The Inequality Effect and Social Integration in Urbanization

Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.6, 2015

The Inequality Effect and Social Integration in Urbanization

(Abstract)

Chen Yunsong and Zhang Yi

On the basis of the China Social Survey (CSS2011) and related urban statistics, we analyzed urbanization’s effect on inequality and the social integration of members of the floating population who have rural household registration compared to the population with urban registration. Our findings show that although the increased rate of urbanization has not produced marked income differences between “farmers working in the cities” and “city people,” farmers fare significantly worse than city people in areas such as social security, cultural life, psychological acceptance and status identity. This kind of inequality will turn the previous dual rural-urban structure into a new duality dividing residents with urban household registration from the floating urban population, which will in turn hinder social integration in the course of urbanization. This finding helps us understand the cause of social barriers in today’s urbanization and provides possible theoretical and empirical reference material for new-type urbanization, especially with regard to making the erstwhile agricultural population into urban citizens.