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Exploring the Impacts of Housing Condition on Migrants’ Mental Health in Nanxiang, Shanghai: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

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Listed:
  • Yang Xiao

    (College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China)

  • Siyu Miao

    (College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China)

  • Chinmoy Sarkar

    (Healthy High Density Cities Lab, HKUrbanLab, The University of Hong Kong, Knowles Building, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China)

  • Huizhi Geng

    (College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China)

  • Yi Lu

    (Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China)

Abstract

Although rapid urbanization and associated rural-to-urban migration has brought in enormous economic benefits in Chinese cities, one of the negative externalities include adverse effects upon the migrant workers’ mental health. The links between housing conditions and mental health are well-established in healthy city and community planning scholarship. Nonetheless, there has thusfar been no Chinese study deciphering the links between housing conditions and mental health accounting for macro-level community environments, and no study has previously examined the nature of the relationships in locals and migrants. To overcome this research gap, we hypothesized that housing conditions may have a direct and indirect effects upon mental which may be mediated by neighbourhood satisfaction. We tested this hypothesis with the help of a household survey of 368 adult participants in Nanxiang Town, Shanghai, employing a structural equation modeling approach. Our results point to the differential pathways via which housing conditions effect mental health in locals and migrants. For locals, housing conditions have direct effects on mental health, while as for migrants, housing conditions have indirect effects on mental health, mediated via neighborhood satisfaction. Our findings have significant policy implications on building an inclusive and harmonious society. Upstream-level community interventions in the form of sustainable planning and designing of migrant neighborhoods can promote sense of community, social capital and support, thereby improving mental health and overall mental capital of Chinese cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang Xiao & Siyu Miao & Chinmoy Sarkar & Huizhi Geng & Yi Lu, 2018. "Exploring the Impacts of Housing Condition on Migrants’ Mental Health in Nanxiang, Shanghai: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-14, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:2:p:225-:d:129250
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Liyan Huang & Rosli Said & Hong Ching Goh & Yu Cao, 2023. "The Residential Environment and Health and Well-Being of Chinese Migrant Populations: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-23, February.
    2. Zan Yang & Yuqi Fu, 2019. "Physical Attributes of Housing and Elderly Health: A New Dynamic Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Yingzhi Qiu & Yuqi Liu & Yi Liu & Zhigang Li, 2019. "Exploring the Linkage between the Neighborhood Environment and Mental Health in Guangzhou, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-15, September.
    4. Tingting Lu & Matthew Lane & Dan Van der Horst & Xin Liang & Jianing Wu, 2020. "Exploring the Impacts of Living in a “Green” City on Individual BMI: A Study of Lingang New Town in Shanghai, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-15, September.
    5. Lijian Xie & Suhong Zhou & Lin Zhang, 2021. "Associations between Objective and Subjective Housing Status with Individual Mental Health in Guangzhou, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-14, January.
    6. Liqin Zhang & Lin Wu, 2021. "Community Environment Perception on Depression: The Mediating Role of Subjective Social Class," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-16, July.
    7. Shulin Lai & Yuquan Zhou & Yuan Yuan, 2021. "Associations between Community Cohesion and Subjective Wellbeing of the Elderly in Guangzhou, China—A Cross-Sectional Study Based on the Structural Equation Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-23, January.
    8. Jing Ma & Chunjiang Li & Mei-Po Kwan & Yanwei Chai, 2018. "A Multilevel Analysis of Perceived Noise Pollution, Geographic Contexts and Mental Health in Beijing," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-18, July.
    9. Alexander Smith & Anna Buadze & Michael Liebrenz, 2023. "The United Kingdom’s Rwanda asylum policy and the European Court of Human Rights’ Interim Measure: Challenges for mental health and the importance of social psychiatry," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 69(2), pages 239-242, March.
    10. Marco Helbich, 2018. "Mental Health and Environmental Exposures: An Editorial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-4, October.
    11. Zihan Kan & Mei-Po Kwan & Mee Kam Ng & Hendrik Tieben, 2022. "The Impacts of Housing Characteristics and Built-Environment Features on Mental Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-19, April.

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