Is agglomeration really crowded? The impact of urban spatial structure on return migration decisions

This paper analyses the impact of urban spatial structure on return migration using 2017 and 2019 data from the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) and the LandScan global population database. The findings suggest that: (1) At a specific stage of development, agglomerated spatial structure is conducive to return and different job types of the floating population have different return choices; (2) land use and industrial development are important mechanisms in this process; (3) different methods of measuring urban spatial structure show a connection. Overall, denser, mono-centric and concentrated urban forms are more conducive to population return.