Informality as an approach to claiming the right to resettlement and achieving inclusive rural-to-urban resettlement for landless villagers: The case of Hangzhou, China

Abstract

This article discusses how to achieve inclusive resettlement for landless villagers amid China’s promotion of urbanization through resettlement. This research conceptualizes the right to resettlement in China by synthesizing the literature on resettlement, the right to the city, and informality. This research captures four subsets of rights to resettlement based on a review of existing resettlement literature, including rights to economic enhancement, spatial adaptation, social stability, and political inclusiveness. While state-led resettlement policies should have prioritized inclusive resettlement, our case study reveals the significant role played by villagers’ bottom-up approaches, utilizing informality and collective strategies, in enhancing inclusiveness. The research adopts an explanatory-sequential approach that uses principal component analysis, semi-structured interviews, and questionnaire surveys to investigate post-resettlement adaptation in 12 resettlement communities in Hangzhou, China. The empirical evidence suggests informal economic activities, spontaneous spatial transformation, hybrid governance structures, and non-institutionalized participation have contributed significantly to villagers claiming their right to resettlement. We conclude with recommendations for achieving inclusive resettlement.

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