Introduction

Abstract

Rapid urbanization in China has created “villages-in-the-city.” Rural collectives retain their rights to the land and seek profits through other means, as the land is no longer used for agriculture. Low-rental housing is built to satisfy the floating population of low-income migrant workers that seek employment in cities. Without government planning, the villages are in chaos and disorder, where landowners try to maximize their profits by building as many houses as they can fit into a particular area. Infrastructure and social security are particularly poor in these areas, and thus the villages become the breeding ground for crime. This book uses Tang Village to illustrate the crime conditions in a village-in-the-city, the mechanisms that contribute to the crime, the characteristics of the crime hotspots, and the narratives of the victims, offenders, and guardians.