Resettlement Migration: A Case Study in Dulan Tibetan and Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai Province, Western China Zhengliang Zhao BA Economics–Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, China MEcons International Development and Economics – Australia National University, Australia Department of Geography, Environment and Population School of Social Sciences Faculty of Arts The University of Adelaide Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy February 2020 DEDICATION A special dedication for My wife Yujing Qin My mother Jing Zhang and father Lianshan Zhao I am here because of you; your endless love and scarifices To my family members, especially my uncle Peng Zhang Who have been supporting me in many ways all these years To my daughter, Zhihan Zhao You come to light our life, give a whole new meaning to our lives Daddy always loves you II TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION .............................................................................................................. II TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................. III LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................ X LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... XI LIST OF PLATES ...................................................................................................... XII ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. XIII DECLARATION....................................................................................................... XIV ACKOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................... XV ABBREVAITIONS AND ACRONYMS .................................................................. XVI Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research Context .................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Objectives and research questions ........................................................................ 5 1.3 The relationship between environmental deterioration and poverty .................... 7 1.4 The relationship between environmental deterioration and migration ............... 10 1.5 The type of environmental migration in Western China .................................... 11 1.5.1 Government-organised migration ................................................................ 13 1.5.2 Spontaneous Migration ................................................................................ 15 1.6 The role of local government in the process of resettlement migration ............. 16 1.7 Organisation of the thesis ................................................................................... 18 Chapter 2 Literature Review and Background............................................................. 21 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 21 2.2 Conceptual Origins and Research on Environmental Migration ........................ 21 2.2.1 Defining Environmental Migration .............................................................. 24 2.2.2 Discriminating between the concepts used in Environmental Migration .... 27 2.2.3 The Classification of Environmental Migration .......................................... 28 2.3 Environmental migration in western China ........................................................ 29 III 2.4 The background of environmental migration in western China ......................... 31 2.4.1 The ecological background of environmental migration in western China . 31 2.4.2 The Division of vulnerable environments in China ..................................... 33 2.4.3 The socioeconomic background of environmental migration in western China ..................................................................................................................... 36 2.4.4 The cultural background of environmental migration in western China ..... 47 2.5 The Theoretical Basis For The Environmental Migration project .................. 48 2.6 The status and characteristics of environmental migration in western China .... 53 2.6.1 Overview of environmental migration in Western China ............................ 54 2.6.2 Characteristics of environmental migration in western China ..................... 56 2.7 The relationship among vulnerable environments, poverty and migration ........ 59 2.8 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 63 Chapter 3 Methodology ............................................................................................... 65 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 65 3.2 Research design .................................................................................................. 65 3.2.1 Basic Ideas ................................................................................................... 65 3.2.2 Data Collection ............................................................................................ 69 3.3 The Survey Background and Relevant Demographic Contexts ......................... 71 3.3.1 Survey Background and Implementation..................................................... 71 3.3.2 Survey Design and Collaboration ................................................................ 73 3.3.3 Population Migration in the Xiangba Project .............................................. 74 3.4 Data Collection Approaches ............................................................................... 74 3.4.1 Questionnaire Design ................................................................................... 75 3.4.2 Sampling Approach ..................................................................................... 77 3.4.3 Fieldwork ..................................................................................................... 78 3.4.4 In-depth Interviews ...................................................................................... 82 3.4.5 Secondary Data: Census, Yearbooks, Policy documents ............................. 83 IV 3.4.6 The Socio-demographic Characteristics of Respondents ............................ 85 3.5 The Main Content of the surveys/ interviews..................................................... 86 3.6 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 92 Chapter 4 Why is it Necessary for People to Move: An Analysis of Out-migration Areas ............................................................................................................................ 93 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 93 4.2 Profile of The Resettlement Migration Project .................................................. 94 4.2.1 Overview of the Project ............................................................................... 94 4.2.2 Background of the Xiangba Project ............................................................. 95 4.3 Background of the Project Area. ........................................................................ 96 4.3.1 Main Source Areas of Migration ................................................................. 99 4.3.2 Main Reasons for Out-Migration from Ledu County ................................ 100 4.4 Migration Patterns ............................................................................................ 111 4.4.1 Reasons for migration ................................................................................ 115 4.4.2 The Achievements of Migration ................................................................ 116 4.5 Constraints on Resettlement Migration ............................................................ 122 4.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 125 Chapter 5 The Experience of Resettlement migrants in Dulan County ..................... 127 5.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 127 5.2 History of the Resettlement Project .................................................................. 127 5.3 The Profile of the Resettlement Area ............................................................... 128 5.4 Analysis of Survey Data ................................................................................... 134 5.4.1 Survey Responses and Demographic Characteristics of Respondents ...... 134 5.4.2 Migration Experience of Respondents ....................................................... 136 5.5 Analysis of the factors affecting migration ...................................................... 146 5.5.1 The Living situation of the entire Xiangle Town, Ledu county ................ 147 5.5.2 Analysis of the factors affecting migrant resettlement .............................. 148 V 5.5.3 Overall analysis .......................................................................................... 148 5.6 The Analysis Process .......................................................................................