Spatial Behavior Of Migrants’ Children And Its Impact On Social Integration

The surrounding areas of development zones are the congregate space for the migrants’children. Migrant’s children grow up in a strange space and environment, their spatial behaviors are normally different from host urban children, which impact on their social interaction with host urban children and construction a sense of place where they study and live. In the meanwhile, it also reflects the social integration between migrants’children and the place they live. Based on analyzing the theory of spatial behavior and social integration, as well as field research in two typical development zones in Shanghai, this dissertation explores the spatial behavior characters of migrants’children in the communities surrounding the development zones and condition of their social integration. This would contribute to assess the social integration condition of immigrants from the view of sense of place, and provide guidance for the government to promote social integration of migrants" children.The paper is divided into six chapters. The first chapter is an introduction of research background, research meaning, content, methods and framework. The second chapter is a literature review of spatial behavior and social integration. The third chapter is theoretical analyst of the spatial behavior characters of migrants’children in communities surrounding development zones, and its potential influences on social integration. The forth chapter is about the research design and field research in surrounding area of development zones in Minhang and Lingang, investigating the spatial behavior characters of migrants children and the condition of social integration. The fifth chapter is the analyst result of field research, to discuss the impact brought about on social integration of migrants’children by spatial behavior, mainly including the influence of spatial behavior characters on the social interaction and sense of place. The final chapter is conclusion and suggestion.The research finds that social integration is not only the integration and mutual adaptation among different groups, but also the process of people integrating into the place. Social interaction of migrants" children and their sense of place can reflect the condition of social integration. The spatial behavior of Migrants’children in surrounding areas of development zones presents the character of involution. They have relative lower travel frequency and monotonous after-school activities. They tend to play in the surrounding areas of their communities and have few opportunities to enter the center town and shopping mall. Their activities area is on a smaller scale, mainly within 15 minutes distance area. In addition, the behabior space of migrants’children does not overlap with it of host urban children. They tend to carry out social interaction within migrants’children group and have a closer relationship within the group, lacking of interaction and communication with host urban children. They have not built sense of place toward the surrounding area of development zones and have relative poor condition of social integration. The obscure place identity of the development zones impedes their formation of sense of place. Their sense of place rely on external dependency of place, and functional connectivity is stronger than emotional identity, which is not good for social integration. Spatial behavior of migrants’ children in two development zones showed differences. Migrants’children in Lingang Development Zone have more active spatial behavior and better condition of social integration than the migrants’children in Minhang Development Zone. The reasons for the differences in the spatial behavior mainly include urban function of surrounding areas, communities, family structure and ecological environment.