Village in the City

Abstract A new type of urban neighborhood, namely the “urban village” or “village in the city” ( chengzhongcun ), has grown out of China's rapid urbanization which is characterized by large‐scale rural–urban migration and radial expansion of urban built‐up areas. The “village in the city” is considered as a community of interest for urbanized villagers, a migrant settlement with low rent housing, and an urban self‐organized grassroots unit, respectively related to the ambiguous property rights, an informal rental market, and the vacuum of state regulation. It is therefore viewed as an unregulated asset despite its unruliness and disorder. In this sense, “village in the city” can be seen as a transitional neighborhood, characterized by unstable land rights and a mixture of rural and urban society.