Exploring residential mobility in Chinese cities: An empirical analysis of Guangzhou

Abstract

In this article we aim to extend the literature on residential decisions and relocation in Chinese cities by explicitly incorporating cohort or generation differences in an event-history analysis of residential mobility in the City of Guangzhou over the period 2000–2012, using data from a survey conducted at the end of 2012. The results reveal not only substantially higher mobility propensities for young adults than middle-aged individuals and senior citizens, but significant differential effects of major determinants such as hukou, educational attainment, membership of the Chinese Communist Party and birth of a child and child rearing, on housing consumption and residential relocation across age cohorts. We argue that such differences in mobility behaviour are attributable, to a significant extent, to the vastly different life experiences of and housing opportunities available to different age cohorts.