Chinese urban migrants' sense of place: Emotional attachment, identity formation, and place dependence in the city and community of Guangzhou

Abstract

In this paper, we study urban migrants' sense of place in Guangzhou, China, focusing on the structural relations between place attachment, identification and dependence as the three key place dimensions. Through both quantitative structural equation modelling and qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews data, our research suggests that migrants' sense of place demonstrates complex relationships between the three registers of emotional attachment, identity formation and functional dependence. The construction of sense of place is also related to the personal experiences of living as urban 'outsiders'. Our research also reveals a striking difference between the city and community levels in terms of the ways in which migrants' sense of place is constructed. Urban migrants tend to exploit the functional utilities of microscopic urban spaces to meet their demands for recreation, education and socialisation. On the other hand, their sense of place to the city is largely compromised by their attachment to the hometown and conditioned by their personal identification to the city. © 2014 Victoria University of Wellington and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.