Spatial characteristics and new changes of the “ant tribe” urban villages in Beijing: Case studies of Tangjialing and Shigezhuang
Abstract
Since the year 2000, and in relation with China’s urbanization process, many politicians and scholars have paid attention to two social groups: the second generation of migrant farm workers and low-income college graduates known as the “ant tribe”. In recent years, Características espaciales y cambios recientes en las aldeas periurbanas de «La tribu Chaolin Gu; de las hormigas» en Beijing: Los casos de estudio de Tangjialing y Shigezhuang Mingjie Sheng; Lingqian Hu Documents d’Anàlisi Geogràfica 2017, vol. 63/2 301 the survival conditions of new college graduates in Chinese mega-cities have worsened. A large number of them opt for affordable yet substandard housing in urban villages as a survival strategy in increasingly commercialized and polarized cities. This paper analyzes the spatial characteristics and new changes of the urban village “ant tribe” in Tangjialing and Shigezhuang, Beijing. Firstly, the case study describes the spatial characteristics of these low-income graduates who are mainly from the countryside, have a high educational level and embrace city lives. Secondly, the socio-spatial effects and new changes after the reconstruction of the urban village are examined. It is found that recent college graduates are being displaced to the poorest and most remote suburban areas due to the revalorization of the inner suburbs.Keywords
urbanization, China, low-income college graduates, urban villages, ant tribeReferences
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