From ‘bystanders’ to ‘belongers’: public leisure as a mechanism of place integration for older migrants in China

This paper examines how Chinese older migrants negotiate meaningful people–place relationships via public leisure in Guangzhou. Moving beyond social integration or health-focused scholarship, it proposes place integration as a key lens for understanding their ‘out-of-place’ experiences. Drawing on Cutchin’s theory and urban park empirical data, it argues public leisure is a core mechanism for migrants to reconstruct self-identity, reproduce familiar socio–cultural atmospheres, and rebuild social networks. It advances a three-stage typology (bystanders, participants, belongers), demonstrating place integration as an ongoing, problem-driven process. The research clarifies conceptual boundaries: place integration is the overarching process, social integration its component, and place identity an outcome of successful place integration, contributing to debates on migration, public leisure and inclusive public space.