When rural migrants flock to “first-tier“ cities like Shanghai looking for jobs, their lack of permanent residency, or hukou, push them to China’s informal housing market. Most migrants live on the outskirts, some clustering in “urban villages” and others living in storage basements and converted bomb shelters, even in sewers.
Some live among permanent residents throughout the already-overcrowded city centers—and often in high-rises. Their living conditions, though, are far from cushy. It’s common to be crammed into two- to three-bedroom apartments with more than a dozen other migrants, according to a new report from researchers at the University of Southern California.
