Abstract
The sense of belonging to a place and its influencing factors are important topics in urban and social geography research. The sense of belonging to a place has spatial scale characteristics. Although existing studies have revealed differences across scales, but the comparison of belongingness at the community and city levels remains insufficient. For migrant populations, the sense of belonging at both the community and city levels represents a key psychological marker of social integration and is an indicator of their incorporation into the host city. Nevertheless, migrant populations face the problem of residence and relocation in big cities, which makes it difficult for them to establish a sense of psychological belonging to their residential communities and cities. Investigating the sense of belonging from the perspective of residential mobility offers valuable insights that can contribute to promoting social integration and achieving the goal of people-oriented urbanization. This study examined the impact of residential relocation on community and city belongingness among various household registration groups, drawing on a survey of suburban residents' travel and behavior in Shanghai. The study found that: 1) Residents generally rate their sense of belonging to the city higher than their immediate community. However, notably, both community and city belongingness are significantly lower among the migrant population than among local residents. 2) Housing ownership, residential location change, and the reason for relocation impacted the community and city belongingness and were significantly different. Continuous renting decreases city belongingness. Relocating from other regions correlates with high community belongingness, but this does not necessarily enhance city belongingness. Furthermore, relocation due to convenience is not necessarily conducive to community belongingness. 3) The effects of residential relocation on community and city belongingness vary by household registration groups. Local residents tended to exhibit a "positive accumulation" characteristic in residential relocations, where meeting their relocation needs leads to an increased sense of belonging. In contrast, the migrant population requires "compensatory" factors (such as social networks and low cost housing) to gain a sense of belonging. It is more susceptible to negative impacts brought about by demolition and resettlement. 4) Community belongingness is more heavily influenced by the quality of the community environment, while city belongingness is more strongly affected by personal and family socioeconomic attributes.
| Translated title of the contribution | The effects of residential mobility on residents’ community and city belongingness: A comparative analysis of household registration differences |
|---|---|
| Original language | Chinese (Traditional) |
| Pages (from-to) | 2421-2432 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Progress in Geography |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2025 |