Influence factors on settlement intention for floating population in urban area: a China study

Floating population has had a tremendous impact on China’s urban development in the past three decades. Understanding this population’s settlement intention in cities is crucial for China’s process of urbanization. Based on a nationwide survey, this paper focuses on the floating population’s intention for urban settlement and effect factors. The empirical evidence shows that more than half of migrants provide positive answers to the question about long-term settlement plan. Using logistic regression model, factors including socio-economic, occupational, institutional, neighbourhood and origin–destination characteristics are examined. Results indicate that majority of the variables are significantly associated with settlement intention. For example, having more welfare benefits, self-occupied housing and better social integration are representative indications of a long-term settlement plan. This study also highlights non-physical neighbourhood characteristics such as social participation, interaction with locals, and migrant’s attitude to the destination city as important factors of settlement intention.