Determinants of housing moving intention of urban low-income residents in China: Life-cycle, lived experience, and place

Abstract

This paper examines the residential mobility of urban low-income residents in two Chinese cities using survey data. Contrary to previous studies, our results reveal a relatively low level of housing mobility among the urban poor. In exploring the determinants of low-income housing mobility, we employ both life-cycle and social-psychological theories, with particular attention to the role of place-based factors and their interactions with other variables. Our analysis uncovers a strong relationship between housing mobility and life-cycle variables, albeit with considerable heterogeneity among residents. Additionally, the lived experience of housing emerges as a significant predictor of mobility. Lastly, we find that the interplay of place and space exerts a profound and complex influence on this process, shaping moving intentions at various geographical scales and interacting with other factors to determine the housing mobility of urban low-income groups.