A Study of the Effect of Urban Comforts on the Willingness of Migrants to Stay in the City

Abstract

As China's urbanisation process accelerates, more and more migrant populations are choosing to settle in cities, and studies affecting their willingness to stay are becoming increasingly diverse. In addition to traditional factors such as economic income and employment opportunities, the comfort of urban life has gradually become an important consideration influencing the choices of migrants. Based on social capital theory, ecosystem theory, social identity theory and social support theory, this paper focuses on the influence of urban comforts on the intention to stay of urban migrants, and explores the mechanism of urban comforts on the intention to stay of migrants. In the empirical study, this paper synthesises the urban comforts indicator based on the data collected at the city level and carries out a benchmark regression analysis, and the regression results show that urban comforts have a significant positive impact on the willingness to stay of the migrant population. In the individual heterogeneity analysis, it is found that urban comforts have a stronger effect on the willingness to stay of married migrants than unmarried or divorced migrants, and that urban comforts have a stronger effect on the willingness to stay of highly educated migrants than those with a low level of education. In the analysis of urban heterogeneity, it is found that the effect of urban comforts on the willingness to stay of the migrant population varies according to whether the city is in the east, middle and west of China, whether it is the Yangtze River Economic Belt, or whether it is a municipality directly under the central government. Based on this, this study proposes relevant policy recommendations.