022–2023 from migrants displaced from the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) in China to various other provinces, this study conceptualizes place identity in three dimensions: group identity, permanent settlement intention, and expectations for children. A structural equation model (SEM) was employed to investigate how social relations, categorized as geographical, home-tied, and carried-over relations, mediate the influence of multiple factors on place identity. The findings are that: (1) among development-induced migrants, social relations exerted significant positive effects on place identity, along with personal characteristics, socioeconomic characteristics, land, and housing factors. Moreover, family features, socioeconomic characteristics, and land and housing factors all had a significantly positive impact on social relations; (2) social relations acted as a full mediator between family features and place identity, and a partial mediator between socioeconomic characteristics/land and housing factors and place identity; (3) among geographical, home-tied, and carried-over social relations, geographical social relations had the largest effect on place identity, followed by carried-over relations. However, continuous dependence on home-tied social relations negatively affected the migrants’ development of place identity in new resettlement areas. This study elucidates the role of social relations in the socioeconomic and cultural reconstruction during migrant resettlement, offering insight for improving resettlement policies and promoting sustainable community integration. Full article

This study examines the intentions of foreign workers living in Okayama, Japan, to stay long-term in Japan. Utilizing a Bayesian multinomial logistic regression model, this research provides a novel analytical approach that captures parameter uncertainty and accommodates the categorical nature of migrants’ settlement intentions using primary data collected via a questionnaire survey from January to March 2024. The findings reveal that residence status, previous experience of living in Japan, and graduation from a Japanese education institution significantly influence long-term settlement intentions. In addition, respondents aged 26–35 intend to stay longer than those of other ages, and those from less developed countries, such as Myanmar and Vietnam, intend to stay longer than those from China. Conversely, highly educated migrants express lower settlement intentions, suggesting a potential loss of skilled foreign labor in Japan. Notably, migrants in the Technical Intern Training Program are more likely to stay longer than those with other residence statuses, such as Highly Skilled Professional. In contrast, workers with higher education levels tend to have less intention to stay long-term, indicating a high probability of Japan losing educated foreign labor in the future. These findings contribute to understanding the dynamics of migrant workers in Japan, which is crucial for creating policies for foreign workers that can attract and support long-term settlement. These findings have important implications for policy, particularly in enhancing community integration, reducing workplace discrimination, and designing residence pathways that support long-term retention. Full article

In recent years, with the further advancement of China’s urbanization process and the continued expansion of its migrants, increasing attention has been directed toward migrants’ intentions to settle and their integration into host cities. However, the role of early urban experiences on migrants’ long-term residence intention remains unclear. Using data from the Chinese Migrant Dynamics Monitoring Survey, we examine the impact of age at first migration on the long-term settlement intention of migrants in China and the underlying influencing mechanisms. We find that migrants who migrate to cities at a younger age have higher intentions to settle in cities. The mechanism analysis suggests that migrating to cities at a younger age facilitates social integration, promotes the convergence of habits and improves dialect proficiency. Moreover, a heterogeneity analysis reveals that the positive effects of early city migration on long-term settlement intentions are more pronounced among migrants who migrate less frequently, are unmarried and have resided in the local area for a longer period. Further study shows that early migration to cities also positively impacts the settlement intention involving the transfer of one’s household registration (hukou) status. Full article

This Gulf of Manfredonia has, for millennia, been the primary water feature of the coastal wetland of Northern Apulia, Italy, although modern reclamation works make writing its long-term history challenging. Our recent paleoenvironmental research has reconstructed the evolution of the southern half of this lagoon since the Neolithic period. Here, we write a history of water management and environmental change in this landscape from the perspective of two key urban sites: pre-Roman Salpia vetus and Roman Salapia. The Roman architectural historian Vitruvius recounts the abandonment of Salpia vetus and the refoundation of Salapia. We employ his narrative as a frame for a more complex environmental history, starting from a historiography of this landscape’s study and a summary of our interdisciplinary research agenda, which unifies environmental, topographical, remote sensing, and archaeological approaches. Resilience in this changeable wetland environment was only possible through an integrated and intentional management of water among rivers, the lagoon, and the Adriatic Sea. While Salpia vetus exploited this wetland and thrived for centuries, the settlement eventually collapsed due to human and environmentally impelled factors. Roman Salapia subsequently emerged with a different approach, new infrastructure, and a new location. This blueprint would sustain urban life in this wetland for six centuries and lay the groundwork for the Medieval town. Full article

