Urban Village Sprawl After Demolition in Beijing

This chapter focuses on the proliferation of informal settlements to accommodate low-wage migrant workers following the demolition of urban villages. Urban village tenants often become “drifting tenants,” often driven by renewal events and rising rents. Having to pay inflated rents or moving further away to a cheaper but more distant location is indicative of the marginalized status of displaced migrant tenants. This chapter uses the site survey data and in-depth research (e.g. Haidian ➔ Changping, Fengtai ➔ Daxing, and Chaoyang ➔ Tongzhou) to trace the trajectories of urban village sprawl over the past decade (2009–2023) in Beijing. This chapter used data from the fifth, sixth and seventh national censuses to trace changes in the migrant population over the past two decades (2000, 2010 and 2020) in Beijing. The author’s “ant tribe” survey data was used to document the mobility of low-wage migrant tenants to the periphery in search of more affordable village housing. It concludes that the urban village sprawl has created new opportunities for migrant workers after demolition, despite the expectation that it would be curbed by various municipal policies.