Housing Provision for Rural–Urban Migrant Workers in Chinese Cities: The Roles of the State,Employers and the Market

In Chinese cities, about 1.45 million migrant workers stay away from their home villages for longer than six months. The total will reach 230 million if those who work less than six months outside their home villages are also included ( National Bureau of Statistics PRC 2010 ). The scale of migration has put huge pressure on urban housing. Apart from a few local exceptions, little state effort has been dedicated to improve migrant housing for a long time. Existing studies of migrant housing in Chinese cities have focused on the necessity for the state to remove discriminatory policies and offer equal access to urban housing benefits. However, few studies have examined carefully who are the most vulnerable and what are the causes of some of the problems. The authors of this article argue that without proper understanding of the interaction between the state and the private providers, equal access to urban housing benefits may not lead to improved housing conditions for migrant workers. We use three surveys in three cities, Tianjin, Taiyuan and Lanzhou in China to support our argument.