The urban settlement of migrants and their families is an important aspect of new urbanization. Affordable housing, a key measure to improve their living conditions, can advance their urbanization goals. Based on the China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS) data and land transaction data of cities, this study employs a complementary log–log model to estimate the effect of public rental housing (PRH) on the long-term settlement intention (LTSI) of migrants and delves into the intrinsic effect mechanism through the mediating effect. The results show that: (1) Living in PRH can significantly improve the LTSI of migrants who rent. A series of robustness tests and endogeneity tests support the validity of this conclusion; (2) The visualization of a heterogeneity analysis shows that PRH has a greater influence on the LTSI of first-generation migrants and urban–urban migrants. As the city class of the destination decreases, the effect of PRH gradually diminishes; (3) A mechanism analysis suggests that a sense of identity plays a mediating role in PRH affecting the LTSI of the migrants, particularly in first-tier cities. This paper enriches the literature related to the field of housing security programs, provides policy references for enhancing the LTSI of the migrants, and promotes the development of urbanization. Full article

This research assesses the environmental uses of Haleakalā Crater, and adjoining east Maui areas, by native Hawaiians during recent centuries, and evaluates the modern utilization of this volcanic depression. The study methods examine, and focus on, numerous historical and modern accounts and reports. Three historical periods were identified as follows: (1). A phase, from the ~1400s until contact with foreigners in 1778, characterized by the development of settlements, population expansion, the intensification of traditional agriculture, and the political consolidation of Maui. The construction of the Kiha-a-Pi‘i-lani trail across the crater enhanced travel between distant island areas. (2). Following the collapse of Maui’s human populations during the late 1700s, and until the 20th century, came a period distinguished by scientific exploration of the crater, and intentional or accidental introductions of animals, including goats, horses, cattle, and wild dogs. (3). After Haleakalā became a National Park in 1916, efforts to eradicate introduced animals and to encourage the reproduction of silverswords and other plants were initiated. Unfortunately, in retrospect, construction of a modern paved road, improvement of hiking trails, and building of facilities allowed swift access to the Park and substantially increased tourist numbers, up to ~2 million yearly visitors. Faced with such crowds, the long-term planning of Park resources appears to be a formidable task. Full article

Objective: Previous studies on settlement intentions have mainly focused on the explanations of social and economic rationality, culture, and institution, but insufficient attention had been paid to the relationship between health and settlement intentions. This study explored the relationship between changes in the health status of immigrants and their settlement intentions. Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted both in 2018 and 2019. Foreigners who visited the Yiwu Municipal Exit–Entry Administration Office to extend their visas were invited to participate in the study. Quantitative data, such as the participants’ sociodemographic characteristics, job status, employment, immigration experience, key factors associated with the intention to settle down, medical insurance coverage, and changes in health status, were collected by questionnaire. Results: A change in health status significantly affected the intention to settle down: the more healthy that people became, the more likely they intended to settle down (β = 0.233; p < 0.001), and, simultaneously, changes in health status were also moderated by the length of stay in China (β = 0.320; p < 0.001) and medical insurance (β = 0.134; p < 0.001), which affected people’s willingness to settle down. Conclusions: Changes in health status, and not health status itself, affected immigrants’ willingness to settle down. In addition, social insurance, and the length of stay in the place receiving immigrants, affected immigrants’ willingness to settle down not only directly, but also indirectly by moderating the impact of the change in health status on the willingness to settle down. Full article

