Chinese floating population: the reciprocal relationship between rural to urban migrant population and environmental concerns in Shenzhen, China

Abstract

In the significant migration cities of China, such as Shenzhen, large
numbers of constantly in movement floating population of working settlers
is said to have a severe impact on the ecological environment
(Li, Zhang & Jiang et al., 2021). Called a ‘malign tumour’ by the population
and the local government, they settle in vastly overcrowded settlements
- urban villages where poor standards force the group to
make poor environmental decisions. At the same time, due to their
dire economic situation as urban poor, they become the subject to vulnerability
in the face of harmful effects of environmental degradation.
Poor environmental hygiene of this social group has a connection with
their alienation from society and lack of integration in decision-making.
This social dichotomy between rural migrants and urban citizens is better
understood based on past policies such as the hukou household registration
system. Current design policies toward ecological situation improvement
support the hypothesis of floating population exclusion from decision making.
Based on the above finding, suggestions for improving the floating population’s
position in the society, hence strengthening their role in addressing
environmental concerns, are formed. Firstly mixed-income housing as an
alternative to luxury redevelopments in place of urban villages can work
towards better integration of rural migrant and urban citizens. Additionally,
the policies aiming to bring awareness to migrant groups about the environment
should be implemented together with the integration strategies.