The Residential Environment and Health and Well-Being of Chinese Migrant Populations: A Systematic Review

Liyan Huang, Rosli Said (), Hong Ching Goh and Yu Cao
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Liyan Huang: Centre for Sustainable Urban Planning and Real Estate (SUPRE), Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Rosli Said: Centre for Sustainable Urban Planning and Real Estate (SUPRE), Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Hong Ching Goh: Centre for Sustainable Urban Planning and Real Estate (SUPRE), Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Yu Cao: Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 4, 1-23

Abstract: China’s internal migrants suffer from marginalised housing conditions, poor neighbourhood environments and residential segregation, which may have significant implications on health and well-being. Echoing recent calls for interdisciplinary research on migrant health and well-being, this study examines the associations and mechanisms of the impact of the residential environment on the health and well-being of Chinese migrants. We found that most of the relevant studies supported the “healthy migration effect”, but the phenomenon was only applicable to migrants’ self-reported physical health rather than mental health. The subjective well-being of migrants is lower than that of urban migrants. There is a debate between the effectiveness of residential environmental improvements and the ineffectiveness of residential environmental improvements in terms of the impact of the neighbourhood environment on migrants’ health and well-being. Housing conditions and the neighbourhood’s physical and social environment can enhance migrants’ health and well-being by strengthening place attachment and social cohesion, building localised social capital and gaining neighbourhood social support. Residential segregation on the neighbourhood scale affects the health outcomes of migrant populations through the mechanism of relative deprivation. Our studies build a vivid and comprehensive picture of research to understand migration, urban life and health and well-being.

Keywords: residential environment; health and well-being; internal migrants; housing conditions; neighbourhood environment; residential segregation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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