Conclusions

The social disorder in villages-in-the-city highlights the contradictions and conflicts that arise from the interactions between migrant workers, landlords, investors, public security, and government during the urbanization process. Villages-in-the-city share many common features with slums that contribute to crime: poverty, residential instability, heterogeneity, ineffective guardianship, and limited public investment. However, the outlook for villages-in-the-city is much more hopeful than the slums in Western cities. In Tang Village, high-tech industries and high-end culture are expected to replace the current low-end processing and manufacturing factories. With the change in resident groups, a family-based tenant relationship is beginning to replace the previous work-based tenant relationship. Senior family members can act as informal guardians, deterring potential crime. Tang Village is expected to become urbanized in the future, decreasing residential mobility and social disorganization, thus becoming a relatively crime-free community.