From illegal migrant settlements to central business and residential districts: Restructuring of urban space in Beijing’s migrant enclaves

As China’s capital, Beijing has attracted a large number of rural migrants and, as a result, the number of migrant settlements experienced a rapid increase. However, after reaching their peak in 1990s, most of Beijing’s migrant settlements either disappeared or were forced out from their original locations to more remote, impoverished areas. Based on an ethnographic study, this research highlights the uneven relationships among suburban villagers, rural migrants, government agencies, and real estate developers, as they engage in the reconfiguration of migrant settlements with different aims and interests. By analyzing the conflict, struggle, and negotiation of space in the urban redevelopment process and the interaction between different government agencies and various social groups, this research provides deeper insight into a dramatic shift from a low-end alliance between local Beijing villagers and migrants to a high-end alliance between the Beijing government and large-scale real estate developers. This analysis on the recent restructuring of post-reform urban space in Beijing’s migrant settlements will then emphasize the need to examine the intimate relationship between the hukou system and land use rights during the urban redevelopment process.

► Beijing’s migrant enclaves have been demolished with urban redevelopment projects.
► Beijing’s urban–rural intersection has been restructured with hukou conversion.
► Pro-growth urban coalition has strengthened entering the Hu Jintao era.
► The relationship between the hukou system and land use rights needs to be analyzed.