Neighborhood conflicts in urban China: from consciousness of property rights to contentious actions

Neighborhood conflicts have been an integral part of urban politics for years (Tomba 2004; Bray 2005; Shi and Cai 2006; Read 2008; Hsing 2010; Fu and Lin 2014). Whereas the residential experience has been plagued by conflicts unfolding across communities, conflicts as a process of social interaction allow residents to develop neighborly connections beyond the control of the state and subsequently foster residents’ engagement in contentious politics (Tomba 2004, 2005; Fu and Lin 2014). Nevertheless, few if any studies have quantified the structure, determinants, and consequences of neighborhood conflicts, although a flood of urban unrest during China’s urban transformation has often been observed (Read 2008; Perry 2010; Yip and Jiang 2011). In the absence of such empirical evidence on neighborhood tensions and disputes, scholars remain puzzled about whether and how neighborhood conflicts are relevant to contentious politics in urban China.