TITLE:
Research on the Urban Adaptation of Landless Peasants during the Construction of New Urban Districts—A Case Study of Zhanghe New District in Jingmen City, Hubei Province, China
AUTHORS:
Shiyu Yang
KEYWORDS:
NUDs, Landless Peasants, Urban Adaptation, Urbanisation
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.9 No.10,
October
29,
2021
ABSTRACT: In China, the construction of new urban districts has
now become the main route to urbanisation. The construction of new urban
districts, mainly through the expropriation of rural land, has created many landless
peasants in the process. This study aims to investigate the real situation of
urban adaptation of landless peasants due to the construction of new urban
districts. This is followed by a further indepth analysis of the reasons
affecting the adaptation of landless peasants to the city, and some targeted
policy or institutional recommendations. Most of the current studies have
focused on the macro level and lack the micro level of the individual landless
peasants. And the research methods are only quantitative or only qualitative. Therefore,
this study introduces the concept of “self-identity” and focuses on the individual
feelings of landless peasants. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods
was used to conduct the study. The study found that, in terms of the economy, peasants
face difficulties in finding employment, low income and increased expenses in the
new urban districts. Although social security benefits have improved, they are still
lower than those of urban residents. Socially, peasants’ social networks are limited,
and their daily activities are not rich. As a result, self-identity is blurred,
and inter-generational differences emerge.