Housing choice determinants of rural-urban migrants modeling impacts of gender and rural properties in China

Cities serve as key engines of economic growth and social vitality, with rural-urban migrants playing a crucial role in urban expansion and complex internal structural transformation. As a core domain of urban resource allocation, the accessibility and the choice of housing are influenced not only by individual user-oriented characteristics, but also act as important indicators for the growing socio-economic complexity within urban systems. Particularly in the current context of rapid urbanization, housing choices among rural-urban migrants have become a vital lens through which to understand urban spatial heterogeneity and the dynamic, often nonlinear mechanisms of social integration. In China, housing issues among rural-urban migrants are especially prominent, as they are closely intertwined with the desired goal of achieving urban citizenship (“shiminhua”). Previous studies have primarily focused on the dichotomy between renting and purchasing houses, with relatively less attention given to diverse living modes such as unit-provided housing and affordable housing. This study utilizes data from the 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey and applies a multinomial logistic regression model to systematically examine the complex impacts of gender, rural homesteads, and other rural assets on the housing choices of rural-urban migrants, with particular emphasis on the preference formation between urban rental markets and commercial housing markets. The findings indicate that migrants with rural homesteads are more inclined to choose rental housing rather than homeownership. Moreover, the study identifies a new trend whereby an increasing number of female rural-urban migrants are becoming homeowners in cities.