Mobility and Habitation Adaptation: A Case Study Migrant Muslims in Lanzhou City, China

Abstract

Viewed from a spatial perspective and based on information from 1467 surveys samples conducted from 2015 to 2016, a case study of mobility and habitation adaption of migrant Muslims in Lanzhou city of China has been carried out using ArcGIS. The results show that: 1) the sources of migrant Muslims in Lanzhou are dominated by two ethnic regions, Linxia Autonomous Hui Prefecture approximately 160 km from Lanzhou, and Tianshui Zhangjiachuan Autonomous County 380 km from Lanzhou. Together the regions account for 56.5% of the sample respondents. To a great extent, the ethnic homogeneity related Muslims between the origin and Lanzhou city helps push migration; 2) the 40 sending regions from which migrant Muslims originate display a “core-margin” and “string of bead” spatial structure, and most sending regions are scattered within 20 km along the principal corresponding artery leading into & out of Lanzhou. Traffic improvement can lead to some changes to the double “core-margin” structure from basic “core-margin” to spindly “core-margin” along the corresponding artery; (3) the traditional pattern of “dwell and work around mosque” of migrant Muslims in Lanzhou is weakening. On the one hand, 46.2% of migrant Muslims dwell away and 50.1% of them work away from mosque; on the other hand from July 2015 to July 2016 123 migrants removed from their original dwelling places and 197 migrants from their original places of working around mosque to be scattered in Lanzhou city. The reason for decentralization includes the increasing spatial spread of Muslim-culture-focused catering, the weakening of traditional ethnic consciousness and personal independence.