Migrants’ long-term settlement intention in urban areas has been emphasized by both policy makers and researchers in promoting urbanization and coordinating regional economic development. This study advances the body of knowledge by investigating the effect of what E.S. Lee has proposed as ‘intervening obstacles’ in the ‘push-and-pull’ theory—the difficulty in obtaining hukou in migration destination, on their long-term settlement intention in urban areas. Logistic regressions were applied to examine the effect of urban registered residence system (the hukou system) accessibility on migrants’ long-term settlement intention in urban areas, as well as the determinants of subjective evaluated difficulty in obtaining urban hukou, based on a nation-wide large-scale survey in 46 Chinese cities. Our results suggest that difficulty in obtaining urban hukou does play an important role in shaping country-wide population movement. However, the negative impact of hukou difficulty on migrant workers’ residence intention is not linear, and only when the threshold in obtaining hukou is too high and difficult to achieve will migrant workers choose to return to their hometown in the long term. Moreover, the subjective evaluation of difficulty is further influenced by personal capability and living conditions in cities. This study provides pragmatic implications for administrations from either push side or pull side to improve habitant-related development strategies. Full article

Objectives: Few studies have examined the impacts of structural differences in the urban–rural dichotomy under the new household registration policy on migration and settlement behavior. Nevertheless, the rationale for the settlement policy of local governments should be further elucidated and improved. This study aims to analyze the household registration, land property rights, and differences in migrants’ settlement intentions. Methods: This study used migration survey data from the Pearl River Delta and probit regression to fill this gap in the literature. Findings: Because of the long-term effects of the household registration system and their socioeconomic differences, urban-urban migrants and rural–urban migrants differed in their settlement intentions. Furthermore, the new points-based household registration system affected migrants’ settlement intentions. Relative to the rural–urban migrants, urban–urban migrants more easily met the settlement requirements under the points-based system, and they tended to settle in their current cities. By contrast, migrants with farmland in their hometowns tended to settle there. The findings underscore the relevance of adopting perspectives that consider the urban–rural dichotomy and related structural differences to understand migrants’ settlement intentions in China. Full article

The migration process and patterns of floating populations have received continuing attention from scholars and policymakers. In China, however, studies have been focused on the settlement intention of floating populations based on sampling surveys and yielded inconsistent findings. Drawing upon 18,178,167 authentic individual samples of floating populations in Dongguan city, this study contributes to the literature by examining the effect of individual characteristics on the actual resident actions of floating populations, and revealing both the heterogeneity and continuity of their urban residence among four generations (i.e., during the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s). The results show that the proportion of actual resident actions is lower than that reported by previous studies on settlement intentions, and that male, married, middle-aged, more educated, and long-residing members are more likely to choose to stay in Dongguan. Compared to their predecessors, the 1990 cohort reveals significant heterogeneities in their actual settlement choices. The study draws broad implications from the analysis, calling for the equalization of public welfare in Chinese cities and the encouragement of floating populations to sustain long-term residence in the destination cities. Full article

For a long time, the majority of China, which has the world’s largest population, has been immobile and lived in rural areas. However, over recent decades, with the economic rise of China, rural labor has demonstrated a trend of moving to rapidly industrializing regions in search of higher income and better employment opportunities. Along with the labor cutback, out-migration introduces negatives to the sustainable development of rural areas, i.e., depopulation, the abandonment of rural settlements and agricultural lands, and the aging of the population, among others. Due to the threats of labor outflow to sustainability, studying the causes of China’s rural out-migration can reveal lessons on how state policies can be designed to reduce the negative impacts of out-migration on rural communities. The purpose of this paper is to identify the major causes of migration movements among the rural areas of northern China that are considered to be the best-performing among the provinces of the country in terms of rural development, agricultural production, and the wealth of rural dwellers. A two-stage survey of a panel of experts involved: (1) respondents representing government officials and universities of the Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning provinces and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and (2) regional and district levels of administration, and research and public establishments of Heilongjiang Province. In stage three, drawing on the authors’ own survey of 128 rural households in three counties of Heilongjiang Province, the major migration drivers have been identified, and the portfolio of a typical rural migrant has been developed. Some of the key findings are that migration intentions are fueled by the rural–urban income gap, poverty, a reduction of demand for labor in rural areas, underdeveloped infrastructure, the low quality of social services in rural settlements, and the low social standing of rural dwellers. The approach allows monitoring the dynamics of migration attitudes as responses to the policy interventions that are aimed at the sustainable development of rural areas. Full article