The city of Chongqing in southwestern China has adopted a systematic set of urbanization policies since the late 2000s. Due to their emphasis on the role of the government and their scale, they deserve close attention. Yet, few studies have examined both positive and negative impacts of the urbanization policies regarding land acquisition, hukou conversion and urban housing as a complete process from rural migrants’ perspective. More longer-term empirical studies focusing on rural migrants’ reactions to the urbanization policies are needed. By conducting interviews with rural migrants, this paper aims to fill this gap. The results show that the migration intentions of rural migrants living in public rental housing are well-organized and purposive. The motivations for migration are not exclusively financial, but include the opportunities for better schooling and enhanced family bonds that come with living in public rental housing. Meanwhile, the institutional and social barriers faced by rural migrants were also identified. The goal of the paper is to enrich the understandings of the effects of urbanization policies in China.

Carried out by the municipality in 2010, the ambitious hukou reform in Chongqing represents one of the most widespread urban hukou distribution throughout the history of China. There are two objectives set out for reform. However, neither target has been met. This paper is aimed to reveal why the hukou reform initiated in Chongqing has failed from the perspective of migrant workers. The finding shows that the loss caused by abandoning rural hukou far outweighs the benefits to be received from the conversion into urban hukou. In this case, migrant workers consider the retention of rural hukou as a “safety net” to retain a potential means to return to their places of origin, which contrasts with the prevailing view that rural hukou is a significant barrier facing migrant workers.

The city of Chongqing in Southwest China has recently attracted widespread attention for adopting a land-use policy, dipiao, which has radically transformed the rural and urban landscape. Previous research on the impacts of the new scheme on peasants remains inconclusive, which necessitates further qualitative study on whether the policy provides an equitable and sustainable solution to urbanisation. According to the results of semi-structured interviews conducted with 34 relocated peasants, the policy is equitable for all peasants regarding urbanisation. However, economically-disadvantaged peasants struggle with their livelihood after relocation. The findings enrich the understanding of the ongoing urbanisation process in China.