Spatiotemporal characteristics and determinants of internal migrant population distribution in China from the perspective of urban agglomerations

Urban agglomerations are fundamental regional units of development and attract large-scale migrant population. Previous studies have only focused on migrant population distribution in major urban agglomerations. Therefore, this study analysed the spatiotemporal characteristics of migrant population distribution in China during 2000–2010 at city level from the perspective of urban agglomerations. The results indicate that urban agglomerations were accumulation areas of migrant population. Numerous people have migrated into 19 urban agglomerations, which has enlarged regional differences in migrant population distribution. The interprovincial migrant population dominated within urban agglomerations, whereas the intraprovincial migrant population dominated outside urban agglomerations. In the future, intraprovincial migration will become the dominant migration mode. The evolution of migrant population distribution pattern in urban agglomerations agrees with classic theories of unbalanced regional development. The determinants of migration in different regions were compared. Results revealed that economic and government driving forces jointly influenced migration; however, economic forces exceeded government forces. Economic forces were more influential within urban agglomerations, whereas government forces played more important roles outside urban agglomerations. Increased income and job opportunities were the core attractions of urban agglomerations. Moreover, with an increase in the urban agglomeration development level, the influence of economic forces increased, whereas that of government forces decreased. The findings provide a deeper understanding of migrant population distribution in China, which will benefit population management across various regions.