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Progressing vulnerability of the immigrants in an urbanizing village in coastal China

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Abstract

With the development of urbanization, large-scale population movement, and disintegration of the traditional communities, the disaster-related social vulnerability in China’s coastal areas is presenting new features. Many researchers point out that interacting persistent urban growth and hazard risk accumulation have ratcheted up negative impacts on immigrants, but nevertheless there is less consideration based on what really happens in the focal coastal urbanizing areas from the bottom-up perspective. This paper is devoted to studying a Chinese fishing village to provide a perspective of what factors shape the vulnerability of new-coming immigrants in urbanizing process through an in-depth case study. Based on the original qualitative data, the analysis of spatial, social and political aspects was involved. It concludes that compared with the locals who remained predominant, the immigrants suffer from the social, environmental and institutional pressures which produce or even reproduce the plights of livelihood and status. The results of this study provide policy recommendations for decision-makers to reduce inequality for immigrants and enhance cohesion of society to cope with hazard risks.

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Fig. 1
Fig. 2

(Source: Field survey from the author, 2019)

Fig. 3

(Source: Interview data, 2019)

Fig. 4

(Source: Field survey from the author, 2019)

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Notes

  1. There is no enough information about the population of Sichuan immigrants, but the number of fishing households can be roughly estimated approximately 100, as some locals said because each fishing household owns one boat and there are about 100 boats. And it is also said that over 90% of the local fishing households are Sichuan fishers.

  2. Fishery-related works refer, for example, to workers hired by locals or other Sichuan fishers for fishing.

  3. Local household registration refers to the hukou that belongs to local people who registered as the fishing boat owners. Not any locals can rent hukou to Sichuan fishers.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express the gratitude to Ms. Syarifah Dalimunthe for her valuable suggestions and comments and to Mr. Chen Zhen for the help in field surveys and to Sichuan immigrants in Shazikou Village for their kind responses, as well. Finally, the first author acknowledges China Scholarship Council for granting the scholarship to support the research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geography Unit, Department of Social and Human Environment, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan

    Jia Xu & Makoto Takahashi

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  1. Jia Xu
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  2. Makoto Takahashi
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Correspondence to Jia Xu.

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Xu, J., Takahashi, M. Progressing vulnerability of the immigrants in an urbanizing village in coastal China. Environ Dev Sustain 23, 8012–8026 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-00914-8

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